Teachers learning during COVID-19 pandemic: Higher education perspective from Ghana, India and Serbia

Abstract

The topic of this study is inspired by the conversation and sharing of personal experiences about living, working, and teaching during the pandemic by researchers from Ghana, India, and Serbia. This paper aims to identify higher education teachers' learning experiences that helped them to adjust a new situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected stories from nine teachers employed in higher education in Ghana, India, and Serbia. Inductive thematic analysis was employed to identify themes within the stories collected. The common topics were identified in each country and compared with that of others. Silence to active classroom transformation is a common topic among teachers in each country. Other similarities were identified as fear that put more pressure on teachers and students. Differences among the teachers' learning and teaching experiences in researched countries were more of inequality issues related to access to necessary resources for online learning. Conclusively, teaching in online education during the crisis requires constant and multi-directional learning processes and understanding of students' resistance and negative emotions.