SOCL 320 is a course that fulfills the Human Behavior and Social Institutions perspective requirement and focuses on the sociology surrounding education. Throughout this course, we discussed topics such as the development of public education in the U.S., educational policies, and influencing factors on education; these include race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). By learning about the development of public education in America as well as how it has changed throughout our nation’s history, we are able to better understand and appreciate what education is today. Using our knowledge of education in the U.S. and the circumstance of the current pandemic, our class also conducted a research project (our final project) in which we interviewed elementary school teachers and analyzed their responses about teaching during the pandemic.

Click Here! Public Elementary School Teaching in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Stella Morris, Spring 2021: Above is the link to my class’s research project presentation which was pre-recorded and made available for viewing during Longwood’s research day in April. The time stamp for my group’s portion of the presentation is 11:18.

Reflection: This past year was unlike any other due to COVID-19 and teachers faced many hardships in their attempts to continue their work. As a result, this provided the perfect opportunity for our class to conduct a research project in which we interviewed 18 elementary school teachers about the challenges they faced teaching during the pandemic. After conducting our interviews independently, we each transcribed our own interviews and analyzed them in groups where we looked for specific themes. My group’s focus was specifically on the challenges that teachers experienced during the pandemic, including academic changes and a lack of resources. As a future teacher, I found this project very interesting because we were able to hear from real teachers who have struggled to keep educating children during this global crisis. Although some aspects of this project were tedious (transcribing the interview), I learned many important skills I look forward to using in my future education and career.