The aim of this study is to analyse the process of teaching on line amongst Swedish high school teachers. The empirical material for the study is based on four one-hour qualitative interviews with high school teachers who taught a range of subjects between them. The teachers interviewed all worked in the same high school in Mid Sweden and they were compelled to teach online as part of a series of measures deployed by the Swedish Government in response to the COVID19 global pandemic. The interview data were analysed with the help of Anselm Strauss’ pragmatist-interactionist notion of work and articulation work, and with the help of the concept of tacit knowledge. The study shows the range and nature of the extra work tasks engaged in by the teachers when teaching online. It also highlights the difficulties teachers had in communicating with students in an online setting, where they were unable to put their tacit classroom skills to use. Teachers felt that their professional practice depended on creative and spontaneous classroom communication, and that such classroom interaction was necessary for successful pupil outcomes. The study highlights that the online environment did not allow for this creative and spontaneous classroom practice. In the online environment teachers could not pick up cues from learners. Teachers’ ability to perform professionally was thereby compromised by the online environment. Further research into teachers’ methods for online teaching is required.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-174495 |
Date | January 2020 |
Creators | Dooley, Patrick |
Publisher | Umeå universitet, Sociologiska institutionen |
Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
Format | application/pdf |
Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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