Voices in Education: Considering the Impact of COVID-19 on Teacher Education: What Really Matters?

Around the world, the pandemic has affected every facet of our lives in these unprecedented times. In this same instance, we in teacher education have attempted to maintain the quality of instruction in the preparation of new teachers across the many educational fields of study, while dealing with the various issues the pandemic has generated. We know, for example, that the pandemic has affected the kinds of experiences students receive and how this in turn affects their ability to acquire the knowledge and skill needed to be successful. This has delayed some students’ graduation (Aucejo et al., 2020). We also have some indication of how the pandemic has affected university students psychologically. For example, students are experiencing increased levels of stress and anxiety, e.g., too much time on virtual platforms, and some students have become depressed which can lead to depressive thoughts e.g., fear for their own health as well as their families’ health and wellbeing (Browning, et al., 2021; Son et al., 2020). While teacher educators have continued to support their students, their own levels of stress and anxiety has been elevated. Working and teaching during the pandemic this past year is something teacher educators will not forget. When the schools closed, we went to work in an attempt to solve the various issues that could inhibit our students from success. As a result, we learned much about how to maintain a high level of instruction by differing classroom teaching experiences, and virtual instructional platforms. We wonder if our educational system and teaching experiences have been altered somewhat and a new ‘norm’ has been created in education. Please join us as members of our editorial advisory board consider the state of teacher education in today’s universities through these questions: