Repercussions of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Education Process and the Professional Development of Teachers from the Perspective of Preschool Teachers

Abstract

This study aims to determine the repercussions of the pandemic period on the education process and the professional development of educators from the perspective of preschool teachers. According to the criteria set in the study that was built on the methodology of phenomenology, two groups were formed, each made up of seven preschool teachers, and focus group discussions were held. Data was collected through the Personal Information Form and the Semi-Structured Interview Form, while content analysis was used to examine this data. The study revealed that teachers tended to have had negative experiences of distance education; however, this situation has in fact affected their professional development positively. In addition, while this process has had a positive effect on teacher-family relationships, it has had a negative effect on teacher-child relationships. Teachers have required support for a variety of issues during this process, and have attempted to meet their needs through different sources (e.g. colleagues, social media applications). On the other hand, they expressed that they had experienced negative feelings during this process, with loneliness a common factor. In this article, a variety of recommendations were made for researchers and implementers in light of the findings.

Keywords

• COVID-19 pandemic
• Distance education
• Phenomenology
• Preschool teachers
• Professional development

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