Teachers\u27 professional development in solving the challenges of distance education

Pandemija covida-19 se je pričela leta 2020 in povzročila velik preobrat v edukacijskih sistemih po celem svetu. Zakonodajalci so bili postavljeni pred odločitev: zapreti šole in rešiti življenja ali pa ohranjati gospodarstvo nedotaknjeno. V večini držav po svetu so se odločili, da zaprejo vrtce, osnovne in srednje šole ter univerze oziroma vpeljejo delo na daljavo. Tako imenovana covid-19 kriza je postavila učitelje pred nekatere povsem nove naloge in zahtevnejše izzive, ki so bili do sedaj nepoznani in so od njih zahtevali prilagoditev ter takojšnji odziv v pedagoški praksi. V le nekaj tednih so morali učitelji postaviti tradicionalno poučevanje v učilnicah v spletno okolje. Ker socialni in čustveni vidiki pomembno vplivajo na učenje učencev, so se morali učitelji naučiti, kako poučevanje na daljavo izpeljati čim bolj učinkovito. S pojavom pandemije so morali premisliti tudi, kako organizirati posamezne etape učnega procesa, kaj izpeljati kot neposredno poučevanje na daljavo in se pripraviti na nepredvidljivi pouk na daljavo. Ta zapletena situacija je bila izziv tudi za najbolj pripravljene in izkušene učitelje. Čeprav sta v tradicionalnem poučevanju že uveljavljena pametna tabla in PowerPoint predstavitve, je integracija tehnološko podprtega poučevanja na daljavo na povsem drugi stopnji, kot so bili učitelji do sedaj vajeni in zanjo usposobljeni. Pandemija covida-19 je povzročila, da so bili učitelji nenadoma prisiljeni začeti s poučevanjem na spletu, kar med drugim prinaša tudi izziv za preoblikovanje izobraževanja učiteljev in izobraževanja v posamezni instituciji. V teoretičnem delu magistrskega dela smo opredelili učiteljevo poklicno vlogo, profesionalni razvoj učiteljev, rezilientnost učiteljev, pouk na daljavo, izzive med izvajanjem pouka na daljavo s poudarkom na profesionalnem razvoju učiteljev med delom na daljavo ter stres pri učiteljih med delom na daljavo. V empiričnem delu smo s pomočjo anketnih vprašalnikov in delno strukturiranih intervjujev raziskali, s kakšnimi izzivi so se soočali učitelji med poukom na daljavo, kako so izzive razreševali, kako so se učitelji profesionalno razvijali med poukom na daljavo ter kakšen stres so med tem doživljali. Raziskovalni pristop je bila kvalitativna in kvantitativna empirična raziskava, v kateri so sodelovali učitelji razrednega pouka od 1. do 6. razreda. Rezultati raziskave so pokazali, da so sodelujoči učitelji mnenja, da so bili v obdobju pomladi 2020 na poučevanje na daljavo delno pripravljeni, v obdobju jesen 2020 do zime 2021 pa dobro pripravljeni, kar pomeni, da so bili učitelji na vnovično zaprtje bolje pripravljeni. K boljši pripravljenosti na vnovično zaprtje šol je prispevala seznanjenost s tehnologijo, več izobraževanj in več izkušenj. Učitelji so mnenja, da so za uspeh pouka na daljavo pomembni ustrezni tehnični pogoji, dobro poznavanje tehnologije, spodbuda, podpora šole in jasna navodila in cilji s strani šole. Učitelji bi si želeli več izobraževanj na temo izdelave gradiv in vsebin za poučevanje na daljavo. Možnost za bolj kakovosten pouk na daljavo sodelujoči vidijo v deljenju izkušenj in sodelovanju. Kot vire stresa so sodelujoči izpostavili tehnične težave, težje izvajanje nekaterih oblik pouka in pripravo gradiva. Velika večina sodelujočih navaja, da so izzivi poučevanja na daljavo pomembno vplivali na njihovo profesionalno učenje in razvoj. Z raziskavo smo dobili vpogled v poučevanje na daljavo med prvim obdobjem (pomlad 2020) in drugim (jesen 2020 do zima 2021). Rezultati raziskave predstavljajo strokovni doprinos na področju didaktike in so koristni tako za študente bodoče učitelje kot tudi za učitelje razrednega pouka pri oblikovanju pouka na daljavo.The COVID -19 pandemic began in 2020 and caused a major turnaround in education systems all over the world. Legislators were faced with a decision: to close schools and save lives or to preserve the economy intact. In most countries around the world, they decided to close kindergartens and primary and secondary schools, as well as the universities, or to introduce distance education. The so-called COVID-19 crisis put teachers in front of some completely new tasks and more challenging challenges that were hitherto unknown and required them to adapt and respond immediately in educational practice. In just a few weeks, teachers had to place traditional classroom teaching in an online environment. Because social and emotional aspects have a significant impact on students’ learning, teachers had to learn how to conduct distance education as effectively as possible. With the emergence of the pandemic, they also had to think about how to organize the individual stages of the teaching process, what to do as direct distance education, and prepare for unpredictable distance education. This complex situation was a challenge even for the most prepared and experienced teachers. Although smartboards and PowerPoint presentations are already established in traditional teaching, the integration of technologically supported distance education is at a completely different stage than teachers have been accustomed to and trained in so far. The COVID -19 pandemic has led to teachers being suddenly forced to start teaching online, which, among other things, poses a challenge to transforming teacher education and institution-specific education. In the theoretical part of the master\u27s thesis, we defined the teacher\u27s professional role, professional development of teachers, teacher resilience, distance education, challenges during distance education with the emphasis on the professional development of teachers during distance education, and stress in teachers during distance education. In the empirical part, we used survey questionnaires and partially structured interviews to research what challenges teachers faced during distance education, how they solved challenges, how teachers developed professionally during distance education, and what stress they experienced during that time. The research approach was qualitative and quantitative empirical research in which classroom teachers from the 1st to the 6th grade participated. The results of the survey showed that the participating teachers think that they were partially prepared for distance education in spring 2020 and well prepared in autumn 2020 to winter 2021, which means that teachers were better prepared for another lockdown. Awareness of technology, more education, and more experience contributed to better preparedness for school closures. Teachers believe that appropriate technical conditions, good knowledge of technology, encouragement, school support, and clear instructions and goals from the school are important for the success of distance education. Teachers would like more education on the topic of making distance education materials and content. Participants see the possibility for better quality distance education in sharing experiences and cooperation. As sources of stress, the participants pointed out technical problems, more difficult implementation of some forms of lessons, and preparation of materials. The vast majority of the participants state that the challenges of distance education have had a significant impact on their professional learning and development. The research provided insight into distance education between the first period (spring 2020) and the second period (autumn 2020 to winter 2021). The results of the research represent a professional contribution in the field of didactics and are useful for future students and classroom teachers in the design of distance education