Teachers Fear Returning to the Classrooms, Survey Reveals

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Faced with uncertainty about the reopening of schools, Education Week approached educators, principals, and district leaders to find out if they are prepared to go back to the classrooms.

Teachers Fear Returning to the Classrooms, Survey Reveals
Photo: Istock/FamVeld.
Reading time 6 minutes
Reading Time: 6 minutes

Faced with uncertainty about what return to school will look like in the fall, Education Week approached educators, principals, and district leaders to find out if they are prepared to go back to the classrooms.

Now that the restrictions to prevent coronavirus contagion are lifting, many educators and families are asking the same questions: What comes next? What will happen when we return to classes?

To find out the opinion of the academic community, Education Week surveyed nearly 2000 teachers, 477 principals, and 446 district leaders. The study revealed key points, including what will happen to students who have health problems? Will they return to face-to-face classes, or continue with online learning?

The outlook is uncertain. In Mexico, COVID-19 cases keep increasing, and in the United States, the number of deaths is forecast to reach 200 thousand by September. In this situation, it is up to the institutions to debate whether it is better to continue online classes or reopen their doors.

Nervousness about the reopening of schools

Faced with the possibility of returning to face-to-face classes after quarantine, 65% of teachers believe that schools should remain closed to prevent further contagion. In contrast, the remaining 35% believe that they should open as it would help to return to routine faster. Teachers and high school principals are more supportive of reopening than those who teach elementary and preschool students. Also, those who do not have close people with health problems are more likely to look for reopening, the survey revealed.

In the case of the United States, the possibility of reopening schools varies from state to state. In Hawaii, for example, nearly half of the principals are about 55 years of age or older, while in Illinois, only 9% are in that age range. Overall, 9% of respondents are 65 years of age or older, a population that is considered to be most at risk. This scenario also means that school districts have to think about personal plans to protect the senior educators and address the shortage of staff in case many are unable to return.

In addition to age, one in three educators responded that they have medical problems that put them at risk in the face of the virus. More specifically, 36% of teachers, principals, and district leaders confessed to having a physical condition associated with the effects of the coronavirus. Also, 69% reported that a close family member is in the population at risk.

Cossondra George, a Michigan teacher who has asthma and is 59 years old, expressed her nervousness regarding the possibility of returning to school, “I’m really worried about my health, and I’m worried about the health of my students. I feel that opening schools again has to be a really well thought out process.” She also said that she has more questions than answers about the issues, and especially the considerations about maintaining social distancing.

Education Week also revealed that 76% of respondents are “somewhat or very concerned” about the consequences there could be for their health by having face-to-face classes in the fall. This percentage varies by area: in urban areas, 34% of educators are worried about this, but only 22% of the teachers in rural areas. This percentage is affected by the number of teachers in the at-risk categories (35% in urban areas versus 21% rural).

Teacher desertion, post-pandemic

Another problem confronting the education sector is that many teachers are considering abandoning the profession because of the pandemic. However, this percentage is misleading because although one in five teachers are thinking about leaving, 38% of them already were considering retirement before the quarantine occurred.

The impact of coronavirus is reflected in the fact that 12% of respondents were not considering leaving the profession before the pandemic. Still, now they are reconsidering it, causing a considerable teacher turnover. Of these, 79% confess that part of their decision is based on having a loved one with a health condition that puts them at risk, so they do not want to risk them. This turnover of educators poses a threat to school districts because many may have budget cuts that could lead to not replacing those teachers nor others fired.

Will the return to classes be face-to-face, online, or hybrid?

Although the shift to virtual learning has frustrated many teachers, they comment that the change forced them to learn new technological skills and teaching methods to reach students more effectively. Faced with the challenges of online teaching, teachers who participated in the survey confessed that they feel less effective in this modality.

It is clear that in-person interactions are crucial in education and help teachers feel more motivated and competent, but the level of productivity depends on the role. According to the survey, 82% of teachers responded that they work better in the schools, compared to 64% of the district leaders.

Besides, the prospect of many teachers has changed after the pandemic. Liz Russillo, a teacher in Rhode Island, notes that the shift towards remote learning has “forced her to use innovation and creativity for the most critical assessments while highlighting the importance of the teacher-student relationship. I will never again take for granted the student who shows up early for class to tell me about his weekend or the student sitting at the back of the room, trying to stay off the radar, because he is having a bad day.”

Despite the uncertainty, educators remain positive about the possibility of returning to classes: 80% are confident that the same percentage of their colleagues will return to their classrooms the next school year, even if the courses are not face-to-face but are hybrid.

The survey revealed that 24% of the educators are planning not to return if there is no proper plan to implement effective social distancing measures. However, 35% believe that these measures will only make it more difficult for the students to return. Furthermore, these measures will provoke implementing solutions such as double sessions, which would mean more work for the teachers.

After the global implementation of emergency remote teaching, it is reasonable to think that education in the times of the coronavirus means a teacher interacting through tools like Zoom with his students, but this is not always the case. According to the survey, 48% of respondents said their classes are held through live video conferences where they can talk to their students, and the students have the opportunity to interact with their peers. This type of participation is affected by educational levels, 56% of primary school teachers have live classes, while only 40% of high school teachers and 38% of prep schoolteachers do it.

The study also found that among the teachers who do have live classes, 59% dedicate an hour or less doing so, as they try to adjust to the availability of the parents and try not to overwhelm them. Some district directors even asked schools not to teach any new materials becaus
e many families do not have the teaching skills to do home-school education.

The digital gap and communication problems

Regarding the communication between principals and teachers, families, and students, according to Education Week, less than half do it daily. To be specific, 47% of the principals interact every day with the students, but only 17% do so with families, which they used to do frequently when the schools were open.

One of the critical points of the survey was student participation: 76% of teachers surveyed believe that student participation has been declining. This can lead to academic erosion, especially for low-income students, because they may not have access to the tools needed to continue their classes and communicate with teachers. Also, they spend less time in their lessons, just one or two hours, one hour less than the educators report investing in those students. The teachers, for their part, also indicate that low participation causes them to teach less new content.

On this issue, Michael Casserly, leader of the Council of the Great City Schools, said the gap is worrisome. “The image is very uneven. Not all of our children have access to the same things. If these patterns persist, they could create a ‘permanent subclass’ of young people who lack the skills for work and civic responsibility, and inequity that damages the national economy and offends the sense of moral equity.”

The survey also asked what tools teachers are using to connect during the pandemic, and whether video conferencing is the primary tool used by educators, especially those in science, mathematics, language, and art. In this regard, 72% of the respondents believe video conferencing is an effective way to teach science, another 63% that is a good way to teach languages and art, and 57% confirm that it helps them teach math.

Although video conferencing is not the only tool that educators use, in the case of the sciences, they do experiments with homemade materials. Language and art teachers use platforms like Google Docs or Word Online, while mathematics teachers employ the use of pre-recorded videos.

Because there is still no vaccine, and it appears that COVID-19 will be present in the fall, schools have to take all of these factors into account when thinking about opening their doors and, above all, how they will do it. It is essential to take care of the health and well-being not only of the students but also the teachers and staff.

When planning the next school year and the approach they will take, school administrators must propose solutions and alternatives for those teachers who are afraid they will get sick or contaminate their families, and, primarily, measures addressed to precautions for those who are vulnerable.

Paulette Delgado

This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0