Language in Infants Through Preschoolers

2101V - Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Examination of Preschool Teachers’ Daily Experiences across Instructional Modalities

ON-DEMAND

Format: 1-Hour Seminar (Virtual)

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic, Preschool Teachers, Dual Language Learners, Instructional Practices, Instructional Modality

Presenting Author(s)

Julie Smith

Teachers College Columbia University

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Christine Vail

Teachers College, Columbia University
Katya Mehta

Teachers College Columbia University

Author Only (Not Presenting)(s)

Bethany Keffala

Teachers College Columbia University
Carol Scheffner Hammer

Teachers College
Barbara Wasik

Temple University College of Education and Human Development

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, preschool teachers faced an unprecedented challenge of navigating remote, in-person, or hybrid instructional modalities. This disruption to early education disproportionately impacted classrooms that include dual language learners (DLLs) and children from low-income homes (Sugarman & Lazarín, 2020). Understanding the specific experiences of teachers in different instructional modalities is imperative for supporting educators’ resilience and language and literacy instruction for DLLs. Therefore, this presentation explores differences in teachers’ daily experiences across the three instructional modalities. Thirty-one preschool teachers of DLLs completed a survey and interview during the winter of 2020-2021. Results indicate both similarities and differences between modalities in terms of teachers' instructional practices, and the challenges and successes they experienced.

Learning Objectives:

Discuss the experiences of preschool teachers who provided remote, hybrid, and in-person instruction during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Describe teachers’ perceptions of the major challenges to facilitating children’s learning and development, including oral language and literacy skills, across instructional modalities.
Identify key factors that promoted teachers’ resilience to the unique challenges associated with instruction in remote, hybrid, and in-person modalities.