Developing the resilience of first-year students under martial law in Ukraine

Developing the resilience of first-year students under martial law in Ukraine

by | NW 10 Teacher Education Research, NW 5 Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education, UERA

War traumatises everyone it touches, especially children and young people. The World Health Organisation has noted that at least 10% of people who have experienced traumaticevents as a result of armed conflict have had serious mental health problems (and 10% of them will have behaviours that interfere with their ability to function effectively). The aggravation of the military conflict in Ukraine has made it important to implement the project “Development of Resilience of First-Level Higher Education Students in the Context of the Military Conflict in Ukraine”, which was made possible by the Ukrainian Educational Researchers Association with the support of the European Educational Research Association.

This study was conducted at the Faculty of Special and Inclusive Education of the Dragomanov Ukrainian State University (Kyiv) at the beginning of the academic year 2022-2023. Students had started studying from a distance, not only in different regions of Ukraine, but also in other countries as refugees.

Why focus on first-year students in Ukraine?

In the current realities of Ukraine, first-year students at Ukrainian universities are at risk of deteriorating mental health. Former school leavers had not yet fully adapted to the challenges and restrictions of receiving educational services in the COVID-19 pandemic  [8; 15; 17], and the start of professional training again required a change in lifestyle, way of thinking, attitude towards themselves and others, in accordance with the requirements of the newly developing social situation [6; 9; 10; 11; 14]. And all this was happening against the backdrop of escalating military aggression by the Russian Federation, which was accompanied not only by a risk to life and health, but could also cause mental trauma or damage to basic structures of personality, starting with physiological reactions to stress, and ending with the general picture of the world and self-image [18].

After the first week of studying at the university under martial law, Ukrainian first-year students reported a deterioration in their mental health: symptoms of distress (asthenia, increased anxiety, lowmood, restless sleep, tension) and somatisation (headaches) prevailed. In some cases, this was combined with certain manifestations of anxiety (anxiety/panic attacks, fear of public embarrassment). More than half of the surveyed first-year students associated the deterioration of their mental health with their studies and the situation in Ukraine (52.1% and 66.2%, respectively) [2].

Why focus on resilience?

Adaptation to a difficult life situation, and overcoming and preventing negative consequences, is significantly influenced by the availability of certain personal resources. In this context, it is worth talking about resilience as a systemic element in the structure of a well-being personality, a positive mental state that leads to adequate adaptation in adverse circumstances. At the same time, resilience should be viewed as a resource that allows a person to choose the appropriate type of coping [13].

Resilience as a factor in maintaining mental health under martial law can be defined as an individual’s ability to return to normal functioning and to restore the previous state after a certain period of maladjustment due to stressful experiences[7]. It is also about the individual’s ability to prevent the emergence and exacerbation of psychological problems and dysfunctional disorders by “mitigating” the impact of the socio-psychological consequences of emergencies by actualising their own internal resources[3]. In other words, resilience should be viewed as a continuous, active process of emergence or development of new forces and resources for adaptation and recovery, which has uneven dynamics in the face of new risks [12].

According to the results of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), 38% ofUkrainian first-year students do not have the skills to maintain and support mental health, which is confirmed by their low levels of resilience [5]. Accordingly, these students have a reduced ability to influence a complex or atypical situation, lose their own resources, have difficulties in solving new challenges and issues of life, and have difficulties adapting.[16].

What contributes to preserving and restoring Ukrainian students mental health?

The structure of resilience includes three components:

  • cognitive – represented by such components as openness to experience, tolerance to uncertainty and positive thinking
  • emotional – involves emotional stability, emotional intelligence and extraversion
  • behavioural – search activity, prosocial behaviour [3].

In other words, if a person does not lose the ability to think flexibly in an objectively or subjectively difficult life situation, he or she is more likely to be able to regulate his or her emotional state and prevent a physiological stress response. Given an adequate emotional response, they will seek a constructive solution to the problem, including by seeking social support.

 The level of resilience of Ukrainian first-year students is closely related to the following components:

  • extraversion – orientation towards other people, connections with them, support
  • prosocial behaviour – orientation towards socially useful actions
  • emotional stability – orientation towards emotional self-regulation
  • openness to experience – orientation towards learning new experiences and skills

The level of resilience also depends on the complexity of the problems faced by the student [4].

