Early childhood educators as COVID warriors: Adaptations and responsiveness to the pandemic across five countries.

The study investigates how kindergarten teachers from different countries changed the way they taught during the pandemic. The researchers look at how kindergarten teachers adapted to teaching online and how this affected their role as educators and their relationship with the educational environment around them. The research questions are: 1) In what ways did kindergarten teachers reimagine their relationship with the educational environment during COVID-19? 2) How were kindergarten teachers' identities shaped and reshaped in response to the challenges of COVID-19 within their educational environments?

The results show that the professional identity of the kindergarten teachers underwent significant changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kindergarten teachers quickly adapted to new digital tools and changed their approach to teaching. They showed significant adaptability and proactivity when faced with the challenges brought on by the pandemic. The changes in the kindergarten teacher role included increased digital skills and an expansion of the kindergarten teacher role beyond traditional teaching responsibility. These changes in kindergarten teacher identity were noticeable across different cultural and geographical contexts.

The data material was collected from kindergarten teachers in five countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Norway, Singapore and India. This was done using online surveys that included both open-ended and closed-ended questions. The survey gathered information about participants' backgrounds and their teaching experiences during the pandemic.

Gomes, J., Almeida, S. C., Kaveri, G., Mannan, F., Gupta, P., Hu, A. & Sarkar, M. (2021). "Early childhood educators as COVID warriors: Adaptations and responsiveness to the pandemic across five countries". International Journal of Early Childhood, 53(3):345-366.