Teaching during COVID-19: reflections of early-career science teachers

Abstract

The unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic required that instruction be shifted online through asynchronous, synchronous, or hybrid models of instruction. This created a need for many K-12 teachers to dramatically rethink how teaching and learning occurred in their classrooms. In this study, we investigate the experiences of early-career science teachers who were in their first year of teaching when the pandemic struck. Using a comparative case study and an analytical framework focused on technology-related leader practices, we explore the unique opportunities for technology-based leadership that emerged for early-career teachers during the pandemic. We posit that the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic presented novel opportunities for early-career teachers to assume leadership roles that were embedded within the classroom teaching experience, which created unique opportunities for innovation and leadership in teaching.