How to develop first-year students’ mental health under martial law

The innate ability of a person to be more or less resistant to stress should not be underestimated. However, without either a spontaneous (by imitating the stress-resistant response of significant others and identifying with them) or specially–organised process of acquiring resilience skills, this may not be enough when the traumatic nature of the situation exceeds the individual’s inborn reserves to withstand its negative impact.

Therefore, a training programme on developing resilience in first-year students was developed to familiarise participants with a set of psychological tools that will help harmonise their self-image, self-concept and attitude to themselves; actualise and activate self-knowledge processes; and form emotional and behavioural self-regulation skills that will strengthen their psychological stability (resilience).

This training programme consists of six modules, each of which contributes to forming and developing important mental health competencies:

  • The ability to communicate, develop relationships with other people, and to seek social support
  • The ability to express their thoughts and feelings, focus their attention, and be empathetic to themselves
  • The ability to identify and build on their value orientations, understand the meaning of their lives
  • Positive thinking skills to strengthen self-confidence and increase their self-esteem
  • The ability to build mutual support and effective cooperation and nurture life-giving relationships
  • The building of skills for effective regulation of energy and emotions [1].

The programme was attended by 18 first-year students. 7 students took part in a one-day offline course, while the remaining 11 students were involved in two online psychological support groups and received training over a six-week period.

After participating in the scheme, 75% of the participants showed positive changes in their resilience, especially among the participants of the online psychological support groups. However, given the small number of students who had an objective opportunity to take the training in the harsh realities of Ukraine, it is worth talking about the need for further testing.

Activities to preserve and restore students’ mental health are ongoing. Elements of the training programme are used in the educational process in such disciplines as Psychological Counselling, Psychological Rehabilitation, Psychological Correction, etc. The training programme is also being actively implemented in the work of the Centre for Psychological Support and Social Adaptation at the Faculty of Special and Inclusive Education of Dragomanov Ukrainian State University.

Key Messages

  • At least 10% of people who experience traumatic events, such as the war in Ukraine have serious mental health problems
  • A project by the Ukrainian Educational Researchers Association and EERA was launched to support Ukrainian first-year students
  • The project focused on first-year students, as they were coping with the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the transition from school to professional training
  • Ukrainian students reported a deterioration in their mental health after the first week of studying at the university 
  • The EERA and UERA programme focused on building the resilience of Ukrainian students, to help them cope with the stress of studying during martial law
  • 75% of participants showed positive changes in their resilience after taking part in the programme
  • Futher activities to preserve and restore students’ mental health in Ukraine are ongoing
Dr Hanna Afuzova

Dr Hanna Afuzova

Associate Professor of the Department of Special Psychology and Medicine, Faculty of Special and Inclusive Education, Drahomanov University, Ukraine

Hanna Afuzova holds a PhD in Psychology and is an Associate Professor of the Department of Special Psychology and Medicine, Faculty of Special and Inclusive Education, Ukrainian State Drahomanov University (Kyiv, Ukraine)

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8112-8943

Researcher ID: HZI-0197-2023

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and Further Reading

  1. Afuzova, H. (Eds.). (2023). Rozvytok rezylientnosti zdobuvachiv pershoho rivnia vyshchoi osvity v umovakh voiennoho konfliktu na terytorii Ukrainy [Development of resilience of first-level higher education students in the context of military conflict in Ukraine]. Retrieved from URL Методичні рекомендації з розвитку резильєнтності – Google Диск [in Ukrainian].
  2. Afuzova, H. V., Naydonova, G. O., & Krotenko, V. I. (2022). Osoblyvosti psykhichnoho zdorovia pershokursnykiv na etapi adaptatsii do profesiinoho navchannia v umovakh voiennoho stanu [Features of The Mental Health of First-Year Students at the Stage of Adaptation to Professional Education Under Martial Law]. Habitus, 41, 278–273. https://doi.org/10.32782/2663-5208.2022.41.49 [in Ukrainian].
  3. Afuzova, H. , Naydonova, G. O., & Krotenko, V. I. (2023). Rezylientnist yak chynnyk zberezhennia psykhichnoho zdorovia v umovakh voiennoho stanu [Resilience as a factor in maintaining mental health under martial law]. Habitus, 53, 100–104. http://habitus.od.ua/journals/2023/53-2023/16.pdf [in Ukrainian].
  4. Afuzova, H., Krotenko, V., & Naydonova, G. (2023). Rozvytok rezylientnosti pershokursnykiv na etapi adaptatsii do profeisinoho navchannia v umovakh voiennoho stanu [Development of first-year students’ resilience at the stage of adaptation to professional training under martial law], Psykhichne zdorovia v umovakh viiny: shliakhy zberezhennia ta vidnovlennia: zbirnyk materialiv I Vseukrainskoi naukovo-praktychnoi konferentsii (z mizhnarodnoiu uchastiu) [Mental health in the conditions of war: ways of preservation and restoration: collection of materials of the First All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Conference (with international participation)]. Kyiv, 5–8. [in Ukrainian].
  5. Afuzova, H., Naydonova, G., & Krotenko, V. (2023). A study of Ukrainian first-year students’ resilience at the stage of adaptation to training and professional activities under martial law. Studies in Comparative Education, (1), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.31499/2306-5532.1.2023.288413

