Promoting pre-service teachers’ psychological competence for online learning and teaching: The T.E.A.C.H. programme

Hong Kong has faced the suspension of primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools due to COVID-19, which has put over one million students out of the classroom. Educators were abruptly forced to shift to online and virtual classes without sufficient time and resources to prepare for such an enormous transition. While shifting from traditional face-to-face format to modern e-learning ensures that students can be educated outside of the classroom, its impact on the quality of learning and teaching can be mixed because professionals cannot solely rely on conventional teaching approaches. This project aims to address the knowledge gap in the traditional teacher-training by developing an online programme called “T.E.A.C.H.” to enhance pre-service teachers’ psychological competence for conducting online L&T. This programme consists of five modules, with each focusing on a specific domain of psychological competence (i.e., creativity, curiosity, love of learning, judgment, and perspective) and applied to the ‘three foci’ for online L&T (i.e., attendance and participation, engagement, and assessment). The modules consist of lecture videos, readings, practical tips and suggestions, and e-learning resources. The learning experience is consolidated and enriched by a series of interactive activities, practice exercises, critical evaluations, reflections, and short quizzes. The effectiveness of the programme for enhancing pre-service teachers’ psychological competence and online L&T outcomes are assessed through questionnaire measures, objective behavioural tasks, and knowledge checks. Pre-service teachers are expected to show more positive attitudes toward online L&T, higher self-efficacy to teach online, greater motivation to use information and communication technologies, and increased online pedagogical competence. Copyright © 2021 ICLT.