COVID-19 pandemic affected educational systems worldwide unveiling a lack of preparation to face such a crisis (Education International, 2020). Chile was no exception, with preschool to tertiary education unexpectedly migrating towards online instruction in 2020. Two problems emerged: inequitative connectivity and internet access for many Chilean households, and the pedagogical improvisation due to the educational system’s lack of preparation in confronting online instruction (Soto-Córdova, 2020).
This presentation focuses on the impact of the pandemic on English teaching and learning in Chile, the challenges confronted by teachers in remote education and how they faced them. By means of in-depth interviews, the experiences of 10 novice English teachers providing emergency remote instruction in different school contexts at the beginning of the pandemic were thematically analyzed. Findings showed main tensions that emerged in relation to pedagogical concerns and to teachers’ and students’ physical and emotional well-being. Some of these tensions indeed challenged the teachers’ own pedagogical ideals. Implications of the study show a need for re-negotiating and expanding teachers’ professionalism to avenues that incorporate a more humanistic, nurturing and self-caring perspective.
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Maritza Rosas-Maldonado is an English teacher and researcher at Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from University of Liverpool, UK, a Masters in Linguistics from Universidad de Concepción and a BA in English teaching from Universidad de Los Lagos. Her research interests are related to initial teacher education, teacher development and currently language teacher well-being.