From Confusion to Clarity: Two Early Years Teachers’ Remote Learning Experience

Ann  Downton; James A Russo; Sally Hughes; Janette Bobis; Sharyn Livy; Peter Sullivan

Vol. 14 No. 4 (2022) IEJEE

From Confusion to Clarity: Two Early Years Teachers’ Remote Learning Experience

Ann Downton
James A Russo
Sally Hughes
Janette Bobis
Sharyn Livy
Peter Sullivan

Published April 28, 2022 | Pages: 475-489 | Views: 545

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Abstract

Just as students experience productive struggle or spend time in the ‘zone of confusion’ when engaging with challenging tasks, teachers also experience similar struggles and periods of confusion when engaging with new pedagogical approaches. Prior to a 19-week lockdown due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), two Foundation teachers implemented a student-centred pedagogical approach when teaching with challenging tasks. While they had some initial success implementing the pedagogical approach and a three-phase lesson structure, they struggled to implement it during the lockdown. It is the experiences of these teachers, in particular their experience of confusion relating to aspects of the pedagogical approach, and how this confusion was overcome, that is reported in this paper. Central to our findings is the importance of teachers reflecting on their own experiences of struggle and the impact this had on their professional learning, as well as the notion that adversity can be a catalyst for change.

<p>Just as students experience productive struggle or spend time in the ‘zone of confusion’ when engaging with challenging tasks, teachers also experience similar struggles and periods of confusion when engaging with new pedagogical approaches. Prior to a 19-week lockdown due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), two Foundation teachers implemented a student-centred pedagogical approach when teaching with challenging tasks. While they had some initial success implementing the pedagogical approach and a three-phase lesson structure, they struggled to implement it during the lockdown. It is the experiences of these teachers, in particular their experience of confusion relating to aspects of the pedagogical approach, and how this confusion was overcome, that is reported in this paper. Central to our findings is the importance of teachers reflecting on their own experiences of struggle and the impact this had on their professional learning, as well as the notion that adversity can be a catalyst for change.</p>

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Keywords

COVID-19, Early primary teachers, Mathematics education, Remote learning, Productive struggle, Pedagogical practice, Organismic valuing theory of growth

Affiliations

Ann Downton

James A Russo

Monash University

Sally Hughes

Janette Bobis

Sharyn Livy

Peter Sullivan

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How to Cite

Downton, A. ., Russo, J. A., Hughes, S., Bobis, J., Livy, S., & Sullivan, P. (2022). From Confusion to Clarity: Two Early Years Teachers’ Remote Learning Experience. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 14(4), 475–489. Retrieved from https://iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/1559