Preservice Teachers in Distance Learning: Mitigating the Impact on Social and Emotional Learning

Introduction

Each year in higher education, the number of students enrolling in distance education courses increases. Seaman, Allen, and Seaman (2018) have documented the increase, noting the numbers of higher education students taking at least one distance education course growing from 27% in 2012 to nearly 31.6% in 2016. In addition, the percent of students participating in exclusively distance education programs has risen from 12.6% in 2012 to 14.9% in 2016. However, some teacher preparation programs have avoided offering their classes in fully online formats due to the belief that preservice teachers need to learn their content by being physically present in their credential courses and by participating in hands-on strategies and activities.

In Spring 2020, many preservice teachers in the United States faced a significant disruption when their classes unexpectedly shifted from a face-to-face format to distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The stability of highly structured weekly class sessions, the face-to-face interactions with their peers and professors, and the opportunity to get in person support were displaced by self-paced, asynchronous work, virtual meetings, and using digital communication tools to connect with their peers and professors. Garrett et al. (2020) studied the impact of this shift. Typical higher education institutions had a matter of weeks to convert anywhere from 500-2,000 courses to distance learning. The most significant challenges of this transition centered on the lack of preparedness on the part of the faculty and students, as well as the institutions themselves and their infrastructure.

The pivot to distance learning, in addition to all of the other disruptions in their lives, took its toll on candidates’ social and emotional learning (SEL). While the definitions of SEL have changed over the years, the focus is on a range of social, emotional, and behavioral skills that aid people’s success in school, the workplace, and with their families and communities (Frey et al., 2019). Weissberg and Cascarino elaborate on the importance of these skills, saying, “When schools promote students’ academic, social, and emotional learning, students will possess the basic competencies, work habits, and values for engaged postsecondary education, meaningful careers, and constructive citizenship” (2013, p. 9).

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is an organization that has contributed a wealth of research and resources in the area of SEL in education. CASEL has identified five interconnected SEL competencies. They include responsible decision making, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and self-awareness (CASEL, 2005).

The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the impacts of courses suddenly shifting to an online format on preservice teacher candidates’ academic, social, and emotional learning and to explore what online instructors can do to support these candidates in the distance learning environment. Specifically, this study posed two research questions:

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  How did the shift to distance learning impact candidates' academic, social, and emotional learning?

  • •How can faculty modify courses delivered through distance learning to better support candidates?