Preservice kindergarten teachers’ distance teaching practices during the COVID-19 lockdown period

ABSTRACT This study examined the distance teaching practices that early childhood preservice teachers chose for working with kindergarten students during the COVID-19 lockdown. The study involved 32 female preservice teachers studying at teacher training institutions in Israel. The study used the qualitative research method. The data analysis revealed that preservice teachers could be divided into three categories: (a) those who adopted distance teaching (12.5%), (b) those who sent asynchronous messages (21.8%), (c) and those who initiated activities distance teaching (65.6%). Participants raised three issues: (a) communication and interactions, (b) characteristics of the preservice teachers, and (c) attitudes, tools, and technological skills of the preservice teachers. The findings revealed differences in the resilience and efficacy of the preservice teachers, including creativity, endurance, independence, flexibility, and the degree of e-readiness for teaching in a digital environment. These differences affected the choice of distance teaching practices. Imparting knowledge, tools, and skills for working in this environment could have led to more significant teaching during the COVID-19 lockdown period by some of the participants in the study.