  6. Androsovych, K. A. (2015). Psykholohichni chynnyky sotsialnoi adaptatsii pershokursnykiv v umovakh osvitnoho seredovyshcha profesiino-tekhnichnoho navchalnoho zakladu [Psychological Factors of Social Adaptation of Freshmen in the Educational Environment of a Vocational School]. (Candidate`s thesis). Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University. Severodonetsk. [in Ukrainian].
  7. Assonov, D., & Khaustova, O. (2019). Rozvytok kontseptsii rezyliiensu v naukovii literaturi protiahom ostannikh rokiv [Development of the concept of resistance in the scientific literature in recent years]. Psykhosomatychna medytsyna ta zahalna praktyka, 4(4), e0404219. https://doi.org/10.26766/pmgp.v4i3-4.219 https://uk.e-medjournal.com/index.php/psp/article/view/219 [in Ukrainian].
  8. Education and COVID-19: challenges and opportunities (2020). Retrieved from URLhttps://en.ccunesco.ca/idealab/education-and-covid-19-challenges-and-opportunities 

  9. Enes, R., & Tahsin, I. (2016). Coping styles, social support, relational self-construal, and resilience in predicting students’ adjustment to university life, educational sciences. Theory and Practice, 16(1), 187– https://doi.org/10.12738/estp.2016.1.0058

  10. Fryer, L. K. (2017). (Latent) transitions to learning at university: A latent profile transition analysis of first-year Japanese students. Higher Education, 73(3), 519– https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0094-9 
  11. Gonta, I., & Bulgac, A. (2019). The Adaptation of Students to the Academic Environment in University. Revista Romaneasca Pentru Educatie Multidimensionala, 11(3), 34-44. https://doi.org/10.18662/rrem/137

  12. Grygorenko, Z., & Naydonova, G. (2023). The concept of “resilience”: history of formation and approaches to definition. Public administration and law review, (2), 76–88. https://doi.org/10.36690/2674-5216-2023-2-76-88

  13. Kireieva, Z. O., Odnostalko, O. S., & Biron, B. V. (2020). Psykhometrychnyi analiz adaptovanoi versii shkaly rezylientnosti (CD-RISC-10) [Psychometric Analysis of the Adapted Version of the Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10)]. Habitus, 14, 110-116. https://doi.org/10.32843/2663- 5208.2020.14.17 [in Ukrainian].
  14. Nelson, K. J., Smith, J. E., & Clarke, J. A. (2012). Enhancing the transition of commencing students into university: an institution-wide approach. Higher Education Research & Development, 31(2), 185-199. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2011.556108
  15. Nestorenko, Т., & Pokusa, Т. (Eds.). (2020). Education during a pandemic crisis: problems and prospects. Opole: The Academy of Management and Administration in Opole.
  16. Odnostalko, O. S. (2020). Resursy stiikosti osobystosti v umovakh skladnykh ta netypovykh sytuatsii zhyttia [Resources of Personality Stability in the Conditions of Difficult and Atypical Situations of Life]. (Candidate`s thesis). Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University. Lutsk. [in Ukrainian].
  17. Özüdoğru, G. (2021). Problems faced in distance education during Covid-19 Pandemic. Participatory Educational Research, 8(4), 321-333. https://doi.org/10.17275/per.21.92.8.4
  18. Ulko, N. M. (2016). Psykhoeduktsiia yak chynnyk sotsialno-psykholohichnoi reabilitatsii [Psychoeduction as a Factor of Socio-Psychological Rehabilitation], Sotsialno-profesiina mobilnist v umovakh suchasnoi osvity: materialy Mizhnarodnoi naukovo-praktychnoi konferentsii [Social and Professional Mobility in The Conditions of Modern Education: International Conference Proceedings]. Kyiv, р. 16. [in Ukrainian].
  19. World Health Organization. World health report 2001 – Mental health: new understanding, new hope. Geneva: Switzerland; 2001. [Google Scholar]
    Silent heroes – Celebrating Peru’s Early Childhood Educators in times of crisis

