Experiences of Teaching an Inclusive Class During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era Conundrums in Student Teacher Education.

Abstract

In Zimbabwe, the process of educating teachers is designed in such a way that trainee teachers 
undergo a specified episode of teaching practice. During this period, the trainee teacher spends 
time imparting knowledge, drawn from the curriculum, on the learners at school, as part of training. 
However, some inclusive schools in Zimbabwe are located in remote rural areas with little or no 
online teaching resources that trainee teachers can use for them to get the needed exposure to 
online teaching endeavours. Due to rapid changes in modern teaching ushered in by the emergence 
of the COVID-19 pandemic, trainee teachers have been left confused and seem to use unorthodox 
means to get the desired experiences.  This study explored COVID-19-induced teaching practice 
challenges experienced by trainee teachers in inclusive schools in Zimbabwe. A qualitative case 
study design was adopted and twenty (20) participants were purposively sampled from one 
university that trains teachers. A document analysis guide and semi-structured zoom interviews 
were used to solicit for data from the participants and the data were thematically analysed. It 
emerged that trainee teachers experienced major personal, mentor-related and online teaching 
methodology challenges. The study recommends provision of incentives to university trainee 
teachers for online teaching and that the teacher development departments in universities should 
avail more time for online micro teaching before teaching practice.