“Teachers Are Rock Stars!” Rethinking Teaching and Teacher Education in a Post-Pandemic World: Innovative Disruption and Silver Linings

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic amplified a pre-existing global education crisis. As teachers and systems alike have pivoted to keep the education of the next generation underway, the liminal space between normal and the new normal has provided the opportunity for innovative disruption and transformation to confront the status quo in ways that were previously unimaginable. It is in this space of possibility, in mid-2022, that 466 education stakeholders including teachers, academics, system leaders, and university students explored the idea of rethinking teaching and teacher education in a post-pandemic world. The participants of the study responded to a series of five questions about impact, spaces for transformation, and possible legacies. Inductive qualitative coding was employed to generate themes from the responses, and polling used to determine the frequency of agreement followed. Among the findings were insights into their experiences and the spaces for innovative disruption, with three areas most notable: the opportunity for valuing teachers’ expertise, noting their ‘rock star’ status during the lockdown phase of the pandemic; the need to focus on student and teacher wellbeing, equity and diversity; and the opportunity to innovate for enhanced flexibility for work structures, learning and connecting beyond the classroom.