The library: A fragile history

Abstract

The library: A fragile history by A. Pettegree & der Weduwen is reviewed.

Changes perceived in our environment, especially in education, are not owed exclusively to changing technology, but rather an agglomeration of varying factors such as changes in policy, socio-cultural norms, and transfer of knowledge from peers across nations (Kranzberg, 1986). It is useful to understand how teachers feel about negotiating technology as an aid and medium when it is used in the process of teaching. In the traditional mode of education, technology was an add-on, used when needed. But the disruption caused by the pandemic fueled the wave toward digitization of the teaching practice, where it is now seen as a necessity. The enthusiasm with which a teacher adopts digital technology in their practice depends on a number of factors, which guide the usage of viable digital technologies that can be incorporated, to make teaching the subject digitally fruitful. In this article, I would reflect on my research to understand the attitude of teachers toward navigating the common space of their home, which houses their professional and personal responsibilities.

Change Is the Only Constant

Technology by itself cannot be classified as good or bad, rather, the way in which the given technology is implemented in a particular situation is what leads the effect of that action to be within the spectrum of good or bad (Kranzberg, 1986). Changes perceived in our environment, especially in education, are an agglomeration of varying factors such as changes in policy, socio-cultural norms, transfer of knowledge and evolving technology used in education itself. Such paces of change in technology and the manner in which it is incorporated in our lives functions as a double-edged sword, push toward wider dissemination of knowledge yet holding the power to fuel a disconnect with those who are unable to access this ever-changing technology.

To be able to efficiently function and become familiar with technology aided education, it is necessary to provide adequate and appropriate technological infrastructure for learning, and secondly, the mounting need to appropriately train faculty in utilizing digital knowledge and tools (Fawcett & Gunson, 2020). Yet, access to faculties that uses technology effectively and access to technology itself is not equally distributed across communities as it would depend on the socio-economic ability, access, and training of the teachers coming from within this community. Owing to this, the success of online education is dependent on the extent to which teachers are familiar with the digital tools available to them, and the efficiency with which they leverage the same for instructing, collaborating, mentoring and tracking the progress of the students.

The relationship a teacher has with technology is situated within the social and professional context unique to them, and hence all factors within this context would need to be considered to understand the manner in which they influence the lived experience of the teachers as they navigate the digital teaching platform (Selwyn & Facer, 2014). Factors affecting modern education could be, but are not limited to, the digital infrastructure of the educational institution, accessibility to digital devices, institutions' policy toward usage of technology and the teacher's knowledge of education technology influence the manner in which teachers maneuver the digital space, placing technology, and specifically the online education environment, in a web of contending and collaborating factors, the interplay of which impact the attitude of teachers to toward a digital hybrid teaching experience.

Research Design

To execute and draw meaning from the data collected, the research study is positioned within the interpretivist paradigm (McChesney & Aldridge, 2019). My motivation to position this research study within the interpretivist paradigm was that the research and the consequent findings needed to be grounded in the lived reality of the teachers as they navigated the pandemic (Clark et al., 2021). This allowed for the participants to reveal their knowledge and understanding of their environment, and for me to arrive at meaningful assimilations of the social phenomena (Hiller, 2016). This design allowed for multiple explanations of reality as situated in their respective social contexts, as there could be more than one singular way of perceiving reality (Reiter, 2013). The research was an exploratory study into understanding the attitude of educators to online learning, whereby we can understand the phenomena through the lens of the participants' experiences toward online education varied based on the subject domain of the teacher, and the manner in which they navigated their shared personal and professional space at home.

I used a Multiple Methods study, where the study was conducted using a sequential model, where the findings from the quantitative method will help narrow down the focus for the data collection by qualitative method and the subsequent analysis (Schoonenboom & Johnson, 2017). The non-probability sample was broad for the first phase of the study, where a quantitative tool, a close-ended Likert item questionnaire, was shared with the school teachers from the respective schools. Data collection was carried out across three schools of Mumbai, and the survey was open to all teachers from the respective schools. The quantitative data gathered was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the qualitative data gathered was analyzed using thematic analysis. This allowed the identification of recurring themes and trends in the responses, which informed the research findings and interpretation.

Flipped Roles: Teachers as Learners

Owing to the quick turnaround induced by the emergency of the pandemic, there was an urgency in the need to upskill in navigating technology within the online class learning environment. However, the nature of the adaptations was unique to the particular subject being taught by the teachers, as each subject had its own requirement. In the endeavor of making teaching fit for purpose within the context of the pandemic, teachers reported that they had an increased workload as they needed to not only manage the curriculum but also upskill to interact with the digital interface of the online classrooms which placed them in the unenvious position of being on call round the clock. Furthermore, they struggled to negotiate creating a professional space within their homes, as personal responsibilities were difficult to keep at bay.

