Teachers' Experiences of Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Research Report

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption to education around the world. There is much to learn from this period, to better understand what happened, to provide support to those affected, and to inform future responses to disruption. This research aimed to contribute to this field by recording teachers' experiences of teaching in the pandemic. The authors carried out a survey of teachers at schools that use Cambridge Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) assessments, with the intention of sampling a wide range of experiences, from multiple countries, from primary and secondary schools, and from state and independent schools. In doing so, the authors hoped to engage with both the overall patterns and the variation in experiences. The survey asked questions about impacts on students, impacts on teachers, and teaching practices. Although findings were wide-ranging, several emerging themes were identified. These were: (1) learning loss was common but more complex than may be acknowledged; (2) wellbeing of both students and teachers is an important consideration; (3) lessons can be learned from experiences of remote teaching, both in terms of the challenges faced and the beneficial aspects experienced; (4) parents played a vital role in education during the pandemic, presenting potential opportunities for continued engagement; (5) experiences were variable within and between groups, and this should be explicitly considered when supporting affected students; (6) developing communities of practice and good quality training resources was beneficial and could continue to be so outside of the pandemic; and (7) despite the challenges faced, there are opportunities to change 'normal' practice as a result of what was learned during the period of disruption. This report is intended primarily as a description of the study background and methodology, and as a repository of results, whilst the emerging themes indicate where there is potential for further research or, indeed, action to support those affected.