An intrinsic case study of middle school teachers' professional learning and professional capital: beyond the COVID-19 classroom

Monica Marie Conlin

doi:10.17918/00010586

The purpose of this qualitative, intrinsic case study was to gain an understanding of how middle school teachers' professional learning and development experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic have influenced their existing professional capital. Even though middle school teachers led much of their professional learning and development during the COVID-19 pandemic March 2020 -March 2021, their knowledge and assessment of professional development experiences have not been leveraged in planning and designing ongoing teacher professional learning. These stories of teachers' professional learning experiences during a sudden global health emergency that shifted in-person classroom settings to virtual ones are essential in developing continual teacher professional learning experiences that influence teacher professional capital. After experiencing choice in professional learning to meet instructional needs during virtual teaching, teachers have returned to district- or school-mandated professional development experiences. Leveraging stories of teacher professional learning during remote teaching to inform the design of professional learning will add to research on middle school teachers and their professional capital. Three research questions guided this study: 1) What stories do middle school teachers share about their professional learning and development experiences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? 2) How do middle school teachers describe the influence that their professional development experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic have had on their professional capital? 3) How do middle school teachers describe the utilization of their professional development experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic to develop ongoing professional learning opportunities in their schools? Data was collected through semi-structured one-on-one interviews and 2 respective focus groups with 7 middle school teachers at Maximillian Middle School along with a document collection and researcher's journal. This research study sought to address a gap in research studies regarding teacher professional learning experiences during the brick-and-mortar closings during the COVID-19 pandemic specific to March 2020 -March 2021 and how teachers' assessment of their learning during this time is important input for designing ongoing professional learning experiences that inform teacher professional capital. The findings of this study indicated that that the COVID-19 Global Pandemic was an unexpected professional learning period for middle school teachers; shared teacher collegial learning is an investment for teachers; and teacher professional learning through the COVID-19 pandemic informed elements of teacher of professional capital which can as an outcome of their post COVID-19 reflection inform ongoing teacher professional learning design and execution. Keywords: COVID-19, teacher professional capital, intrinsic case study teacher professional learning, remote professional development

An intrinsic case study of middle school teachers' professional learning and professional capital: beyond the COVID-19 classroom

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An intrinsic case study of middle school teachers' professional learning and professional capital: beyond the COVID-19 classroom

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