    Silent heroes – Celebrating Peru’s Early Childhood Educators in times of crisis

    by | BERA, NW 10 Teacher Education Research, NW 14 Communities, Families, and Schooling in Educational Research

    We are counsellors, we are nurses, we are legal helpers, even parish priests, we are multifaceted.

    Maria

    Leader/Teacher, Peruvian public school

    These are the words of a Peruvian public-school early childhood educator/leader, as she described how her role morphed into one of holistic accompaniment, not just to her young students, but to their families as well during the extended period of school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. They highlight one of the many challenges thrust upon a previously maligned and disenfranchised workforce in a moment of crisis, but much more than this, they offer us a glimpse into the lives of early childhood education(ECE) stakeholders in Peru during this period. 

    The Peruvian Context

    Life in Peru was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent social distancing requirements, which meant that education institutions were closed to in-person teaching for more than 18 months. Educational outcomes, whilst seeing an upward trend in the years leading up to the pandemic in terms of PISA scores, were still below the OECD average (OECD, 2018). The system was still considered to be struggling in terms of providing equal access to quality teaching and learning experiences as ‘poor, rural, indigenous girls are 91% more likely to be left behind in quality education than their wealthier, urban, non-indigenous peers’ (Alcázar et al., 2020, p12).

    Public school teachers are historically perceived as having low prestige and relatively low pay in comparison to other professions (Saavedra & Gutierrez,2020), a significant contextual consideration when we ponder the critical role they not only played in ensuring educational opportunities for children, but also in support and guidance for families.

    The challenges faced by early childhood educators

    Within this complex context, initial findings from my multiple case study doctorate research project, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents, leaders and teachers at four early childhood settings, suggest that early childhood educators across private, public, rural, and urban areas faced several significant challenges. These included increased workload burdens, adaptation to the use of technology, their own emotional well-being, connecting in meaningful ways with children, and dealing with the day-to-day uncertainty. And from the outset of the strict social distancing measures put in place, they were bombarded with the demands of work.

    If, for example, they did not have their child’s next call scheduled, or they didn’t know the questions to ask them, or they had a problem sending their evidence, there would be messages at midnight or at one in the morning… even at four in the morning, the phone rang. It didn’t matter if it was Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, the same. 

    Catalina

    Teacher, Peruvian public school

    Significantly, access to high-quality internet and devices in Peruvian homes is limited, so online lessons were not an option for many families. Instead, they relied on sending and receiving messages, usually via WhatsApp or SMS texts, which resulted in early childhood educators being the first point of call for parents, reframing their role in society.
    And our role was more emotional accompaniment for the families, not only with children, with families too
    Almudena

    Teacher, Peruvian public school

    If educators were able to connect virtually with children, they were faced with the challenges of adapting their pedagogical approach to foster relationships and engage young children through screens. A task that was initially faced by just the educators working in the private sector but soon by many in the public sector too.

    It has been a very difficult time. For me, as a professional, no? Because in spite of having made every effort to bond with my students, it’s a dehumanising process, you are in front of a computer and have no contact with them.

    Rosario

    Teacher, Peruvian private school

    Implications and conclusions

    This blog post, rather than endlessly listing the challenging circumstances faced by early childhood educators in Peru during the pandemic, seeks to draw attention to their resilience and achievements, providing a voice to those often overlooked in vulnerable communities.

    Resilience in educators was evident in the mere fact that ECE was able to be adapted and continued regardless of the extreme and unprecedented challenges faced. However, as Gu (2014) states, resilience in educators is not merely coping in the face of adversity; it encompasses a moral and vocational-like commitment to make a difference and support learning. Critical to this dedication was their ability to develop positive interactions with parents and foster supportive relationships with peers, as they shared online teaching practices and provided emotional accompaniment. These coping strategies are underpinned by collaboration, which was key in bringing the ECE community together, and ensuring the best outcomes for children.

