Formal and informal professional development during different Covid-19 periods: the role of teachers’ career stages

This mixed-method study is based on interviews with 60 elementary-school teachers who participated in TPD (Teacher professional development) during two periods of the Covid-19 pandemic. Teachers were in early, middle and senior career stages. Teacher statements revealed three categories: (1) Informal and formal TPD – without appropriate formal TPD, teachers, especially those in the middle and senior career stages, turned to colleagues and to social media to cope with online instruction. (2) Self-regulated learning, in which teachers listed their motivating factors and expressed their TPD difficulties during the Covid-19 periods. (3) Perceived learning – the cognitive aspect was found to be higher than the emotional and social aspects, especially during the first Covid-19 period. The practical recommendations are intended for policy makers, to adapt the TPD system to teachers’ particular needs according to their ‘career cycle’, in order to cope with technology-integrated learning-teaching challenges, even in routine teaching.