Primary School Teachers’ Experiences in the Distance Education

Abstract

As in other countries, schools in Turkey have had to switch to distance education due to COVID-19 spreading worldwide and becoming a pandemic. The quality and future direction of education during the pandemic is a matter of debate, particularly at the primary school level, which is always essential for pupils to acquire life skills. The purpose of this research is to determine the situations experienced by primary school teachers in the distance education process and their inferences regarding this process. The sample of the research employing the phenomenology design consisted of 20 primary school teachers serving in state schools in seven different regions in Turkey which are determined via maximum varitation sampling. We collected the data using a semi-structured interview technique and subjected the data to content analysis. The findings revealed that the participants’ views were clustered under four major themes: teaching, stakeholders, recommendations, and future projection of the pandemic. In the first theme, the participating teachers uttered that their students could not fully acquire the desired outcomes in distance education, which was mediated by the drawbacks experienced in the use of technology. In addition, they reported that the low participation rates among students also influenced failures in teaching. In the second theme, they drew attention to the significance of parental involvement. In the theme of “Recommendations,” the participating teachers offered some recommendations for the goals and objectives, teaching-learning process, and measurement and evaluation. In the last theme, they highlighted the topics related to distance education, the effects of the pandemic, and compensatory programs. Based on the results obtained in the research, suggestions were made to provide technological tools and internet support to students, and to provide training for possible crisis situations during the training of teachers.