    This has significant implications for the future as the relationships forged between parents and teachers, alongside the new professional and personal skills developed by teachers, can be vital in addressing learning gaps and bridging inequalities. In highlighting these issues, there is the potential for the profession’s low prestige in Peruvian society to be changed or at least challenged.

    Key Messages

    • Celebrating the efforts and dedication of early childhood educators during the pandemic provides a voice to those often overlooked in vulnerable communities
    • Resilience in educators includes a moral and vocational-like commitment to make a difference and support learning
    • The development of positive interactions with parents was critical, as was the fostering of supportive relationships with peers
    • The relationships forged, and the professional and personal skills developed by teachers during the pandemic, can be vital in addressing learing gaps and bridging inequalities.
    Tom Chalmers

    Tom Chalmers

    PhD Student at the University of Greenwich, UK

    Tom Chambers is an early career researcher studying a part-time PhD at the University of Greenwich, London. His research is focused on exploring the impact of the pandemic on the key stakeholders associated with early childhood education (ECE) in Peru. The research will not only have implications for educational policy and practice but also highlight the inequalities in accessing high-quality ECE in countries in the Global South.

    He has recently completed a two-year period of part-time volunteer work as a desk researcher with La Fundación Baltazar y Nicolás, a Peruvian NGO involved with supporting parents of young children in Peru. Tom is an experienced early years/primary educator and holds a Master’s in Education also from the University of Greenwich

    Twitter/X: @TomChambers1984 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tom-chambers1984 ORCID: 0009-0000-4439-9592

    Other blog posts on similar topics:

    References and Further Reading

    Alcázar, L., Bullard, M., &Balarin, M. (2020). Poor education and precarious jobs in Peru: Understanding who is left behind and why. Southern Voice, 64. https://southernvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Education-Jobs-Peru-Alcazar-Bullard-and-Ballarin-2020.pdf

    Gu, Q. (2014). The role of relational resilience in teachers career-long commitment and effectiveness. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 20(5), 502–529. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2014.937961

    OECD. (2018). Programme For International Student Assessment (PISA) Results From PISA 2018. In OECD COUNTRY NOTE. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/PISA2018_CN_PER.pdf

    Saavedra, J., & Gutierrez, M. (2020). Peru: A Wholesale Reform Fueled by an Obsession with Learning and Equity. In F. M. Reimers (Ed.), Audacious Education Purposes: How Governments Transform the Goals of Education Systems. Springer.

    Peru: A Wholesale Reform Fueled by an Obsession with Learning and Equity | SpringerLink

    Education in a Post-COVID World: Creating more Resilient Education Systems

    Education in a Post-COVID World: Creating more Resilient Education Systems

    by | BERA, NW 14 Communities, Families, and Schooling in Educational Research

    Schools across Europe have been at the forefront of dealing with the COVID crisis since it began in 2020, coping with different systems of attendance, new methods of learning, and changing government guidance on how to operate. Many education systems have found themselves under pressure in these circumstances. Not all have fared well.  Data from our research[1] tracking how primary teachers in England responded to the disruption provides some insights into whether and how COVID-19 can lead to more resilient education systems. Revaluing local knowledge is a vital element in rebuilding, reconnecting, and reimagining education after the pandemic.

    Our data shows that local knowledge provides a more accurate guide to exactly what the problems are and, on that basis, can help determine what the most useful next steps might be.

    One key decision that governments faced at the start of the pandemic was whether to close schools or keep them open, at a time when governments found it was hard to judge the risks for children’s health and well-being. Many governments resolved this choice by looking at what others were doing first. 

    Here in England, the government opted for closure during the first wave, with schools staying open only for children of key workers or those judged vulnerable. In June, just a few age groups were allowed to return. Since the start of this academic year, all schools were instructed to stay fully open, even in regions with the highest number of infections. Staff or pupils who fell ill and their close contacts were expected to self-isolate.

    To cover gaps in provision, the government passed emergency legislation which gave schools “a legal duty to provide remote education for state-funded, school-age children unable to attend school due to coronavirus”. This decision has proved controversial in a system which is not equipped with sufficient digital devices and connectivity to ensure all pupils can benefit in this way. 

