Jenny Haagensen

ABSTRACT

OECD learning compass 2030 places well-being of society as a shared goal for all (OECD, 2021). The Covid-19 pandemic with online learning has affected many students’ well-being negatively (Save the Children, 2020). The point of departure in this paper is that student - teacher relationships are connected to student well-being (Hughes, 2011), and having a linguistically sensitive teacher supports building trust and good relations. Students who use their entire language repertoire get a chance to feel competent and capable (Manyak, 2004). The aim of this paper is to explore how teachers and teacher educators experience distance education, with focus on being linguistically sensitive and supporting student well-being. The research questions are: What narratives can be identified in the data regarding 1) Linguistically sensitive teaching online and 2) Student-teacher relationships during distance education? The data was collected at a Swedish-speaking teacher education in Finland, and consists of 10 video-recorded interviews with teachers and teacher educators. The data is analysed inductively through narrative content analysis (Atkins & Wallace, 2012). The results show that the teachers found it challenging to incorporate LST in online teaching, because of the need for focusing on technical issues and helping the students adjust. They also experienced difficulties in forming and maintaining good student-teacher relationships as the interaction was moved to the online arena. The results implicate the need for strengthening teachers’ ability of LST in order to prepare for future online teaching. The importance of building good relationships before eventual crises can also be stressed.

Keywords

Linguistically sensitive teaching; well-being; teacher education; distance education; online teaching; multilingualism

References

1. Atkins, L. & Wallace, S. (2012). Qualitative research in education. SAGE.

2. Hughes, J. N. (2011). Longitudinal effects of teacher and student perceptions of teacher-student relationship qualities on academic adjustment. Elementary School Journal, 112(1), 38–60.

3. Manyak, P. C. (2004). “What did he say?” Translation in a primary-grade English immersion class. Multicultural Perspectives, 137(2), 12–18.

4. OECD (2021). OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030. http://www.oecd.org /education/2030-project/

5. Save the Children (2020). ‘Children at risk of lasting psychological distress from coronavirus lockdown’: Save the Children. https://www.savethechildren.net/news/%E2%80%98children-risk-lasting-psychological-distress-coronavirus lockdown%E2%80%99-save-children