INADEQUACIES IN TEACHER PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT DURING THE COVID-19 DISRUPTION IN KENYA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v12i11.6297Keywords:
teacher well-being, online teaching, curriculum implementation, COVID-19 pandemic, REDS dataAbstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in the education ecosystem, whose magnitude the country was not prepared for. This was further aggravated by the paradigm shift that required teachers to transition to online teaching, which aroused anxiety and uncertainty, leading to psychological trauma, besides the pressure from other aftermaths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychosocial well-being was a critical aspect with regard to the support that was given to teachers during this period. This paper, therefore, documents the inadequacies in teacher psychosocial support during the COVID-19 disruption in Kenya. It is based on the Responses to Educational Disruption Survey (REDS) data from the national centre, school principals’ and teachers’ questionnaires. This paper was guided by the Psychosocial Theory (PsT) and the Theory of Change (ToC) as they articulated the policy and practice, thus informing teacher psychosocial support. The Psychosocial Theory supported the discourse on teachers’ psychological, mental and emotional support. At the same time, the ToC was instrumental in explaining the drastic change from face-to-face to online teaching that had adverse effects on teachers’ well-being. The psychosocial support exposes several inadequacies that may have compounded teachers’ inability to implement effective transition to online teaching. Globally, governments and relevant stakeholders devised various strategies to support teachers’ well-being through relevant plans and policies. The Government of Kenya (GoK) took initiatives to build resilience towards teachers’ psychosocial well-being in order to accelerate change to online teaching and learning. Some of these measures, inter alia, included social distancing between adults, smaller class sizes, an increased number of staff, and supplementing face-to-face teaching with online teaching, as per the REDS data. At the school level, psychosocial well-being provided was deficient, as most of the services that were required by staff during the COVID-19 disruption were unavailable. In addition, changes were also made to school policies since schools are the institutions where teaching and learning take place. Over 75% of Principals agreed that there were changes in school policies revolving around the mechanism proposed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on curbing the spread of COVID-19. The psychosocial well-being influences teacher training, without which the government is unlikely to equip teachers adequately to deal with curriculum implementation and especially transition to online teaching. According to the REDS data on teachers’ psychosocial well-being, minimal support was also given to teachers in dealing with fatigue, interrupted sleep patterns and a sense of isolation. Teachers lacked support for social events, accommodations for teachers who are primary carers, links to information on mental health services, and access to physical activity resources. The GoK, through the Ministry of Education, needs to deliberately address the inadequacies in teacher psychosocial support as identified in the REDS data.
Article visualizations:
References
Bozkurt, A., Jung, I., Xiao, J., Vladimirschi, V., et al. (2020). A global outlook to the interruption of education due to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Navigating in a time of uncertainty and crisis. Asian Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 1–126. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3878572
Costin, C., Coutinho, A. (2022). Experiences with Risk-Management and Remote Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil: Crises, Destitutions, and (Possible) Resolutions. In: Reimers, F.M. (eds) Primary and Secondary Education During COVID-19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81500-4_2
Gangloff, D. (2007). Theory of change. American Forests, 113(3), 7. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003141778-3
Guthrie, B. L., Facmi, S. F., Mph, D. G., Mlib, D. L., & Mph, J. M. R. (2020). Summary of School Re-Opening Models and Implementation Approaches During the COVID-19 Pandemic COVID-19. Strategic Analysis, Research and Training Center. Retrieved from https://globalhealth.washington.edu/sites/default/files/COVID-19%20Schools%20Summary%20%28updated%29.pdf
Meinck, S. (2022). Responses to Educational Disruption Survey User Guide for the International Database. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380397
Ministry of Health (2021). Guidelines of case management of COVID-19 in Kenya, Ministry of Health.
