Teacher Candidates’ Communication and Collaboration with Family and Community During COVID-19

Abstract

After schools were closed in AY 2019-2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers were expected to continue two-way communication and collaboration with their students’ families without much guidance. In this study, we focus on how five teacher candidates navigated and continued their efforts of communication and collaboration with students’ families and the larger community during the pandemic. Epstein’s (1995) spheres of overlapping influence provided the conceptual framework for this study, and through storytelling during interviews, the five teacher candidates provided valuable insight that focused on communication during the pandemic. Findings indicated that these teacher candidates struggled with establishing professional boundaries with students’ families, wrestled with the unforeseeable challenges of “being” in the homes of their students’ families, and experienced a disconnect from the community. Implications of this study suggest that lessons learned during COVID-19 could transform how teacher candidates and Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) practice future two-way communication and collaboration with students’ families.