Abstract: (see Poster Gallery) The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Social Work Instructors: The Case of Israel (Society for Social Work and Research 27th Annual Conference - Social Work Science and Complex Problems: Battling Inequities + Building Solutions)
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SSWR 2023 Poster Gallery: as a registered in-person and virtual attendee, you have access to the virtual Poster Gallery which includes only the posters that elected to present virtually. The rest of the posters are presented in-person in the Poster/Exhibit Hall located in Phoenix A/B, 3rd floor. The access to the Poster Gallery will be available via the virtual conference platform the week of January 9. You will receive an email with instructions how to access the virtual conference platform.

497P (see Poster Gallery) The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Social Work Instructors: The Case of Israel

Schedule:
Saturday, January 14, 2023
Phoenix C, 3rd Level (Sheraton Phoenix Downtown)
* noted as presenting author
Liat Shklarski, PhD, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Ramapo College, New Jersey, NY
Yael Latzer, PhD, Professor, Haifa University Israel, New York, NY
Yaara Paz, BSW, MSW student, Lead researcher, Haifa University, New York, NY
Kathleen Ray, PhD, LCSW, Director of MSW Program Assistant Professor of Social Work, Ramapo College, New Jersey, NJ
Background: The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on people’s professional and personal lives is ongoing, with no clear indication as to when life will return to “normal.” The transition to remote teaching has particularly affected social work education due to its experimental nature.

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the global pandemic and the transition to remote teaching on the emotional and cognitive experiences of social work instructors in Israel in January 2021.

Method: 144 Israeli social work instructors completed a survey that included demographic data, Likert scale statements, and open-ended questions.

Findings: The results indicated that instructors quickly adapted to remote teaching and were willing to continue using it in the future. In response to questions regarding the first stage of the pandemic, 73.6% of the participants positioned themselves in the “experimentation and adaptation” stage of the Kübler-Ross change curve. Additionally, the findings highlighted the instructors’ mixed emotions. A lack of institutional support negatively impacted their adjustment, and they had to learn techniques to cope by relying on family members and friends. Furthermore, the participants reported a mixed effect of the transition to remote teaching on their work–life balance; on the one hand, they saved time by not commuting to work, but on the other hand, their work and personal spaces became intertwined.

Conclusions and implications for practice: The study looked at remote teaching as a new phenomenon affecting the future of social work education and highlighted its impact in light of the cultural differences between Israel and other countries. The findings provide the foundation for understanding the complexity of remote teaching in the social work profession and offer opportunities to learn from experience and further research in the field. This study suggests that institutions should provide their instructors with sufficient time and tools to design their remote classes in order to better engage their students in the learning process.

Keywords: Social work studies; remote teaching; learning experiences; instructors, Covid-19 pandemic; coping with stress

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