Lived experience of teaching interns during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the educational landscape. As part of a state university's learning continuity plan, a flexible delivery system was implemented. This descriptive phenomenological study aims to investigate, through unstructured online interviews, the online teaching experience of ten (10) interns. Rigor was established following Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) Trustworthiness Framework. Using Colaizzi's (1979) thematic analysis, emergent themes were identified. The interns revealed their reached and unmet expectations, as well as the challenges in delivering their lessons and managing their classes. Nevertheless, they acknowledged the presence of a solid support system. They maintained a strong cognitive-social-teaching presence. They also displayed a growth mindset, resilience, integrity, and persistence in overcoming the challenges. Despite the difficulties they faced, they experienced successes and had realizations during their online teaching internship. Moving forward, the teaching interns made some useful suggestions for improving the teaching internship program's policies and practices.