Is Face-to-Face Scrambled Teaching Practice Supervision Effective Amidst Natural Disasters and Pandemics? The Teaching Practice Students’ Perspectives

Abstract

With the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in place, the quality of teacher education is a global concern. With so much talent mobility and brain circulation, any migration of low-quality educators from one region will affect the quality of education in the destination part of the global village. The study examined how the interplay in the aftermath of the cyclones, COVID-19, supervisors’ quality, and student characteristics impacted student-teachers' experiences during the scrambled teaching practice supervision model. Thematic and content analyses of data from document analysis and semi-structured interviews from purposefully sampled Southern Africa Development Community countries revealed that relying on physical teaching practice supervision negatively impacts assessment, especially when even non-specialists are involved in the supervision. Educators’ inadequate pedagogical content knowledge, space effect, and multiple exposures to assessment compromise teacher education amidst pandemics and natural disasters. The study recommends migration to computer-based online supervision strategies as a mitigation strategy. Recommendations for an educational policy, practicum, and architectural adaption are discussed.