What Did the Covid-19 Pandemic Tell Us About Initial Teacher Programmes?

The Covid-19 pandemic caused unprecedented global disruption to human activities.This level of disturbance would be unethical during normal research.However, researchers were able to gather data and make comparisons with the pre-pandemic situations.This paper adds new findings to a mixed methods study of pre-service teachers' confidence to teach during the pandemic.Previous findings have been reported in International Academy of Technology, Education and Development (IATED) conference proceedings papersPre-service teachers on initial teacher education (ITE) programmes at a higher education (HE) provider in partnership with schools in the northwest of England were invited to participate in anonymous online surveys during 2020 and 2021.Confidence in their ability to demonstrate a range of teaching skills was expressed as numerical self-efficacy scores and open responses.Participants were invited to provide anonymous demographic information including their experience of anti-Covid-19 measures and the associated impact on their ITE programmesAnti-Covid-19 measures impacted differently on the ITE programmes as the pandemic progressed 1 2 3.Statistical analysis of self-efficacy scores and qualitative analysis of skill statements suggested reasons for the increased self-efficacy scores ascribed by 2020-21 respondents 4.Further statistical analysis suggests the importance of the final phase of school experience placements for pre-service teachers in developing an awareness of the interrelationships between teaching skills.The paper is relevant for ITE programmes in the United Kingdom (UK) and internationally where assessment is based upon the successful demonstration of teaching skills or competencies.The discussion highlights the importance of including personal attributes in recruitment criteria alongside qualifications.Bandura's 5 influences on self-efficacy and Korthagen's 6 model for reflection were utilised to help theorise the findings.