COVID-19: A Catalyst for Change

The final chapter summarises what preceding chapters have revealed about teachers and teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and why the crisis has been a catalyst for change. Discussion proceeds, organised into two overarching themes drawn from the content of the book: Complex Lives & Shifting Identities and Care & Co-Dependence. These lead to four recommendations for the transformation of teaching post-COVID: 1) Develop and nurture the professional autonomy of teachers; 2) Incorporate reflexive practice into teacher development; 3) Cultivate cultures of care and empathy for all; and 4) Work collaboratively to achieve transformation. Together the four recommendations function as pillars for long-term systemic and cultural change in education, which place care and empathy more centrally on agendas and ensure this extends to teachers and leaders as well as students. Calls are made for more concerted reflexivity and collaboration and for teaching professionals to be enabled to work with autonomy and flexibility. The recommendations seek to capture valuable lessons from the pandemic – which emerged through the chapters within the book - in order to address the effects of neoliberalism in education and ease the recruitment and retention crisis.