‘The pandemic is over but it’s not over’: health teachers’ perspectives post-pandemic lockdown

This research sought insights into ways in which health teachers understand their roles, particularly as relates to health curriculum and supporting students' transition back to in-person learning following the post-pandemic lockdown. Interviews were conducted with urban and rural, elementary and secondary health teachers and analysed using constructivist grounded theory. Analysis revealed how teachers adapted their instructional strategies based on their observations of ways students needed both mental health supports and were tired of talking about mental health. In addressing issues related to the pandemic, teachers remained as neutral as possible, and resisted perpetuating polarizing public discourses without avoiding them. Participants also connected with social justice issues, employing gender-inclusive language, displaying supportive symbols of 2SLGBTQ+, and working with Indigenous Knowledge Keepers. Support of students' transition back to in-person learning after the lockdown informed development of the grounded theory model: health education as œuvre d'art, nothing short of a work of art.