The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Social Work Instructors: The Case of Israel

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on people’s professional and personal lives is ongoing. The transition to remote teaching has particularly affected social work education due to its experiential methods incorporating a direct experience whereby students “learn by doing.” This study examined the impact of the global pandemic and the transition to remote teaching on the emotional and cognitive experiences of 144 social work instructors in Israel. The results indicated that they quickly adapted to remote teaching. Furthermore, the instructors reported a mixed effect of the transition to remote teaching on their work – life balance. This study suggests that institutions should provide their instructors with sufficient time and tools to design remote classes in order to better engage their students in the learning process. The findings provide the foundation for understanding the complexity of remote teaching in the social work profession and offer opportunities to learn from experience. This study suggests that institutions should provide their instructors with sufficient time and tools to design their remote classes in order to better engage their students in the learning process.