    These decisions show how far politicians emphasised returning the education system to normal functioning as quickly as possible, fuelled by reports quantifying learning lost during the lockdown. Modelling the consequences of lessons lost, or volume of work returned has certainly created alarming scenarios of widening attainment gaps with severe consequences for the students involved. If teaching and learning are imagined as steady delivery of curriculum content to time and test dates, then “catching up” seems crucial. But is this the right reaction, or a product of insufficient local knowledge to make the right calls?

    Research into teacher responses and priorities

    By focusing our research on what was happening in real schools in real-time, we and colleagues at UCL Institute of Education have built a clearer picture of how primary teachers responded during the pandemic, their priorities as schools began to fully reopen, and the lessons learnt for the longer term. 

    Our survey and interview data demonstrated that teachers were most concerned about pupil wellbeing.  On schools reopening, 76% of teachers thought pupil wellbeing was central with only 8% prioritising “Enabling students to catch up for missed learning”. Teachers thought parents’ priorities would broadly be in line with their own, with the benefits for children of socialising with their friends (54%) and the normality of settling back into school routines (65%) holding more importance than reassurance that children would catch up quickly in core areas of the curriculum (28%). Schools are about much more than curriculum delivery.

    Strengthening school communities

    Our research showed that teaching during lockdown was changing teachers’ perceptions of their school communities. Many teachers felt more aware of the impact of poverty on pupils’ lives, and recognised the difficulties some families experienced in supporting pupils’ learning at home. Feedback on home-learning highlighted the importance of creating tasks that children would enjoy.  Teachers worked hard to ensure that children without internet access had opportunities to learn offline. 

    Many teachers working with our most disadvantaged communities played a key role in supporting families and communities by checking that families were not going hungry, that they had access to other avenues of support, where needed, and that the most vulnerable children were as safe as they could be. This kind of direct support for communities matters, yet it is often overlooked in the public debate on the value of education which frames it as a private rather than a public good.  

    Looking ahead – the impact of testing and importance of community resilience

    If the COVID crisis has revealed the depth of educational inequalities in societies where economic gaps have widened disproportionately, it can also lead to a re-evaluation of the good that schools can do. Looking ahead,

    • 77% of our respondents agreed with the statement, ‘If testing and inspection goes ahead as normal next year, schools serving the most disadvantaged communities will be unfairly penalised’.
    • 72% agreed ‘Schools have an important role in building community resilience that should be both recognised and funded’ and 73% considered ‘Primary education needs to begin again, with a broader definition of curriculum values and purposes’.
    • Only 4% thought ‘The best approach to supporting children through the crisis is ensuring they reach the expected standards in KS1 and KS2 assessments next year’.

    Our research tells us that a narrow focus on repairing test scores is counter-productive. Slower processes of recuperation create firmer foundations for future learning, particularly when they build upon the knowledge teachers have gained from working with their communities during a period of disruption. 

    Revaluing local knowledge is a vital element in rebuilding, reconnecting, and reimagining education after the pandemic.  Research can help in making more visible the voices of teachers and their communities and thus creating more resilient education systems.

    References and Further Reading

    [1] The research project, “A duty of care and a duty to teach: educational priorities in response to the COVID-19 crisis’. Funder: UKRI/ESRC Rapid Response to COVID call, project no. ES/V00414X/1. Researchers: PI: Gemma Moss. Co-Is: Alice Bradbury, Sam Duncan, Sinead Harmey, and Rachael Levy.  See 

    Professor Gemma Moss

    Professor Gemma Moss

    Professor of Literacy, UCL Institute of Education

    Gemma Moss is Professor of Literacy at UCL Institute of Education and Director of the International Literacy Centre.  She has written extensively about the evolution of literacy policy, gender and literacy, assessment, and the emergence of new knowledge networks in education.  She was a member of EERA council between 2016-18.

    Dr Alice Bradbury

    Dr Alice Bradbury

    Associate Professor of Sociology of Education, UCL

    Alice Bradbury is Associate Professor of Sociology of Education at UCL Institute of Education and Co-Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0-11 years). Her research focuses on the relationship between policy and classroom practices and subjectivities in primary and early years education.

