Abstract:

With the rapid global return to "normality" with the apparent weakening of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become relevant to relate the positive changes caused by the pandemic regarding the online aspects of learning and to implement them into effective teaching and learning routines (Cahapay, 2020; Xiao, 2021; Zhu & Liu, 2020). In this regard, the current study focuses on a post Covid-19 curricular-structural change in the context of teacher education. The change was titled '1of 4' which designed the structure of approximately, one of four weeks in each semester focused on remote learning in a coherent sequence with the following three weeks learning face to face (hereafter, F2F). This blended learning (hereafter, BL) timetable may express Zhao and Watterson's (2021) argument that "remote learning became the de facto method of education provision for varying periods." (p. 2). Thus, remote learning enables flexibility in time, space, and approaches to teaching and learning reflecting a positive change in the post Covid-19 era. The study aims to explore the extent of satisfaction of 76 teacher educators (TEs) and 553 student teachers (STs) with the new BL timetable, their perceptions of the pros and cons of the new timetable, and their recommendations to improve the structural change. A main quantitative method using a questionnaire including closed assertions and two open questions revealed that both the TEs and the STs had a positive opinion regarding the BL change and recommended adopting it for future learning. T-test analyses revealed significant differences in means scores of the perceptions of the pros and cons of the change between the TEs group and the STs group. In general, it was found that the STs, compared to the TEs, perceived the new BL as a more positive and desirable change. However, the TEs, compared to the STs, showed higher mean scores in all the suggested cons. In particular, the TEs perceived the new BL timetable as creating overwork and harming sequential learning. The participants' recommendations for improvement revealed that the TEs and STs, still mainly expressed traditional, F2F familiar, dispositions regarding their roles and their expectations from the new BL timetable. Thus, the main conclusion posits that structural change is crucial, but it may only act as the first step in redesigning teacher preparation. Implications relate to the second step which includes embracing a more holistic curricular orientation.

References:
[1] Cahapay, M. B. (2020). Rethinking education in the new normal post COVID-19 era: A curriculum studies perspective. Aquademia, 4(2), 2008.
[2] Xiao, J. (2021). Decoding new normal in education for the post-COVID-19 world: Beyond the digital solution. Asian Journal of Distance Education, 16(1), 141-155.
[3] Zhao, Y. & Watterston, J. (2021). The changes we need: Education post COVID-19. Journal of Educational Change, 22(3), 3-12.
[4] Zhu, X. & Liu, J. (2020). Education in and after COVID-19: Immediate responses and long-term visions. Postdigital Science and Education, 2, 695-699.

Keywords:

Blended learning, Curriculum, Post Covid-19, Teacher Education.