Teaching and situational understanding. The case of a Faculty of Education in the southeast of Mexico

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study carried out on the occasion of the suspension of teaching and academic work in a Faculty of Education in the southeast of Mexico. It starts from the premises that teachers whose basic training is pedagogy and educational sciences, conceive the educational phenomenon in a different way and, consequently, are capable of anticipating, adapting and making relevant decisions that go beyond the transfer of the virtual classroom with the respective technological tools; In other words, it does imply an awareness of the situation, but beyond that, a situational understanding that leads to the modification of content, teaching and learning strategies and even - if necessary - evaluation criteria, since the situation is extraordinary and emergency remote teaching has many possibilities but also restrictions that cannot be ignored. In this sense, in terms of situational awareness, it was found that all teachers were able to satisfactorily establish communication with their students through different channels and networks, both institutional and personal; Likewise, in terms of situational understanding, the teaching staff pointed out important changes from the effects of the pandemic on the student, family and personal life of the students and was sensitive to the situation to the extent of confronting their teaching role themselves and making the changes needed to best adapt to an otherwise challenging situation on multiple levels.