A Longitudinal Study: How Prepared Did Educators Feel They Were, to Teach Virtual—Prior, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic Quarantine?

In March of 2020, to reduce and attempt to eliminate the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) many education institutions “almost overnight” (UNICEF, 2021) had to “suspend face-to-face teaching in schools” (Engzella, Freya, & Verhagena, 2021) following their government’s mandate, for the safety of their citizens. Governments were following the advice and guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) (UNICEF, 2021). Nevertheless, students still needed to learn and teachers still needed to teach the students. However, how prepared did educators feel they were to teach virtual (i.e., asynchronous, synchronous, and simultaneous-synchronous-online)? This paper is a longitudinal study that examines educators’ perspective on how prepared they felt they were to teach virtual prior to the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine (i.e., March of 2020) until the end of the academic year of 2021-2022 (i.e., June 2022). Three self-reporting questionnaires were given. Please note, other than background demographics, many questions were asked each year—hoping for improvement. The pilot and first questionnaires were posted on a social media platform to educators; therefore, taking their employer out of the equation. One participant wrote, at the end of the questionnaire, “This was therapeutic. I haven’t been able to share any of this that I have shared here with anyone who will listen. Thank you so much.” Whilst another wrote, “... Please, I would prefer my district not read my responses.” The follow-up questionnaire was emailed to the participants who provided their email in either the pilot or first questionnaire. The questionnaire asked questions starting with the participant’s own education. Then the participant’s employment. Followed by the training their educational institutions offered and if they felt the training prepared them to teach during quarantine. In addition, the questionnaire examined if the participant’s education institutions had a plan, offered Reverse Mentoring, if participant/educator knew where to find help whilst teaching online during quarantine, and if their education institution required and/or offered any training over the summer for the participant/educator. In addition, the participants/educator were asked if they felt their students were prepared to learn online, prior to the start of COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. This research will illustrate, while there were some exceptions, the majority of educators were not prepared to teach during COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. The majority of educators (70.3%) stated “No” to “Did you receive additional training from your educational institution prior to start of COVID-19 pandemic quarantine (i.e., March of 2020)?”. In addition, 89.2% (263 out of 295) stated their education institutions did not offer Reverse Mentoring. 64.3 (156 out of 297) answered either “No” or “I have no idea.” to “Did your education institution have any kind of teaching, learning, and technology (TLT) center available to support you during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine (i.e., March of 2020 until June 2020, the end of the US academic year of 2019-2020)?”. Furthermore, according to Organizational Development literature it is extremely impossible to implement a successful organization change without a plan. 186 participants answered either “Strong disagree” or “Disagree” and 48 answered “Neither agree nor disagree” to their education institution having a plan and followed the same plan throughout the remainder of the school year (i.e., June 2020).

Keywords: Educator Training, Educational Leadership, COVID-19 Educator Preparedness, Quarantine Teaching, School Improvement

How to Cite:

Boyle, T. B. (2025). A Longitudinal Study: How Prepared Did Educators Feel They Were, to Teach Virtual—Prior, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic Quarantine? Retrieve https://www.hopemoreinternational.org/working-research.