VIETNAMESE SECONDARY TEACHERS’ RESPONSES TO EMERGENCY ONLINE TEACHING

Abstract

Early 2020 witnessed one of the greatest pandemics in the history of human beings. All aspects of life have changed since then. In Vietnam, due to the unexpected pandemic, most schools nationwide have been occasionally closed for up to four months, leading teachers to a new way of teaching: online teaching. This study aimed at investigating how Vietnamese secondary teachers reacted to such a sudden change. The study employed sequential explanatory mixed method with the survey and the in-depth interview as the main instruments. The findings of the study revealed that Vietnamese secondary teachers used a mass variety of ways to maintain their teaching from sending exercises through Zalo and email to online meetings. In light of teachers’ view, their remote teaching was not very effective due to a lack of skills and knowledge. It was also found that secondary teachers of English in Vietnam need pedagogical, financial support, and resources to better implement their online teaching. The study recommends that the peer mentoring method and an immediate change in pre-service teacher education should be conducted as an effective way to help teachers overcome their challenges in the new teaching context. In addition, instant financial help from the government should be provided.