EDITORIAL - THE EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE AT COVID-19

Abstract

In response to the 2019 Coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19), 107 countries have im- plemented the national school closures by March 18, 2020. With the closure of schools, it began a race to activate various types of synchronous and asynchronous distance education, through platforms or social networks, all without great coordination from governments of countries.

Jonathan Zimmerman, from the University of Pennsylvania, wrote an article entitled “Coro- navirus and the Great Online-Learning Experiment”; actually, we are certainly faced with a global experiment, at least concerning the application of distance learning in primary, middle, and high schools.

There was a tsunami with the online learning. For several years, schools have adopted the (online) electronic register as a method of interaction with their students’ families, and teachers have had to start using it, substituting the classical paper register. “Many schools are offering virtual learning for students (CDC, 2020) as a means of continuing education for the rest of the academic year. Teachers and administrators who were reluctant to teach online had little choice but to embrace this decades-old technology. Some teachers may have experienced fear and trepidation by transferring their classrooms online, but majority have done so at a rapid pace and in a short time; in the long run, they all seem adapting well. The digital divide is more ap- parent than ever (Guernsey et al. 2020). Children who are proficient with using computers and are ready for it (Goldschimidt 2020). Instructors and teaching methods are somewhat behind schedule; however, there is hope that new models of education will emerge.

The impact on teachers’ emotional regulation appears to be strong, and the best reactions witnessed were those supported by emotional intelligence.

“It is essential to consider the important role that emotion regulation plays in coping with stressful situations. Indeed, past studies have shown that high levels of emotional intelligence predict better psychological and emotional adjustment among teachers” (Lischetzke et al., 2003; Mearns et al., 2003; Biglan et al., 2013; Nizielski et al., 2013; Ghanizadeh et al., 2015; Yin, 2015; Cabello et al., 2016; Rey et al., 2016; Fernández-Berrocal et al., 2017; Grandey et al., 2017; Yin et al., 2018; Schoeps et al., 2019). “Teachers with poor emotional intelligence tend to report higher levels of EE, DE, anxiety, depression, and burnout (Martínez-Monteagudo et al., 2019). In this manner, improving emotion regulation is likely to be accompanied by an in- crease in the quality and number of social relationships at work, empathy, and job satisfaction” (Martinez et al., 2020). There is evidence that could support the hypothesis that there exists a relationship between burnout, resilience, and coping referred to a target of teachers.

In this issue of gsdjournal some articles have been collected that can represent ideas to define the guidelines for the post COVID19 for the benefit of school managers, teachers and educators.