Abstract:

This study aimed to investigate teaching quality as a practice during the corona pandemic. In this context, teaching quality as a practice can somewhat simplified be understood as a contextual and collective action. Bronfenbrenner's (1979) bio-ecological development perspective and PPCT model (1998) were used as a starting point in the study. More specifically, this study focused on the process element of the PPCT model. The process element was investigated by talking to lecturers, their colleagues and immediate supervisors at the Continuing Education Department at the Police University College. The study's empirical material consists of qualitative semi-structured interviews with staff at the Norwegian Police University College's continuing and further education department who had teaching responsibilities during the pandemic. The interviews were primarily conducted online and lasted from 60 to 90 minutes. A total of 20 employees were interviewed, of which 15 were in teaching positions and five in management positions. The interviewees received an information letter and gave their consent to participate in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with ethical guidelines and has been reported to the Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research (SIKT). In our conversations with those responsible for teaching at different levels, we have come closer to their own stories about the importance of relational closeness in different parts and phases of the quality work. In this context, studying teaching quality as a practice through a process perspective means shedding light on the relational mechanisms that directly and indirectly shape and develop the actors' perceptions and behavior related to quality in teaching. The results showed that it was immediately easy to think of proximity in the teaching situation as physical proximity, since the corona restrictions focused on distance in meters. The lack of physical proximity was not only a relationship between the student and the situation they were practicing in, but also affected the instructors' ability to enter the teaching situation as a facilitator. The education of police officers includes training in handling situations where body contact is crucial. Teaching quality in practice therefore becomes a reflection with subsequent negotiation and decisions that will safeguard the student's ability to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills that the teaching is intended to provide. Relational closeness among colleagues was another factor that potentially affected the quality of teaching in practice. Another important factor for the quality of teaching in practice was the relational closeness between employees and managers. A key point in Bronfenbrenner's previously mentioned bio-ecological development model is the distinction between proximal and distal processes. In somewhat simplified terms, Bronfenbrenner argues that relational proximity to the other is the primary mechanism and key factor in development, meaning that the environment with which the individual interacts directly and frequently has a greater impact than that which is further away and less directly intrusive/visible/sensible in everyday life. Similarly, a significant part of police training is dependent on physical activity. In summary, we can say that the relational mechanisms were challenged during the corona period.

Keywords:

Teaching quality, practice, process, relational closeness, Bronfenbrenner, PPCT model.