English Teacher Well-Being in the Face of the Pandemic

Abstract

Teaching is a challenging job with competing demands, such as supporting students’ needs, creating new resources, designing worksheets, and communicating with colleagues and parents. Keeping on top of all these tasks can be very daunting and exhausting, leading to high attrition rates, with many teachers changing professions within their first five years in the role. Nigeria is no exception to this trend as far as English language teaching (ELT) is concerned, where more interaction between the teacher and learner is involved. This qualitative case study explores English language teachers’ well-being in selected tertiary institutions in the southeast of Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected via semi-structured interviews, participant journaling, and questionnaires across four tertiary institutions. Data reflected that lack of emotional support from the workplace and poor psychological well-being were some of the factors that hindered teachers’ effective ELT at the institutions. It is pertinent, therefore, that all preservice and in-service teacher education programs, as well as professional institutions, pay attention to teachers’ needs to improve achievement and professionalism.