Backliners: Roles of Science Educators in the Post-COVID Milieu

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global environment. It has affected almost all aspects of society from cultural, economic, educational, to social factors. This narrative inquiry explored science educators’ perspectives on the vital roles they would play in the post-COVID setting. Sixteen teachers from different educational institutions were purposively selected to take part in this qualitative investigation. The participants wrote their short narratives on their significant role as science teachers after the COVID-19 pandemic. Six themes emerged as roles of the science teachers in the post-COVID era; these include (1) science communicator; (2) critical thinker; (3) knowledge creator; (4) disruptive innovator; (5) advocate against misinformation; and (6) future-ready educator. A conceptual paradigm is designed to describe the vital roles of science teachers in the post-pandemic era in the context of the VUCAD2 (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, diverse, and disruptive) world. Implications of the findings to science education in the post-pandemic setting are discussed in the paper.