Responding to Student Teachers' Fears: How We're Adjusting during the COVID-19 Shutdowns

Abstract

The COVID-19 epidemic has wrought havoc on both K-12 education and teacher preparation, to say nothing of society in general. For many of our candidates, the normal fears and anxieties that surround student teaching have been magnified to the point of that even our most promising student teachers feel overwhelmed and panicked. In this article, we reflect on the need for teacher educators to acknowledge and respond to their candidates' fears. We outline some of the individual, pedagogical, and programmatic adjustments that we have made in wake of the COVID shutdowns. We conclude by acknowledging that these adjustments are part of a still-ongoing process.

Keywords

• Teacher Education
• Student Teaching
• COVID-19
• Emotional Regulation