Collaboration and Teacher Learning Communities In The Face Of The Crisis: Contributions From A Case Of Study In The North Of Morazán For Alternative Teachers’ Professional Development Models

Abstract

For more than 25 years, educational reforms at global and local levels have identified teachers as the main responsible for poor educational results, without taking into account that their life-long career does not always offer professional conditions, especially in terms of pre and in-service training. Nor are teachers trained to confront crisis situations that affect educational systems worldwide, such as armed conflict, but also a pandemic like COVID-19. This article studies, from a qualitative perspective, the case of a group of teachers in a rural community in El Salvador who, based on various professional development strategies, were able to provide educational responses to their students and families during the time of school closure due to COVID-19. This case highlights and analyzes spaces for professional development that prioritize teacher collaboration and promote professional autonomy to respond to the specific needs of communities in non-crisis contexts, but above all, crisis ones. This experience evokes the urgency for professional development spaces to be characterized by using methodologies based on learning communities, study groups, peer observation and pedagogical support based on professional respect, which build collective knowledge that transforms practice in the classroom.