Making Wonders with Burned Fingers: The Experiences of ELT Teachers during the Online Education Process

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rapid shift in education all around the world, including Northern Cyprus. Although the related literature focused on the general perceptions of teachers and their experiences or challenges during the online education process that started early in 2020, there seems to be a gap in the literature regarding the well-being of the English language teachers from a broader perspective taking their interwoven roles and identities into consideration. In an attempt to fill this void in the literature, this study investigated the experiences of seven English language teachers during the online education period English medium university in Northern Cyprus regarding (1) work-life balance, (2) professional development, (3) academic activities and research, (4) collaboration and communication among colleagues, (5) relationship with the administration, and (6) teaching English online. The necessary data were collected via a demographic survey along with an auto-photography task, in which the participants took photos for the themes and explained them in short s, and focus group interviews were conducted. The findings revealed that although the teachers had certain financial, psychological, and teaching-related challenges in this process, they adapted to the new normal by making sacrifices, learning from their mistakes. That is to say, adaptation to online teaching took some time, energy, practice, and collaboration, but eventually, teachers managed to survive and even enjoy the whole process despite the pain they had in their fingers.