Covid-19 as a Shock Event Maintaining a Career in TESOL during a Global Pandemic.

Abstract

Covid-19 has had a major impact on the education sector worldwide with many universities, colleges and private language schools being forced to close and, almost overnight, turn to online teaching. In addition, the economic impact of the pandemic has led to many of these organisations making some difficult operational and financial decisions to deal with such a challenging situation. These have included restructuring, initiating rapid changes to both courses and operating practices, reducing salaries, offering shorter contract extensions and even laying off staff. Some educational institutions have since reopened but Covid-19 protocols such as mask wearing, social distancing and a limit on the use of paper-based resources have changed face-to-face teaching. For some researchers Covid-19 and an organisation’s response to it is an example of a career shock defined as ‘a disruptive and extraordinary event that is caused by factors outside the focal individual’s control and triggers a deliberate thought process concerning one’s career’ (Akkermans et al, 2018: 4). The purpose of this paper is to understand what influence Covid-19 has had on the career development of those working in TESOL and how individuals have dealt with all the changes arising from an organisation’s response to the pandemic. Through the presentation of 3 case studies involving an academic manager, a freelance teacher trainer and a newly qualified teacher all employed at large, well-known language school in Egypt, the author aims to investigate 4 important areas. Firstly, what key career competencies and personal attributes enable professionals to maintain a career in TESOL during a shock event such as a pandemic? Secondly, does this differ depending on a person’s life and/or career stage? Thirdly, is it possible that the short-term negative impact of a shock event might, over time, turn out to have a positive career outcome? And finally, what can we learn from the experiences of these TESOL professionals that might support others when dealing with career shocks in the future?