Gianna Sicola

Professor Suk

EDUC-230-02 Education Field Experience

December 2021

Venturing into the Field During the COVID Era as a Pre-Service/First Time Teacher

Being a pre-service teacher is such a crucial step in while getting into the teacher

profession. This interview helped me get insight from three of Dr. Suk’s previous students, Liza,

Devon, and Bethany, as they were pre-service teachers during the COVID era. Hearing from

Liza, Devon, and Bethany I was exposed to different experiences that each previous student has

seen, and how things are different for each of the pre-service teachers during the pandemic. Even

though all three pre-service teachers are in the same uncertainty boat because of the pandemic,

they each have their own experiences that show their current situation. Each interviewee spoke

on multiple aspects of their pre-service teaching, but all collectively were still able to focus on

the importance of what they are doing, pandemic or not.

One interviewee that I wanted to specifically mention individually was Bethany. Out of

the three, she is the one who had the most semi-normal pre-service teaching experiences.

Bethany is in a kindergarten classroom and was with the teacher prior to the pandemic. During

that time, she was doing regular pre-service teacher duties; helping students, teaching lessons,

helping the teacher when they needed it, and somewhat managing the classroom. Once COVID

hit, Bethany was there from the pivot into the following school year. Though Bethany is in the

pre-service teaching seat, she seemed to have the least impacted experience by COVID;

obviously the circumstances of her experience had changed, but she was still able to be teaching
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with and without her teachers help. This shows that even though there was a great deal of change

that came with the pandemic, she was still able to be teaching and working side by side with her

cooperating teacher. In comparison to the other two interviewees, Bethany seemed to be the most

hands on.

Devon, to me was in the most interesting spot. Her school, at the time of the interview,

had just recently switched to the hybrid model. Previously the school was operating fully remote;

because of this Devon was getting more virtual teaching experience since she was “running

lessons on [her] own” (23:14, Emerick, 2020). This was extremely unique because usually in a

normal world as a pre-service teacher, you would be able to run lessons on your own in the

physical classroom, however, Devon was able to get to the point of teaching the lessons virtually.

Though this may seem like a setback compared to the pre-pandemic norm, I think this is also a

standout moment for Devon. She now is equipped the skill of managing and instructing a lesson

virtually, which nowadays is a skill that could easily come in handy.

Liza also has an interesting situation, as she is in a 5th grade classroom but was shortly

going to switch to a Special Education pre-service teacher position. Though Liza is in with a

cooperating teacher, she raised an interesting point about her experience; this being the effect of

parents. Even though she is a pre-service teacher, she is experiencing the judgment and the

feedback of parents as a true professional education. This is something in my opinion that is

different than the pre-service teaching roles prior to the pandemic. Since instruction is virtual or

hybrid, parents are way more involved in their child’s education; such as the things they are

learning, the way they are being taught or addressed, and how their child is going academically.

Liza describes her and her teachers as “tiptoeing” (30:02, Cruz, 2020). This is another powerful

aspect of being a pre-service teacher during COVID because not only are they worried about the
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feedback they are getting from their cooperating teacher or administrators, but they are also

wrapped up in the feedback from the students’ parents. This is preventing them as pre-service

teachers to get the trial and error experience they need to grow into their profession. If they are

being watched by parents, they are not granted the grace to try something out or make mistakes

to learn from without parents being critical or judgmental.

Though all three of these pre-service teachers are experiencing unusual experiences due

to the pandemic, they are still acquiring important skills and concepts that will help them in their

future teaching careers. Devon has learned and advised pre-service teachers to “make time for

yourself” (44:40, Emerick, 2020). Bethany had said that “having a positive attitude” was

important too (47:19, Mantineo, 2020). Liza had said to “keep an open mind” (49:49, Cruz,

2020). Though these three girls are only pre-service teachers, they are getting a real teacher’s

take on education during a pandemic, which is extremely unique. They were able to learn things

from the viewpoint of a real teacher during a time of change and uncertainty which had provided

them with lots of wisdom and optimism in terms of teaching.

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References

Cruz, L., Emerick, D., & Mantineo, B. (2020, October 7). Venturing into the Field During the

COVID Era as a Pre-Service/First Time Teacher [Video]. Interview by K. Suk. Canvas.