A Multisystem View at Teacher Training Colleges during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of the current study was to examine the challenges of distance learning (DL) teacher education (TE) experienced by decision makers, lecturers, and pedagogical instructors at PE teacher training colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic, and explore how these challenges were dealt with. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 participants from five colleges of education in Israel where physical education teacher training is taught. A trifold process characterizes the investigated institutions: Frustration and a sense of helplessness, high self-satisfaction regarding the online instruction, and frustration combined with hope that the era of distance teaching will soon end. Most decisions regarding the changes and transitions were made by the teaching staff. Our findings can help those involved in teacher education in understanding how organizational and pedagogical decisions were made under conditions of uncertainty and crisis, and how these training programs were adapted to the new circumstances. Our findings may also serve as a basis for future discussion on long-distance teacher education.