Webinar-Based Capacity Building for Teachers: “Lifeblood in Facing the New Normal of Education”

Abstract

Webinars as an avenue for professional development training remain to be scarcely explored, impeding the innovations in human resource development, which, if left unresolved, could have detrimental consequences to the professionals and ultimately, the economy. This study responded to this gap by exploring and examining the meanings around webinars as capacity-building for professionals from the point of view of the teachers. Guided by the post-modern, constructivist philosophical stance, interpretive hermeneutic phenomenology research design, and the interpretive analysis of qualitative data, the virtual face-to-face interview of the purposively selected 35 teachers revealed four overarching themes: (1) Webinars as vital space for formal professional deliberations; (2) Webinars as matters of personal, environmental, technical, and financial tolls; (3) Webinars as prevue of what lies ahead in the new normal of education; and (4) Webinars as the lifeblood in facing the new normal of education. Overall, the themes purport that despite the different issues that teachers encountered in the navigation of webinar complexities, their learning and discovery, cultivated connections, and developed hope for the newer education system and continued professional growth in the future, are what makes webinars their lifeblood in facing the new normal of education. These findings can help human resource development personnel craft webinar training plans and protocols that are congruous to the present situations, common interests, and nature of professional teachers.