ACADEMIA Letters Elementary School Literacy Teachers’ Perceptions and Challenges During COVID-19 Shahar Dotan Tami Katzir Orly Lipka Shelley Shaul In March 2020, due to COVID 19 pandemic, education systems around the world were forced to switch to emergency remote teaching (ERT). For teachers of young children who are less exposed to e-learning and still in the very fundamental stages of literacy acquisition, challenges may be unique and critical. The purpose of the current study was to capture a vivid picture of the challenges and practices of first and second grade literacy teachers in ERT. A remote literacy teaching questionnaire was developed and administered to 97 first and second grade teachers in May 2020, during the national school closures in Israel. Background measures of socio-economic status (SES) and years of experience in teaching were also collected. The findings reveal the need of teacher training on the options the technological possibilities of literacy instruction. In addition, it emphasizes the urgent need of treating the implementation challenges, and especially enabling access to a computer for all children. Acknowledgments This work was supported by Edmond J. Safra Brain Research for the study of learning of learning disabilities and Ministry of Education grant to Katzir, Lipka and Shaul. Academia Letters, April 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Shahar Dotan, dotan.shahar@gmail.com Citation: Dotan, S., Katzir, T., Lipka, O., Shaul, S. (2021). Elementary School Literacy Teachers’ Perceptions and Challenges During COVID-19. Academia Letters, Article 898. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL898. 1 Introduction In April 2020, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimated that 190 countries implemented national school closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting over one and a half billion children and young people, roughly 90% of the global student population. The traditional teaching paradigm, characterized by a teacher physically facing the classroom suddenly stopped, and education systems around the world were forced to switch to emergency remote teaching (ERT) (Aguilera & Nightengale-Lee, 2020). First and second graders face many challenges with regard to the process of literacy acquisition, an extremely effortful task. In addition, these children are generally less exposed to e-learning and more dependent on face-to-face interactions with teachers. As a result, in ERT, their teachers are required to present technological efficacy and techno-pedagogical strategies in addition to regular teaching skills. In the current study, we developed a questionnaire guided by the “Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge” (TPACK) model (Koehler et al., 2013; Mishra & Koehler, 2006). The TPACK framework describes a framework consisting of different knowledge domains in which teachers must demonstrate proficiency for successful integration of digital technology and learning processes (Koehler et al., 2013). according to the TPACK framework, effective teaching integrates the important interplay between three domains: (1) Pedagogy knowledge (PK) which includes educational purposes, values, aims, processes, and practices of teaching and learning; (2) Content knowledge (CK), which is the teacher’s knowledge about the subject matter being taught: concepts, theories, and ideas (Koehler & Mishra, 2009); and (3) Technology knowledge (TK), which is the ability to use technology tools to identify when technology can help or harm the purpose of knowledge acquisition, and to continually adapt to changes in technologies. The TPACK framework refers to the ability to combine the above-mentioned components and focus on the inter-relations between them. The first domain, the Pedagogical-Content Knowledge (PCK), refers to the application of appropriate instructional strategies in teaching specific content (e.g., finding multiple ways to represent ideas of the subject matter). The second domain, Technological-Content Knowledge (TCK), refers to the ability to represent and manipulate data and ideas of the subject matter in technologically innovative ways (i.e., selection of technological tools that fit the content ideas to be taught). The third domain, Technological-Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), refers to the ability to understand how learning and teaching can change with different technological tools (e.g., adapting software programs designed for business environments, such as PowerPoint, to educational purposes) (Koehler et al., 2013; Koehler & Mishra, 2009). Academia Letters, April 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Shahar Dotan, dotan.shahar@gmail.com Citation: Dotan, S., Katzir, T., Lipka, O., Shaul, S. (2021). Elementary School Literacy Teachers’ Perceptions and Challenges During COVID-19. Academia Letters, Article 898. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL898. 2 The purpose of the current study was to examine the challenges and practices of first and second grade literacy teachers in remote teaching, using the TPACK framework domains. In order to shed light on the possible differences between novice and experienced teachers, and schools from low socio-economic status (SES) and medium-high SES, background measures of SES and years of experience in teaching were also collected. Method Ninety-seven elementary female teachers completed an online questionnaire developed for this study, as part of a research-based teacher training program (100% of the teachers completed the survey). The questionnaire focused on remote literacy instruction practices and challenges and was based on the TPACK framework. The questionnaire was administered in May 2020 in Israel, during the first period of school closure in March-May 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. Forty-one percent of participants were first grade teachers and 59% were second grade teachers. The sample included teachers from schools in various SES backgrounds, based on the national SES ranking of schools (1-10 scale). Sixty-three percent of the teachers were from low SES background (ranked 7-10) and 37% of the teachers were from high-medium SES background (ranked 1-6). Forty-three percent of the teachers were considered novice teachers (up to seven years of teaching experience), and 57% of