Teachers depended on ad hoc and readily available channels of support through family members, colleagues, their students and the internet itself (Gudmundsdottir & Hathaway, 2020). This could be seen through responses such as, "Many times it happens that during the online classes itself, I used to ask my students, what should I do?" (Teacher 3), and "I'm tech savvy, I'm already into computer application so I can explore that...I'm good in Googling, I'll just find out the answer for myself" (Teacher 4). Teachers made an effort to train themselves in education technology so as to adapt and incorporate them into their practice and allow learning to continue (An & Oliver, 2021).

The teachers formed an informal network of support among themselves which was readily accessible and they found comfort in the knowledge that they were not struggling in isolation, and that their peers needed support too. As it was an informal channel of support, the teachers expected to receive immediate help, without the constraints of official permission for training and the subsequent time lag in receiving the training, as time is of the essence. Teachers who were technologically savvy can empathize with what might be the problem that their peers were facing, and thereby gave targeted, immediate and personalized help to their colleagues. The students were more than willing to support their teachers, which fostered trust between the student and the teacher.

The level of proficiency in using digital tools for online teaching was varied among the teachers and when the pandemic broke out, the teachers were expected to turn to online teaching in order to preserve the continuity of learning for the students (Krishnamurthy, 2020). Yet, to do so, some amount of appropriate training was required. However, the teachers reported that though they were given training, it was not structured and regular. The training received was almost on a "need" basis and chalked into the schedule of the teachers, time permitting. The teachers displayed an attitude of gratefulness for any help given to them from the school, yet as the bar of expectation was low to begin with, the teachers didn't challenge the school management to give them regular formal help to navigate the new digital environment. There was tacit reliance on the teachers' resourcefulness in finding and developing informal channels of support, which consequently fed into colleagues having stronger ties among each other.

Furthermore, the time and space for reaching out for assistance broke the invisible barrier of official working hours, as teachers were willing to support each other any time the call for help was raised. Even though the teachers weaved their way through official and unofficial channels of training, they acknowledged that if it was not for the pandemic, their skill in digital tools would remain undeveloped (Marinoni et al., 2020). Prior to the pandemic the teachers had a very functional knowledge about technology in the teaching space and the ensuing digital tools to support learning, as it was an aid, which could be used on a voluntary basis, and not a necessary medium of continuity of education as it was during the pandemic. Responses such as, "Yes, when we were in the pandemic, we definitely explored few more options which we never thought that we would be exploring.' (Teacher 4), and 'We have learnt new tools, few new apps, our IT skill has improved." (Teacher 6), show that the teachers acknowledged that the journey to become better at navigating digital environment was a steep learning curve, with long term benefits.

An attitude that was not entirely negative toward the usage of digital tools and the online learning environment created an opportunity for all stakeholders to inculcate active learning, where the learners were engaged in constructive learning activities, and moved away from lecture style passive learning as it facilitated a space where the teachers learned from the students and depended on them as much as they did on the teachers, thereby fostering a mutual reliance on each other as they negotiated the shared challenges of navigating the online teaching and learning environment.

The Sisyphean Teacher: On Call Round the Clock

The lived experience of navigating digital teaching was a challenge as teachers had to manage not only their commitment to the learners but also rework their teaching resources for it to be adapted to the new mode of teaching, being available to the learners at any time of the day and also dealt with the ensuing stress and anxiety (Basilotta-Gómez-Pablos et al., 2022). Comments of teachers like, "I have worked 18 hours in a day...we hardly used to sleep for 3-4 hours in a day" (Teacher 2), and "Basically, we have to work 24 by 7" (Teacher 3) were evidence to show that the teachers were easily reachable through the connectivity provided by technology, and were constantly expected to be available to cater to the needs of the students.

Negative consequences of the expectancy of being on call at any given time contributed to teacher burn out and exhaustion (Gudmundsdottir & Hathaway, 2020). This contributed to the level of stress and anxiety the teachers felt while performing their tasks. "I just wanted to leave the job. So, I said I'm going to resign because I'm getting only 50% salary and I'm working more than 18 hours in a day" (Teacher 2), which showed the real dilemma teachers faced when having to juggle the requirements of their role. In order to manage the need to be on call always, the teachers have to make a conscious effort to carve out time for themselves. The teachers found themselves working much beyond the regular working hours, as they are constantly reachable by the students over electronic and digital media.

