In the Face of Uncertainty, Peer-Training: Lessons from a Group Strategy Undertaken by Sociology Faculty During the Pandemic

Abstract

The training offered to university teaching staff tends to be scant, voluntary and heavily oriented toward novice teachers. With the arrival of Covid-19 and the sudden switch to online teaching, training became an urgent need for teachers. In this context, some faculty members of the University of *anonimizado* created a multi-cohort faculty peer-training group for collaborative learning in multimodal teaching methods. This paper describes the initiative and analyses the impact of the training on participating faculty members. The authors used a mixed methods research strategy with a sequential approach. Results indicate that training action’s collaborative dynamics contributed to the general well-being of the participants, bringing about a reduction in their feelings of isolation, insecurity and lessening their perception that they lacked the skills required for the new situation. Also, intergenerational differences were detected in the effects the training had on more novice and more experienced teachers.