From “Survival Mode” to “#winning”: Michigan Pre-K Teachers’ Experiences During the First Year of COVID-19

Abstract

Increased stress among teachers during the pandemic has driven global concern about burnout, and initial evidence suggests teacher turnover and attrition increased during the pandemic. Burnout and attrition are of particular concern in early childhood education, where teacher turnover was already high pre-pandemic and is negatively associated with program quality and child outcomes. We interviewed 25 public pre-kindergarten teachers in Michigan, United States to understand their experience teaching during the first year of COVID-19. By asking them to choose the meme that best described their experience at two time points—April 2020 and April 2021—we gained insight into how their confidence in their ability to navigate challenges associated with teaching during the pandemic fluctuated over time. We draw on the concept of self-efficacy to make sense of the change from “survival mode” to “#winning” during a time of great uncertainty when teachers were being asked to adapt to entirely new—and shifting—modes of teaching. This study contributes to our understanding of how teachers experienced the first year of the pandemic, adds nuance to existing narratives about teaching during the pandemic (which tend to focus on exhaustion and burnout), and highlights teachers’ ability to successfully navigate unprecedented professional challenges.