Participants

The study included six educators, between 31 and 42 years of age (M= 36.8) who work in different regions of Chile with children between three months and four years, five of which are publicly administered, and one is private but administered through the transfer of public funds. Two of the groups work in non-conventional modalities: a prison and a community EC center. In terms of professional development, one teacher has a master’s degree, two have diplomas, one has specialized courses in Waldorf pedagogy and the other two educators studied short courses. It was decided to give variability to the production of experiences, both in the institution and modality, as well as in the region, considering the different scenarios and otherness present (Table 1).

Table 1: Characterization of participants  

Instruments for the production of information

Semi-structured interviews of narrative nature were conducted between the second semester of 2020 and the first semester of 2021. The script was organized following ^{Sarceda's (2017}) proposal considering questions and interactions throughout the different life stages of each educator: childhood/adolescence, initial teacher education, work as a teacher and the present area on which this article focuses. The instrument was validated by three doctors in education who work as researchers, adjusting its questions and redaction. The interviews were remotely developed to each educator in three sessions of one hour each, in which the experience during the first year of the pandemic was mainly addressed. In all the cases, this first year of pedagogical work during the pandemic was carried out remotely, as required by the authorities.

Analysis of the information

After the transcription of the interviews, a thematic narrative analysis (^{Riessman, 2008}) was carried out, based on the experiences reported by each educator. An open coding process was carried out for each case, identifying those situations and emotions experienced, as well as the actions performed. Subsequent inductive categories were generated, configuring the major themes addressed by the teachers in their narratives.

Following ^{Braun’s and Clarke’s recommendations (2006}), the next step was a revision of the pertinence of codes and categories, based on reading and validation of the research team, ensuring that the issues raised were appropriate. To support the categories, participants’ quotations were included. The qualitative data analysis software Atlas Ti. 8 © was used.

Ethical considerations

The research followed the ethical guidelines of negotiation, collaboration, confidentiality and anonymity, equity, impartiality and commitment to knowledge (^{Flick, 2015}), respecting the integrity of the participants, who signed an informed consent validated by the ethics committee of the Universidad de Santiago. For anonymity purposes each teacher was assigned a pseudonym.

Uncertainty and coexistence of roles

The educators described the restructuring process of their professional role, linked to the absence of their usual space: the classroom. The foundations and key principles of their practices were questioned, such as affection and physical contact. The experience of the pandemic was described as a strange and disturbing situation, to which the educators initially responded with disorientation and distress, which was especially evident in those teachers who did not know the children or their families, since they were beginning the educational year.

It happened that we started enthusiastically, then came this disorientation (…) what can we do and there I was more or less two weeks in limbo, I did not know what to do (…), whether to evaluate or not to evaluate, how to contact the families, how to communicate with them, I was just getting to know them, there was no connection, there was no trust, nothing, nothing (Andrea).

In this sense, isolation and the impossibility of "being there" with the children implied an important emotional loss as they were unable to support the children. The educators perceived that face-to-face work allowed them to make a difference in terms of the children's trajectories, so the condition of uncertainty affected them emotionally.

I think it was a process of the pandemic, of not being able to work in person with the children, knowing that there are conditions that are very adverse in their lives, which one resents it a lot (Ivana).

During the first year of the pandemic, pedagogical work was done remotely from the teachers’ homes, through videoconferences or videos with pedagogical experiences. Working virtually, teachers had to adjust their professional roles with their family lives, implying emergent situations in which the educators had to coordinate personal and professional demands.

It was terrible because it was very difficult for me to reconcile everything. Being a mother, working, seeing to housework, and now all day long, I run from the moment I get up to the moment I go to bed (…). It has been really difficult for me (Carmen).

In addition, in the context of uncertainty during the first year of the pandemic, the educators experienced discomfort and emotional oscillation as a result of the need to adequately respond in a social context highly stressed by the pandemic and the potential risk of contagion of the population.

Going through different emotions, different sensations (…). There were prejudices, there was fear, from a professional and a personal point of view. There were many stages that I went through, first... like the emotional comedown (…) “Ah, I feel like I don’t want to do anything”. Then the activity: “Ah, I have to sanitize everything, because we are going to catch it, we are going to get COVID” (Andrea).

In this sense, sadness also emerged showing high expectations for a return that never materialized. In this sense, the educators are perplexed by the evolution of their educational tasks, questioning their educational function and at the same time disappointed by the working conditions in a context of uncertainty.

There is this discourse that the team members are very important, that we have to be well first so that the children can be well. But it turns out that (…), in practice, this was not carried out or respected, so, of course, many hearts were hurt and disappointed (Romina).

Mastering remote learning technologies

A primary challenge in the pandemic scenario was to adapt to the context of remote learning and to demonstrate mastery of information technologies. This was particularly important to keep contact with the children and their families to continue their pedagogical work. One of the educators refers to this situation:

In a certain way, all of us had to know and internalize the subject of ICTs or, for example, when we wanted to organize something with the parents, when we had to send them the strategies, the way we were going to approach the children, how we were going to send them the games we wanted to bring them (Romina).

The mastery of technologies refers to synchronous communication platforms that were not usual in their practice and required learning oriented to the development of their pedagogical experiences. An educator goes into more detail below:

Well, in the case of (…) knowing these types of platforms such as Zoom, Teams, it was not something that one uses daily, so it still requires learning (Alicia).

In this sense, the educators pointed out that initially they did not receive the necessary training from their institutions to approach online teaching. Faced with the lack of knowledge and education, teachers sought self-managed alternatives to develop their expertise in emergency contexts. In the case of Alicia, for example, there was a process of technological transfer from the children of another teacher, who already had experience and skill using their schools' platforms. This resource was extended to the rest of the teachers’ staff.

