"The Situation Here is Just like a Movie — A Horror Movie": Computer-Mediated Troubled Talk as a Setting for Support and Professional Growth of Student Teachers in a Time of Crisis

Abstract

This study describes a situation in which student teachers and their teacher educators engaged in online institutional discourse expressing authentic troubled talk during a military attack. Despite the crisis situation and the closing of the educational institution, academic learning continued via email. In order to investigate the ways in which moderation of computer-mediated (CM) troubled talk developed, three cumulative logs of email correspondence and student teachers' responses to two open-ended questionnaires were analyzed. The analysis led to the emergence of three processes: immediate contact with the groups of student teachers, development of affective support and academic learning and the creation of a supportive learning community. The combination of these processes produced a model for academic CM troubled talk that promotes support and professional growth. We suggest the implementation of the model by student teachers in their future roles as teachers in situations of coping with crises when educational institutions close and the only way to continue learning is through computer-mediated discourse.