Abstract:

This study examined the impact of the change from frontal, face-to-face pre-service teaching to remote, distance-learning resulting from the Covid-19 outbreak, on the acquisition of teachers' core practices with an emphasis on social-emotional learning. This change in teaching method enabled the study of the differential impact of face-to-face interaction with pupils and peers on core practice acquisition, with an emphasis on pedagogical knowledge and communication skills.

The goal of this research is to examine the impact of the change from frontal, face-to-face pre-service teaching to remote, distance-learning on the quantity and quality of acquisition of teachers' core practices and to measure the effect of distance learning on pedagogical content knowledge and knowledge of learners and ocial-emotional learning.

The students in the 2021 academic year filled out the questionnaires at two points in time: 1. After a semester of distance-learning - the period of closures and social distance, (161 questionnaires) 2. After a semester of face-to-face learning and the return to schools (130 questionnaires) A control group of 47 internship students filled out a questionnaire based on their field teaching experiences before the Covid-19 epidemic. In addition, 17 experienced pedagogical instructors who taught students in the 2021 academic year filled out questionnaires at the two points in time.

This research studied the extent to which pre-service teachers learned and experienced the core practices of teaching through distance-learning. Findings showed that on the theoretical level, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of communication skills was acquired. However, on the experiential level the pedagogical experience was rated at a relatively high level, however communication skills (social-emotional learning) were rated very low.
This study sheds light on the contribution to core practice acquisition of face-to-face interaction with both the children and pupils in the kindergarten and school room, as well as the importance of peer learning and staff teamwork.

Results of this study point to a differential influence of remote, distance-learning during pre-service teaching on two types of core practices: theoretical learning and experiential learning. Theoretical learning of both pedagogic content knowledge and knowledge of learners was less affected by the distance-learning. However, experiential learning was reduced, especially in the core practices related to communication and knowledge of learners. Experiencing the teaching of pedagogic content and communication with learners necessitates interaction with pupils and peers and was reduced by the lack of interactive face-to-face pre-service teaching during distance-learning.

As stated by Grossman, Hammerness, and McDonald (2009), “Learning about a method or learning to justify a method is not the same thing as learning to do the method with a class of students, just as learning about piano playing and musical theory is not learning to play the piano” (as cited in Lampert, 2005, p. 36).
Remote distance-learning can not provide the same conditions as face-to-face teaching in the classroom, and therefore pre-service teachers were not able to experience the interaction with their pupils, and develop social-emotional learning.

Keywords:

Social-emotional learning, interpersonal skills, core practices in teacher education, distance learning.