Ngwacho, A. G. (2020a). COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Kenyan Education Sector: Learner Challenges and Mitigations. Journal of Research, innovations and implications in Education 4, (2):128–139. Retrieved from https://jriiejournal.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/03/JRIIE-4-2-015.pdf
OECD, (2020). COVID-19 on Education Insights from Glance 2020. OECD, 1-8. Retrieved from https://www.improvingthestudentexperience.com/library/covid19/theimpact-of-covid-19-on-education-insights-education-at-a-glance-2020.pdf
Otu, M. N., Ehiane, S. O., Maapola-thobejane, H., & Olumoye, M. Y. (2023). Psychosocial Implications, Students' Integration / Attrition, and Online Teaching and Learning in South Africa’s Higher Education Institutions in the Context of COVID-19. Sustainability 2023 p. 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086351
Ozamiz-Etxebarria, N., Santxo, N. B., & Mondragon, N. I. (2021). The Psychological State of Teachers During the COVID-19 Crisis: The Challenge of Returning to Face-to-Face Teaching. Front. Psychol., 12. p. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.620718
Reimers, F. M. (2022). Primary and Secondary Education During Covid-19: Disruptions to Educational Opportunity During a Pandemic. Springer. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-81500-4
Reimers, F., Schleicher, A., Saavedra, J., & Tuominen, S. (2020). Supporting the continuation of teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Annotated resources for online learning. OECD, 1–38. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/education/Supporting-the-continuation-of-teaching-and-learning-during-the-COVID-19-pandemic.pdf
Sharp, C., Nelson, J., Lucas, M., Julius, J., McCrone, T., & Sims, D. (2020). The challenges facing schools and pupils in September 2020 (Issue September). Retrieved from https://www.nfer.ac.uk/media/33xdbt5b/schools_responses_to_covid_19_the_challenges_facing_schools_and_pupils_in_september_2020.pdf
Stephen, F. (2003). Psychosocial Studies and Psychology: Is a Critical Approach Emerging? Human Relations, 56(12), 1545–1567. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267035612005
Tafazoli, D. (2021). Call teachers’ professional development amid the COVID-19 outbreak: A qualitative study. Computer Assisted Language Learning Electronic Journal; 22 (2), 4–13. Retrieved from https://callej.org/index.php/journal/article/view/342
Tan, O., Chua, J. (2022). Science, Social Responsibility, and Education: The Experience of Singapore During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In: Reimers, F.M. (eds) Primary and Secondary Education During COVID-19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81500-4_10
Vogel, I. (2012). Review of the use of ‘Theory of Change’ in international development. Retrieved from https://www.theoryofchange.org/pdf/DFID_ToC_Review_VogelV7.pdf
UNICEF. (2020). Ready to Come Back: Teacher Preparedness Training Package. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/flnhub/resources/ready-to-come-back-teacher-preparedness-training-package
United Nations (2020). Policy Brief: Framework for reopening schools; United Nations
UNESCO. (2020). Education in the time of COVID-19. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374075_eng
UNESCO. (2021a). Responses to Educational Disruption Survey: User Guide for the International Database. UNESCO-IEA; http://www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en.
UNESCO. (2021b). The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery. A Joint UNESCO, UNICEF and World Bank Report. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380128
UNESCO. (2022). The Kenya Ministry of Education’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Case Study. UNESCO Report. Retrieved from https://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/publication/kenya-ministry-educations-response-covid-19-pandemic-case-study
USA. (2021). Roadmap to Reopening Safely and in COVID-19 Handbook (Vol. 2, pp. 1–53).
Waiti, J. M., & Zinyuk, S. (2023). Psychosocial Support for Changed Students Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Prospects. 13(2), 276–287. https://doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.13.02.2023.p13433
Wekullo, C. S., Shiundu, J. O., Ouda, J. B., & Mutevane, A. (2022). 6 COVID-19 Crisis and the Future of Higher Education Perspectives from Kenya. In Global higher education during COVID-19: Policy, society, and technology (pp. 73–92). Retrieved from https://ojed.org/cies/article/view/2890
Wolf, S., Aurino, E., Suntheimer, N., Avornyo, E., Tsinigo, E., Jordan, J., Samanhyia, S., Aber, J. L., & Behrman, J. R. (2021). Learning in the Time of a Pandemic and Implications for Returning to School: Learning in the Time of a Pandemic and Implications for Returning to School: Effects of COVID-19 in Ghana. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354047143_Learning_in_the_Time_of_a_Pandemic_and_Implications_for_Returning_to_School_Effects_of_COVID-19_in_Ghana
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