the teachers were considered experienced teachers (with eight or more years of teaching experience). The questionnaire on remote literacy instruction practices and challenges was developed for this study. Completion of the online survey lasted 15 minutes. The teachers were presented with a list of challenges and were asked to report whether they faced or did not face that challenge during their teaching in remote instruction. Participants were also asked whether they used teaching practices presented to them during their remote instruction. Results and Discussion The findings of the current study emphasize important and interesting trends in the field of literacy ERT. The response percentage pattern of teachers to the survey, divided by the Implementation challenges and the TPACK aspects, are presented in Figure 1. First, it generally appears that implementation challenges play a central role in the experience of the first- and second-grade teachers. Sixty-three percent of teachers reported that not all children had access to a computer. These conditions do not enable instruction for all the students of the class, and as a result, children are left behind (No Child Left Behind, 2011; see also Zoch et al., 2014; Honan, 2008; Stolle, 2008; Bauer & Kenton, 2005). Those children Academia Letters, April 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Shahar Dotan, dotan.shahar@gmail.com Citation: Dotan, S., Katzir, T., Lipka, O., Shaul, S. (2021). Elementary School Literacy Teachers’ Perceptions and Challenges During COVID-19. Academia Letters, Article 898. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL898. 3 Figure 1. Response percentage pattern of teachers to the survey, divided by the implantation and TPACK aspects. may miss the fundamental learning of the basics of literacy and reading acquisition and comprehension and may therefore develop negative feelings towards reading such as frustration, anxiety and avoidance. The findings regarding the differences between teachers from a low SES and medium-high SES schools support the above statement and raise the issue of the impact of implementation challenges in this population. The most important and troublesome finding was that 75% Academia Letters, April 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Shahar Dotan, dotan.shahar@gmail.com Citation: Dotan, S., Katzir, T., Lipka, O., Shaul, S. (2021). Elementary School Literacy Teachers’ Perceptions and Challenges During COVID-19. Academia Letters, Article 898. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL898. 4 of teachers from a low SES schools reported a lack of accessibility of all students of the classroom to a computer, compared to 46% of teachers from medium-high SES background (F=8.47, p=0.005) (see also Aguilera & Nightengale-Lee, 2020; Van Lancker & Parolin, 2020, Ritzhaupt et al., 2013; Becker, 2000; Akiba et al., 2007). These gaps may affect children’s achievement in the long term. As a result, accessibility of computers for all children must be ameliorated as soon as possible. Aside from the implementation challenges and SES, 63% of teachers reported lack of cooperation in independent reading tasks by students and 66% of them reported on difficulty in the ability to teach reading comprehension. Despite the commonplace challenge of noncooperation in independent reading assignments, teachers (77%) commonly used children’s textbooks and provided independent reading assignments. These findings are evidence of the deficiency of knowledge and skills of teachers on how to integrate and implement early literacy instruction with technology, their reliance on traditional non-technological printed teaching aids, and the importance of teacher exposure to technology use options in literacy. Fifty-six percent of teachers also stated that it was difficult to assess children’s level of understanding regarding the specific lesson being taught. Unfortunately, if the teacher does not receive feedback on how much of the content the students understood, the teacher cannot adapt the instruction for their needs. Hence, another main issue that arises from the findings is the inability of teacher to preform differential teaching, i.e., to assess and tailor the instruction to the needs of the students. Our findings support the notion that novice teachers are better prepared to use computerized systems in teaching than their more experienced counterparts. For instance, 64% percent of experienced teachers reported lack of cooperation of students in independent reading tasks, compared to 43% of novice teachers (F=4.43, p=0.038), and 32% of experienced teachers reported on difficulty in uploading and presenting learning materials, compared to 10% of novice teachers (F=6.67, p=0.011) (see also Akçayır et al., 2016; Yurdakul, 2017; Obillos Dela-Rosa, 2016; Lee & Tsai, 2008) Conversely, teacher’s experience was an advantage that was reflected in the finding that 68% of novice teachers reported on the difficulty of assessing students’ level of understating, compared to 45% experienced teachers (F=4.67, p=0.005). Conclusions and implications Today there are many options for distance literacy learning and reading that should be relayed to teachers. The present findings unequivocally point on the need for teacher training related to the technologies available for teaching literacy to early elementary grades. It is particularly important to train experienced teacher to use technology as they are less exposed and tend Academia Letters, April 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Shahar Dotan, dotan.shahar@gmail.com Citation: Dotan, S., Katzir, T., Lipka, O., Shaul, S. (2021). Elementary School Literacy Teachers’ Perceptions and Challenges During COVID-19. Academia Letters, Article 898. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL898. 5 to rely on traditional printed materials and non-advanced videos in ERT. In addition, implementation challenges must be treated urgently, since they greatly affect the possibilities and inequality of ERT, especially for students and teachers from low SES schools. Consequently, the current findings may assist in understanding teachers’ knowledge and needs, and in planning future teacher training that exposes teachers to technological possibilities, especially for more experienced teachers. 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