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The impact of teaching
Research by Dr. Majella Dempsey and Dr. Jolanta Burke –Department of Education
Maynooth University research has found that seven out of 10 of teachers reported feeling more stress and six out of 10 reported a decline in wellbeing during the first six months of the pandemic. The research also finds teachers favour blended learning and changes to curriculum post pandemic.
The ‘Lessons Learned: The experiences of teachers in Ireland during the 2020 pandemic’ research conducted in October 2020 when students had returned to schools, explores teachers’ experiences of the first six months of the pandemic, from the March 2020 lockdown onwards.
The report is based on the participation of over 400 teachers, who completed a survey in October 2020. The majority of participants were teachers in post-primary schools (53%), followed by primary schools (39%), primary and secondary special schools (5%) and teachers on secondment in management organisations (3%). It examines the challenges they reported and the impact of teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic on their mental health and wellbeing. It also finds that despite experiencing stress, four out of five teachers reported having experienced positive psychological growth. Furthermore, teachers expressed increased confidence in their online teaching abilities and the use of technology in light of their Covid-19 teaching experience. Six out of 10 teachers would integrate technology more into their teaching and were more prepared to use online and blended options. The factors that contributed to teachers’ stress included issues with students who found it difficult to settle back into face-to-face teaching after the first lockdown, and a perception that remote teaching impacts their work-life balance. The factors that did not impact teachers’ stress were their self-belief in having the skills to do their job, and re-establishing classroom norms and routines. A third of teachers said they would work closer with parents post-COVID-19. Teachers who reported the most significant decline experienced more stress and greater need for school to focus more on their wellbeing. Also, they reported that they spent more time re-establishing classroom norms and behaviours after the first lockdown.
