Abstract:

The research investigates CoVid-19 issues related to the adoption of social distancing measures and school closures from March 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures#history), as they impacted on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes leading to the recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England. In addition to the direct and immediate impact on this year’s round of ITE participants and their self-efficacy going forward there will be medium and longer term implications of CoVid-19 for the teacher workforce and the economics of teacher recruitment.

Immediate changes to ITE programmes will be necessary from September despite a relaxation of the lock-down and government requirements for the number of training days based in schools (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/464/contents/made). Schools in England have started to re-open but may not be fully functional from the start of the new academic year. Finding school experience placements may become an issue if a significant number of schools withdraw from teacher training partnerships.

As ITE participants move forward into their Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) year the CoVid-19 pandemic will continue to raise challenges for those involved in NQT supervision and recommendation for the confirmation of QTS at the end of this probationary year. There will be a strain on employers in schools that continue training and assessing NQTs before QTS is finally confirmed. It is likely that QTS providers will be asked to enhance support for NQT teachers and NQT mentors in school moving into the next academic year.

Friedman and Kass (2002, p684) suggested a definition of teacher self-efficacy as a “teacher’s perception of his or her ability to perform required professional tasks and to regulate relations involved in the process of teaching and educating students”. Pre-validated questionnaires (Friedman & Kass, 2002; Tschannen-Moran & Hoyb, 2001) were and will be adapted to incorporate trainee teachers', NQTs mentors' and experienced teachers’ belief in their own capabilities responding to the workforce changes. The research aims to measure impact on their ability to manage the consequences of change positively within the next 12 months as schools return and face-to-face teaching re-commences. This presentation will report data from the initial on-line self-efficacy questionnaires returned by the NQTs from ITE programmes at a large Higher Education QTS provider (approximately 500 students) in the North West of England. It will also report data from a national version of the questionnaire.

The first stage questionnaire was associated with the research question:
What are the levels of teacher self-efficacy among successful PG ITE students preparing to take up NQT posts as schools re-open after the pandemic?

The intended outcome is to support schools and NQTs by identifying their short term remedial in-service training needs during their first term and successful distance learning strategies and materials for development.

Further phases of the research will follow NQTs into schools and include their mentors, line managers and colleagues, using questionnaires supported by case studies to gather data. This will further support ITE and ITT programmes leading to QTS in England and help predict long term implications for teacher recruitment, retention and potential work-force changes.

Keywords:

ITE, QTS, NQT, mentor, self-efficacy, training, deficiency, CoVid-19, pandemic, questionnaire, case study, support.