Unraveling EFL Teacher Buoyancy in Online Teaching: An Ecological Perspective

Honggang Liu, Siyu Duan () and Wenxiu Chu ()
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Honggang Liu: School of Foreign Languages, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
Siyu Duan: School of Foreign Languages, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
Wenxiu Chu: School of Foreign Languages, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching became a significant method at different levels of education across the globe. The transition from traditional offline to online educational environments brought new challenges for language teachers. Buoyancy plays a crucial role for teachers to bounce back from challenging situations. However, there is a scarcity of empirical research on language teacher buoyancy in online contexts from an ecological perspective which is conducive to unfolding the complex and dynamic nature of buoyancy. To fill this gap, the current study utilized a qualitative research method to investigate the factors influencing English teacher buoyancy in online teaching and how they shape and exercise buoyancy in their negotiation with different ecological systems in online teaching guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. The findings revealed that teachers experienced multiple challenges from different ecological systems, such as ineffective classroom interaction, work–life imbalance, heavy workload, and higher school requirements. Additionally, teacher buoyancy was shaped by the dynamic interaction between teachers and ecological systems and was not only viewed as the individual’s ability but as a socio-ecological product. Based on the above findings, the paper provides some implications for developing and researching language teacher buoyancy in the future.

Keywords: EFL teacher buoyancy; Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory; dynamic interaction; socio-ecological product; qualitative study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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