Preservice teachers’ resilience during times of COVID-19

Abstract

Becoming a teacher is difficult, especially in times of a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated how preservice teachers (PSTs) experienced their resilience, and which factors influenced resilience during the pandemic. We were interested in the following factors: 1) personal resources such as motivation, efficacy and emotions, 2) contextual resources such as relationships and support of colleagues, 3) coping strategies such as problem solving and maintaining a work-life balance. A questionnaire with both open and closed questions was completed by 443 PSTs. Compared to previous studies that used the same instruments, PSTs showed lower scores on resilience and personal resources, comparable scores on contextual resources, and higher on coping strategies. A regression analysis showed that all factors except for self-efficacy were related to resilience. The open answers revealed different aspects influenced by the pandemic, such as conditions for teaching at school, interaction with pupils, study progress, support from supervisors in their school and the teacher education institute, and social support received from important others, such as family and friends. Furthermore, factors were mentioned that influenced PSTs resilience in both enhancing and diminishing ways. The findings provide more insight into how societal and environmental circumstances affect teacher resilience.