A Phenomenological Study of First-Year Primary School Teachers’ Experiences during the Pandemic Era

Abstract

The first year of the profession is a difficult experience for everyone, but especially for teachers. The first year is the reflection of knowledge in practice for any job. During the years 2020 and 2021, the COVID-19 outbreak has made more complicated this challenge for first-year teachers. The purpose of this study is to explore the phenomenon of being a first-year primary school teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the phenomenological research design was employed. Using a purposeful sampling method, eight primary school teachers in their first year of teaching was chosen. The study group consisted of teachers from both urban and rural schools. Semi-structured interviews with each participant were conducted via Zoom. The themes were created based on the content analysis method. The findings of the study revealed the challenges that the participants experienced during the pandemic, as well as how they tackled those challenges. In addition, the role of their colleagues, principals, and other stakeholders in dealing with the process was highlighted. They also described the impacts of their pre-service and in-service preparation on their ways of dealing with teaching in the pandemic. Last, but not least, they addressed the lack of affordances of the technologies that they used in distance education during the pandemic. The study concluded that the experiences of the first-year primary teachers provided strong insights on the level of preparedness of educators, as well as how to better prepare for future scenarios.

Keywords

• Phenomenology
• first-year teachers
• primary school
• covid-19 pandemic

Mesleğe Yeni Başlayan Sınıf Öğretmenlerinin Pandemi Sürecindeki Deneyimlerine Dönük Fenomenolojik Bir Çalışma

Abstract

Mesleğin ilk yılı herkes için ama özellikle de öğretmenler için zor bir deneyimdir. İlk yıl, herhangi bir meslek için bilginin uygulamaya yansımasıdır. 2020 ve 2021 yıllarında Covid-19 salgını mesleğe yeni başlayan sınıf öğretmenleri için bu zorluğu daha da karmaşık hale getirmiştir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Covid-19 salgını sırasında sınıf öğretmeni olma olgusunu keşfetmektir. Bu nedenle, fenomenolojik araştırma deseni kullanılmıştır. Amaçlı örnekleme yöntemi kullanılarak, öğretmenliklerinin ilk yılında olan sekiz ilkokul öğretmeni seçilmiştir. Çalışma grubu hem merkezi hem de kırsal okullardan öğretmenlerden oluşmuştur. Her bir katılımcıyla yapılan yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler Zoom aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Temalar içerik analizi yöntemine dayalı olarak oluşturulmuştur. Çalışmanın bulguları, katılımcıların pandemi sırasında yaşadıkları zorlukları ve bu zorluklarla nasıl başa çıktıklarını ortaya koydu. Buna ek olarak, meslektaşlarının, müdürlerinin ve diğer paydaşların süreçle başa çıkmadaki rolü vurgulanmıştır. Ayrıca, hizmet öncesi ve hizmet içi hazırlıklarının pandemide öğretimle başa çıkma yolları üzerindeki etkinliğine de vurgu yapmışlardır. Son olarak, pandemi sırasında uzaktan eğitimde kullandıkları teknolojilerin olanaklarının yetersizliğine de değinilmiştir. Çalışma, mesleğe yeni başlayan öğretmenlerinin deneyimlerinin, eğitimcilerin hazırlık düzeyi ve gelecekteki senaryolara nasıl daha iyi hazırlanabilecekleri konusunda güçlü içgörüler sağladığı sonucuna varılmıştır.

Keywords

• Fenomenoloji
• göreve yeni başlayan sınıf öğretmenleri
• ilkokul
• covid-19 pandemisi

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