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The impact of risk and protective factors on online teaching experience in high school Italian teachers during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Truzoli Roberto,
Pirola Veronica,
Conte Stella
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of computer assisted learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.583
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2729
pISSN - 0266-4909
DOI - 10.1111/jcal.12533
Subject(s) - locus of control , psychology , social distance , coping (psychology) , pandemic , population , distancing , covid-19 , social support , medical education , pedagogy , mathematics education , social psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , environmental health , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The lockdown due to COVID‐19 in Italy resulted in the sudden closure of schools, with a shift from traditional teaching to the online one. Through an online questionnaire, this survey explores teachers' experience of online teaching, the level of risk factors (e.g., stress) and protective factors (e.g., locus of control) and their impact on satisfaction levels during the social distancing. One hundred seven high school teachers from Lombardy, an Italian region very affected by the COVID‐19 outbreak, participated. Results show that depression and stress are the main predictors of satisfaction levels for online teaching. In addition, coping, locus of control and self‐efficacy emerge as important protective factors. Finally, although there is great satisfaction with the online teaching experience, critical elements emerged. This study is relevant because it describes the critical elements of the online teaching experience, and identifies some protective factors and the main risk factors in teachers operating in an area strongly marked by social restrictions imposed by the pandemic. High school teachers emerge as a sub‐group of the general population with specific psychological reactions. Considering the results, it is possible to suggest providing high‐quality educational support and crisis‐psychological oriented services to teachers, and help to maintain the psychological well‐being.