Htqe.2022.34

https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2022.34 | 475-486 | PDF

Learning Experience that Transforms Teachers’ Professional Activity: The Covid-19 Pandemic

Līva Goba-Medne
University of Latvia, Latvia

Abstract. Transforming of teaching and learning paradigms in education has been a long-standing object for debate. Various educational reform movements have formed along with divergent views on what quality education is. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a world-wide disruption not only to the continuity of education, but to the existing teaching strategies and learning modes as well. Teachers had to reorient their professional activity towards remote and hybrid teaching within a short period of time. This creates a crisis-like learning situation that requires not only the acquisition of practical skills, but it demands the transformation of the teaching activity itself. Learning associated with such transformations deserves closer examination.
The aim of this article is to discuss the theoretical and the practical underpinnings of a study which aims at conceptualizing learning experiences of teachers that have accompanied the transformations of their professional activity during the COVID-19 pandemic situation. In–depth literature review was performed using both key word search and reference chaining to discover key authors, key texts, and key ideas. Further on central concepts were analysed and methodology was developed for researching the learning experiences teachers have undergone during the COVID-19 pandemic that have transformed their professional activity. Interpretivist subject-centred approach in line with social constructivism is applied.
The article concludes that the central concepts – learning experiences of teachers, transformative learning, professional activity of teachers – serve to build a logical and compatible research framework. Narrative interview along with documentary method of interpretation and theoretical sampling forms coherent and validated methodology.

Keywords: Learning experience, teachers’ professional activity, COVID-19 pandemic, trans­formative learning, professional development

Author Note
This research was partly supported by European Social Fund project Nr.8.2.2.0./18/I/004 “Motivated, modern and competitive academic staff of the University of Latvia study direction “Education, pedagogy and sports”.

In: Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2022. Proceedings of Scientific Papers = Cilvēks, tehnoloģijas un izglītības kvalitāte, 2022. Rakstu krājums
Riga, University of Latvia, 2022. 1135 p. Ed. L. Daniela
https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2022
ISBN 978-9934-18-911-1