Japanese teachers’ mental readiness for online teaching of mathematics following unexpected school closures

Abstract

Teaching mathematics online has been highlighted as one of the solutions to the current crisis for education caused by the COVID-19 virus pandemic and subsequent school closures. However, we do not know what attitudes and experience teachers have towards online teaching. The aim of this study was to gain insights into how Japanese teachers were mentally prepared to tackle online teaching, in particular, when they faced a sudden, unexpected and challenging situation caused by factors beyond their control. Data was gathered from 207 elementary/junior high Japanese teachers using a survey in April 2020. Most participants held relatively positive attitudes towards the use of online teaching of mathematics. Their sense of crisis was very high, and they were anxious about, (a) how to actually make their teaching interactive and (b) how to deal with unexpected technical issues. Their readiness might be explained by their attitudes towards online teaching, the knowledge and time available, and support for making online teaching more interactive for students. We also identified teachers who were ready for such sudden changes and had some ideas to make mathematics lessons interactive with online teaching.