Connected by emotion: Teacher agency in an online science education course during COVID-19

Abstract

Taking on an agentic perspective, this study employed a digital ethnographic approach to examine a science teacher's emotional experiences in an online graduate science education course during the COVID-19 pandemic. Veronika, the teacher, revealed her feelings of grievance and loss to the graduate course cohort at the advent of large-scale school closures. Her emotions, shared through the online course, connected the members of the cohort to overcome emotional and pedagogical difficulties caused by the pandemic. She received both emotional and professional support from the cohort and designed an environmental related learning activity that centered on fun and connection in science learning. The activity stimulated students’ positive emotions and simultaneously served to reset Veronika's emotions. This study underlined that emotions connect teachers during a social crisis in ways that address obstacles encountered in teaching and learning. Lessons for teacher education include providing space for and acknowledging emotions in teaching, especially in times of stress and the importance of fostering agentic actions, collegiality, and collaboration by explicitly connecting an individual's emotions and beliefs to their professional practice.