One of the teachers has a son, who is very young, and he was much more skilled in using this platform than we were. In fact, he taught us because he had classes, and he started much earlier. And he showed us the alternatives and how we could use it better (Alicia).

In terms of training in technologies, this process has implied a new professional learning, while it has provided opportunities to access new educational experiences.

I think that more time has also been given to read, to learn about other pedagogies. I am doing a seminar, and I have more time to study for that seminar, to connect to the classes... (Ivana).

Relationship with families

A third area described is the relationship with families. During the pandemic relationships changed in several ways. The teachers reported a more direct communication, mainly because formalities were abandoned to access the children’s lives and by extension their families. Due to remote teaching, the educators reported a main role of the families since they become “intermediaries” of their pedagogical action, by preparing the conditions for a synchronous interaction or sharing the audiovisual material sent by the teachers.

We also try to generate instances with the babies, the baby with the mother, and to be able to show them strategies, because children learn by playing direct interaction. So there was little we could do with the children, but with the mothers, to provide them with strategies, to make sense of the work and stimulation they are doing daily (Alicia).

Teachers reported that they would communicate with families through social networks, email, and phone calls. The main means of communication has been WhatsApp, given its accessibility and immediacy. To communicate with families, educators expanded the limits of the professional relationships, showing themselves as welcoming, close, and available. Notwithstanding, this experience was not easy because some families would not act reciprocally, not responding to their pedagogical requirements.

I think that when they ignore you on WhatsApp it is like the worst thing that can happen, they ignore you and don't give you okay, nothing; you don't know, then, because you interpret (…) and I say: “Oh, he/she didn't like it, he/she got angry, he/she didn't have time to respond, he/she had an accident, what do I know... he/she dropped the phone and then forgot it” (Andrea).

To solve the lack of reciprocity, the teachers would take a position and act reflexively and collaboratively to understand the scenario and respond to the context. The answers given by the educators were collegial and implied the need to articulate a relevant proposal based on open and direct communication.

Then, after discussion about this situation and after a long time, it was like, what can we do, what strategy can we look for, how can we motivate, how can we encourage participation? (Andrea).

In this way, it was important for the educators to have access to the families’ lifeworld’, building a relationship of accompaniment and support. This close and concerned inquiry allowed them to bring the pedagogical process closer, giving its own meaning, by getting into the impact of the pandemic in families’ daily lives, although they perceived that virtual relationships were not comparable to the face-to-face experience.

We communicated a lot by email, by WhatsApp (…). Suddenly due to the evaluations, they had to send me evidence of the activities they did at home and the file size was heavy, the email did not work, they sent it to WhatsApp. So strategy changed, but it is different, it is different to connect with the family in person, to be with them, an email for me, at least, is colder (Romina).

The educators considered different innovations such as brief synchronous sessions with the children and their families or meetings designed flexibly to meet the needs of families. For example, in Pamela's case, there was an emerging space for reflection in a project called "virtual toy libraries", in which they addressed topics of interest with the families, becoming, in addition, an instance of emotional support.

So, in every session we talk about different topics that families and we propose (…) and it has been such a rich space. I think that the good thing about the pandemic has been that, and the families value it and say, “We never had this before, we could never talk at this level” (Pamela).

Pedagogical tensions

In relation to the implementation of remote pedagogy, tensions were reported regarding the adjusting of their teaching practices to this modality. There were a suspicion regarding the scope of an unknown teaching modality and the suppression of sensitive aspects of the concrete experience, which in the beginning led to questioning of the possibility of educating children this way. In addition, there was tension over the evaluations, since they were sometimes not returned by the families, which interrupted the pedagogical tracing. There was a need to work, in parallel to the learning objectives, on the emotional issue.

It did not bother me to do videos, for example, what was more complicated was the issue of evaluations and (…) time organization, and how this, in turn, was worked on in parallel because of how one feels emotionally in this pandemic (Romina).

To resolve these tensions, tools such as a playful attitude and histrionics emerged in remote pedagogical experiences. The mechanisms used included audiovisual capsules and synchronous meetings. These showed the need to operate pedagogically from a theatrical show to emulate the face-to-face experience and sustain the attention and interest of children.

How do I transmit this? First, I have to like what I am going to transmit in the capsule, I have to show that I am having a great time and that, I have to transmit it. Second, the children have to relate to me, they do not know me, how can they relate to me if I am very serious and talk to them in a very technical way, I have to be close and how, my face, smile, open my eyes, gesticulate. Third, I have to look at the camera, because they are there, I have to imagine that they are there, so I can no longer look to the side or down, I am looking at them. So, I practiced a little bit at a time and then it came naturally (Andrea).

This adaptation to virtual contexts implied in Ivana's case a transaction with the pedagogical principles that inspired her actions. She criticizes the use of screens at early ages and the impossibility of being with the other, together with the notion of experience that is at the basis of her pedagogy.

It is not the same as experiencing it, in this case it is felt, it is resented as not being next to the other, being able to listen, to be able to look at him/her, I think that in Waldorf pedagogy it is fundamental to be together and make community, to be able to look at each other, to be able to know how they are when we start a class (Ivana).

This tension implied, at the beginning, a negotiation of meanings in which an emergency situation was imposed, having to rescue central aspects of each pedagogy, such as the notion of autonomy and adult accompaniment as axes of teaching practice in virtual mode.

Funding

Scholarship Program 2018 of the Doctorate in Education of the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación of Chile.