    Caring for Those who Teach Online – Reflections from a Virtual Staffroom

    Caring for Those who Teach Online – Reflections from a Virtual Staffroom

    by | ESAI, General, NW 1 Professional Learning and Development, NW 26 Educational Leadership

    When schools and higher education institutions closed their doors in March 2020, some of the implicit and informal supports for teacher educators disappeared. As teacher educators migrated to new modes of teaching and learning, institutional supports such as IT upskilling, educational technologies, professional development, and assistance from HR were provided. However, many staff commented that the burden of the expectations placed on them often exceeded what they felt capable of responding to in a personal capacity. With this as the backdrop, I want to reflect on how staff in one institution developed more informal ways of supporting each other and building community in a time of isolation and fragmentation.

    The imperative to create what Noddings calls ‘a climate in which caring relations can flourish’, and through which a sense of belonging can be maintained, led to us setting up a virtual staff room. The staff room doors opened for a coffee break from 11.00 to 12.00 every morning. To date, this has happened on over 120 occasions with more than 90 colleagues engaging in the staff room at different times. This casual drop-in space was hosted on Zoom with a reminder sent to all staff ten minutes before the room was opened. The live interaction was supported by emails, phone calls, and some shared photography and cooking projects.

    As with any staff room, the tone was set by the people in the room at any given time.  Ultimately what emerged was a supportive conversational space which broke down barriers as people swapped the small details and intimacies of everyday living and allowed colleagues glimpses into one another’s lives. This online space was characterised by a framework of CARE: a space for free-flowing conversation on a range of topics from the sublime to the ridiculous, attention to each other, deepening relationships with colleagues, and an increasing empathy as we observed something of each other’s homes and family lives. What we learned from the virtual staff room is that each element of this framework of CARE has to be supported by a number of integrated principles for practice: presence, production, performance, persona, personal, pastoral, and peer-to-peer. 

    Presence: Developing and maintaining a supportive space for conversation demands the fully engaged presence of the host in the virtual space. The host cannot dominate the conversation but will have to facilitate it. The continuity of having the same host, meeting at the same time, and sending a regular reminder, offered people a sense of assurance that some things stayed the same. As one colleague noted: ‘Just knowing that there are opportunities like this to connect goes a long way to help you feel more connected right away’.

    Production: We learned that there should be no agenda or expectation of having to engage in quizzes or activities so that participants have the chance to ‘switch-off’ from having to do something. Participants wanted to ‘be’ with each other rather than to ‘do’.

    Performance: Some personality types were comfortable adopting a virtual persona and spoke comfortably to the camera in the early stages of the virtual staff room, whereas it took others time to be comfortable in the space. Trying to ensure that all participants can be seen on one screen is vital for bringing quieter participants into the chat.

    Persona: During the early weeks of meeting each other, there was a sense that participants were conscious of performing for the camera and projecting a positive persona. This mitigated against revealing what was really happening for them. Empathic conversations ensued when someone risked saying that things were not going so well for them.

    Personal: The host has to ensure that people are introduced to each other as many colleagues may not have met in real-life. Deepening relationships in a CARE framework means that the virtual staffroom welcomed children, partners, and pets and provided glimpses of each other’s homes and gardens as part of caring for each other. In the words of one participant: ‘I like meeting people’s children and pets and seeing their homes and gardens – makes me feel more connected.’

    Pastoral: Taking a CARE approach to hosting the virtual staff room will occasionally draw the host into providing pastoral support for some participants. CARE will sometimes call for actions that we might not have anticipated.

    Peer-to-peer: CARE is ultimately a peer-to-peer activity based on the realisation, again in the words of a participant, ‘that we are in this together, I look forward to seeing the familiar faces.’ The virtual staff room extended people’s social network by creating new links and new modes of engagement between colleagues.

     

    What began as an informal approach to caring for staff and keeping us connected with each other, the virtual staff room has become an example of how taking a CARE approach to an online space can provide a positive space for conversation, characterised by empathic attention to each other in our evolving relationships.

    The door remains open, and the kettle is on.

    Dr Sandra Cullen

    Dr Sandra Cullen

    Assistant Professor of Religious Education, Dublin City University

    Dr. Sandra Cullen is Assistant Professor of Religious Education at Dublin City University where she specialises in second-level religious education. As Director of the ICRE (Irish Centre for Religious Education) she supports research and teaching in religious education in a variety of contexts. She is the APF (Area of Professional Focus) leader for Religious Education on the Doctor of Education Programme at DCU, and serves on the Executive of EFTRE (the European Forum for Teachers of Religious Education) and on the International Advisory Board of the Journal of Religious Education.