The teachers reported that they routinely felt pressurized when employing online or remote teaching methods as they find it difficult to mold their existing teaching practices to accommodate constantly plaguing issues like the learners' fluctuating internet connection, changing individual needs of the learners, and constantly changing educational or governmental directives. Many teachers were not technologically savvy when the pandemic broke out, and hence they struggled to cope with the challenges of teaching from their homes in the online learning environment as establishing a worklife balance was an uphill battle.

Digital accessibility of the teachers broke through the physical, temporal and spatial boundaries teachers had with their learners, as they were reachable with the click of a button. The immediacy of being reachable online leftthe teachers in a near constant state of being in work mode as being able to answer any query in the shortest time lag was perceived to be a sign of efficiency and dedication to the role of being mentors to their learners. This, however, meant that the teachers struggled to mentally switch offfrom the work treadmill of tasks, requests from parents, checking and setting assessments, and lesson plans, among other things, and thereby found themselves perpetually exhausted.

Subjective Challenges of Varied Subjects

The interviews with teachers divulged that the subject the teachers had to teach online did influence their experience of the online learning environment. The teachers expressed that some subjects were easily adapted to the online learning environment, while some maybe not so much. Comments from the interviewed teachers such as, "There are certain subjects like maybe if you talk about Geography for my son, I'm saying like map marking, it was quite difficult" (Teacher 1), and "Yeah, so this subject, especially mathematics and I think all the subjects which had more of skill based concepts like even art where they had to draw physical education, all went for a toss" (Teacher 7), show that the skills and nature of learning derived from the subject had an influence on how comfortable the teachers felt on the online platform.

Subjects that would need the teachers to annotate or write to explain the subject matter, as opposed to those which could be explained orally, struggled to a greater extent in the endeavor of adapting the subject content to fit the online platform. Much of the struggle emanated from the level of proficiency, flexibility, and willingness the teachers had toward migrating the subject content in a manner that fit the online classes. Yet, the teachers were not averse to the idea of taking extra effort to adapt their subject to the online platform, as seen in the evidence, "Only thing which was very much required, that is planning" (Teacher 6) and "Ohh to some extent it's quite dependent on the teachers way of teaching...Ugh, subject is always interesting, be it History, be it Maths, be it English Language, Literature" (Teacher 4). This showed that they were open to the challenge of upskilling and mapping their respective subject matter to the online space, but the time frame within which they had to do so was the primary issue, as there was a very short reaction period within which they had to action the changes.

Through the responses of the teachers, I came to the considered opinion that their attitude was positive or negative, depending on their experience of how conducive it was for them to teach their subject on the online platform. Teachers who had subjects that require them to solve sums, graphs, maps, etc., and are physical in nature like music, art or sports, found it relatively difficult to "write" on an online platform as it is not as organic as in the physical class, where they could immediately write on a white or black board. However, the teachers preferred offline teaching for regular classes. The common consensus was, "For certain tools if I want to use, then also I can go for online classes. Nevertheless, not on a regular basis. Regularly we should go for offline classes" (Teacher 6).

Where Am I? Am I in an Office or Am I at My Home?

Digitized teaching experience of the teachers is influenced by their experience of carving out an online classroom environment in their personal home space. Comments like "Where am I? Am I in an office or am I at my home?" (Teacher 4) showed that teachers struggled to negotiate clear professional space within their homes, as there was no dedicated place of work. To demarcate a designated workspace at home, the support of their respective families was seen to be crucial. "Now, uh, after some days initially like my husband also started with uh work from home. So we used to in three different rooms" (Teacher 1), and "We had to finalize who's going to sit where and it has to be a little quiet...my son was shifted to another room and then my husband worked from another room" (Teacher 5) were evidence that there had to be clear communication among family members to determine which part of the home space was used by which family member so that any clashes or disturbances were avoided once the online class session began.

Establishing a physical space that is meant solely for their work at home was a challenge for teachers with families. Only if the family was understanding and cooperative could the same be done. Additionally, it depended on the size of the house as that was directly related to whether or not the teacher had the scope to have a dedicated room that serves as an office. Teachers had to be prepared to keep shifting their workspace within the house if there was a family member who needed them to move from their current location. Such contingencies contribute to attitude formation of the teacher toward online learning environment as such issues would not be faced by the teacher in the offline school environment.

When being situated at home, the teachers struggled to detach from their household chores and found that they seem to be pulled in opposing directions if their family did not step in to share their household responsibilities. Teaching from within the four walls of the house was manageable for the teacher with the support of their family members, as evidenced in the statements, "Like my son used to do the utensils in the evening. In the morning, I used to do the clothes. Everything we have divided' (Teacher 2), "I have a supportive family. So, when I'm into my room and I'm taking lessons and there is nobody to disturb me" (Teacher 4), and 'So I got a support, a huge support in my mother-in-law and my husband everybody. We were collaborating and doing so, not a problem" (Teacher 5). These responses were dynamic in nature and gave a perspective to the online teaching- learning situation.

