Coping with transitions during the COVID-19 global pandemic: A case study of early career teachers’ experiences in secondary agricultural Education

The year 2020 marked an era of change and demanded that educators across the globe adapt in new and innovative ways. In secondary agricultural education, teachers experienced significant transitions as a majority of K-12 schools shifted to remote, distance, and online instructional models. Therefore, teachers’ position requirements, obligations, and expectations began to shift dramatically, creating unique challenges for early career teachers. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore the transitions that early-career SBAE teachers in [State] experienced while teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through our analysis, four themes emerged: (1) situation, (2) self, (3) support, and (4) strategies. In the first theme, the early career teachers gave voice to how situational factors greatly influenced the professional transitions they underwent as a result of COVID-19. Self, the second theme, represented the different internal mechanisms, or sources of strength, participants used during the transition process. Meanwhile, support reflected the external support systems participants used during their time of transition into a virtual teaching format. The last theme, strategies, provided insight into the approaches that participants used to address and reduce the negative effects of the pandemic on their teaching. Going forward, we provide critical implications to stoke changes so that early career teachers can better cope with transitions during periods of stress in the post-COVID-19 era.