Emergency Remote Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Music Teachers in Turkey and England

Abstract

The biggest and most devastating pandemic of the 21st century began to affect our world, with the Chinese Government reporting that a mysterious respiratory disease of unknown origin was detected in 2019. Education has been one of the areas most affected by this deadly disease, which spread all over the world in a short time. In this process, countries went into lockdown and changed the education model and switched to the “emergency remote teaching” model. Consequently, many students have been deprived of face-to-face education. According to UNESCO data, more than 1 billion students were affected on 13 April 2020 due to the disruption of education due to the pandemic. While face-to-face education is suspended in 7 countries today, approximately 37 million students are affected by this situation. In this research, the opinions of the music teachers working in primary and secondary public schools in Turkey and England during the emergency remote teaching about the process were taken. A sample group was formed with a total of 50 music teachers from Turkey and England. The opinions of the teachers were taken with a Likert-type interview form consisting of 6 sections and 22 questions and open-ended answers. According to these answers, the average duration of a lesson is almost equal in both countries, the lessons are generally taught from the same platforms and devices, the teachers in Turkey have more problems with the internet infrastructure during the process. While teachers’ opinions about the COVID-19 processes were generally negative, it was revealed that they developed themselves in digital literacy after the process. In addition, suggestions were received from the teachers for the development of possible new emergency remote music teaching after the process. It has been seen that teachers working in both countries agree on providing equal opportunities to students. At the same time, one of the most striking suggestions is to keep the online alternative education model always ready. This study is important in order to be better prepared for the new possible emergency distance music education.