This was one of the key challenges experienced by the teachers that contributed to their attitude toward online learning environment. The challenge of multitasking the home work and the school work was not an impediment in the offline teaching environment as there were official working hours and an official physical location to work in. At home, teachers struggled to navigate the blurred line between work-life balance as for it to be a success they needed a conducive work environment at home, the support of their family members and appropriate infrastructure.

Some teachers had apathetic families, who expected them to do the household work, over and above their school work, and did not take the initiative to help out in any way. This was challenging and stressful for the teacher to navigate, as reported in the statements, "Yes, we have to handle our household chores" (Teacher 1), and "And in in my house all are male members. My husband and two sons. And you are also an Indian lady. You can understand that Indian men, they hardly work...So that was my thing, which I really struggled" (Teacher 6). Even in the era of digital education, we cannot assume every individual has access to a technology-rich environment, with a conducive teaching space or that they have knowledge about how to optimize digital tools employed in the process of education (Auxier & Anderson, 2020).

Review of Findings

In online learning, the border between formal and informal learning space is blurred, as through the device the individual is engaged in a formal asynchronous or synchronous session in a physical environment which may be an informal setting like the personal bedroom, living room, public library or even a car (Ovetz, 2021). Intangible social networks and interactions in formal and informal environments shape the overall learning experience of the learner (Colardyn & Bjornavold, 2004). This being said, the manner in which interaction occurs online, by means of the augmented reality co-created by the online and offline self, the learning space is enmeshed within the site design of the digital aid being employed by the user, and how much prowess the user has over navigating the site design optimally (Islahi & Nasrin, 2022)

The attitude teachers have toward online learning is influenced by their understanding of the benefits and dangers of operating digital tools over the internet, their desire to engage in lifelong learning and honing their skills in wielding digital tools in the service of teaching, and the sociocultural environment within which they function (Masry-Herzallah & Stavissky, 2021). Online learning environments call for a remodeling of the role of the teacher which could potentially be difficult or frustrating in light of navigating the digital and physical infrastructure for online teaching and reorienting pedagogy to adapt to the online learning environment (Masry-Herzallah & Stavissky, 2021). Yet, there are barriers to conducting an online class which may induce a negative attitude toward online education, such as stunted access to appropriate training, digital tools, poor network connectivity, and basic infrastructure like laptop or headphones to facilitate an online class (Al Gamdi & Samarji, 2016).

The perceived ease of navigating technology in teaching, and thereby the attitude toward it, is dogged with the concern that technology-mediated teaching would require additional effort to prepare resources and activities that are adapted for technology-mediated teaching, investment of time to receive appropriate training for skill development and the anxiety of navigating the digital tools on varying interfaces of digital devices (Sánchez-Prieto et al., 2017). Teachers who have to upskill in a short span of time and immediately apply that to their online class can find the environment stressful and intimidating.

Conclusion

The attitude of teachers was more positive toward offline or even a hybrid system of education, than a prolonged online learning environment. The teachers did not deem the online learning environment completely unusable, and in fact found it a good parallel or support system to the offline learning environment. They did not think that it should be done away with completely but should be used alongside offline teaching to act as a bridging medium for learners who need additional help to keep at par with the majority of the class or for new students who join mid-session. Teachers feel that online learning is useful to be used alongside the physical school as a support function, to help take after-hours remedial classes or to teach remotely if the teacher is sick or to be a platform at the ready for overcoming unforeseen circumstances, as evidenced in their statements.

Though the overarching attitude of teachers is mildly negative to the online learning environment, it is so due to the challenges they have had to overcome, such as having to upskill quickly, rely on limited school-sponsored training and more on ad hoc channels of support, poor effective presence of their learners and various degrees of support from family members. Yet, the teachers do feel that they are better offthan before the pandemic, as though it was challenging, they added digital capability to their skillset. This being said, there is still scope for the teachers to develop and upgrade their level of digital proficiency as technology changes constantly.

In the modern learning environment where there are always potential threats lurking in the shadows which may interrupt the smooth and continuous flow of teaching, it is a necessity to have the infrastructure to support online teaching. Furthermore, it is equally essential that the digital skills and proficiency in the same of the teachers is seen as a vital investment of time and resources by the respective schools, as this would ensure that there is no panicked migration of teaching processes from in-person to digital teaching. Additionally, teachers can use these as transferable skills which they can use their personal initiative to keep honing and adapting to modern advances in the way teaching and learning is fostered in the modern technology-driven world.

References

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