Fostering and Maintaining Relationships: Teacher Education During COVID-19

Authors

Jessica VanValkenburgh, Columbus State UniversityFollow
Aaron R. Gierhart, Columbus State UniversityFollow

Abstract

This article expounds how our pedagogical practices have changed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these effects others have contended with in the education community. The authors share pedagogical strategies they have found to be effective in terms of building and supporting relationships with teacher candidates. They suggest using digitally-mediated teaching and learning strategies, staying connected with students, and badge-based assessment and feedback approaches to build and support relationships with students; examples of the instructional design and implementation strategies are described. The authors propose that when looking forward, teachers at any level may benefit from providing students with an environment in which they feel heard and supported.

Author Bio

Jessica VanValkenburgh, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator of Middle Grades Education at Columbus State University. She taught middle school science in South Carolina public schools for 10 years before transitioning to higher education. Her research interests include middle grades education, science education, and family/community involvement in schools.

Aaron R. Gierhart, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education and Health Professions at Columbus State University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in elementary education, STEM, and digital pedagogy. He currently serves as the STEM Teaching P-12 Graduate Endorsement Program Coordinator at Columbus State and hosts the seasonal Journeys of Teaching podcast. He served as an elementary classroom teacher in Illinois for 11 years. His research interests include (critical) digital pedagogy and narratives of pedagogy.

DOI

10.20429/cimle.2022.260203

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

VanValkenburgh, Jessica and Gierhart, Aaron R. (2022) "Fostering and Maintaining Relationships: Teacher Education During COVID-19," Current Issues in Middle Level Education: Vol. 26: Iss. 2, Article 3.
DOI: 10.20429/cimle.2022.260203
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol26/iss2/3