A Comparative Analysis of Camus' the Plague Novel and Covid-19 Pandemic: A Training Program / Camus'nun Veba Romanı ve Kovid-19 Pandemisinin Karşlaştırmalı Analizi: Bir Eğitim Programı

Abstract

Humanity has witnessed a large number of pandemics. These pandemics direct people to question themselves, their lives and world order. On the other hand, pandemics leave deep permanent marks on humanity by making significant changes on people's habits and daily lives. Pandemics are mostly viewed as concerns for science and institutes of healthcare but there are pieces of literature about pandemics. One of these literary pieces is “The Plague” novel published in 1947 written by French philosopher Albert Camus. Covid-19, which has financially, socially and psychologically traumatized world, shares some similarities with events in Camus's Plague novel. It seems very useful to use literary texts to make sense of current events that affect human life such as pandemics. Educational institutions are among the most effected organizations from Covid-19. For this reason, it is thought important to discuss what they have experienced during pandemic with teacher candidates. The aim of this study is to examine “Comparative Analysis of Camus' The Plague Novel and Covid-19 Pandemic” activity in terms of opinions of teacher candidates participating in the activity. In this study the qualitative research design was used. 22 teacher candidates participated in the study. This training, which was carried out with distance education, lasted 7 sessions. Teacher diaries and focus group discussions were used as data collection tools. Qualitative techniques were used in the analysis of the collected data. Findings of the study compares teacher candidates' views about The Plague novel and Covid-19 pandemic in terms of individual and social reactions, ethics and being scientific. Additionally, teacher candidates generated ideas related to individual, social, educational, and financial consequences of Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, teacher candidates expressed that the activity was beneficial for them.