Disruption, Transformation, Resilience, and Hope: The Experience of a Belizean Community During COVID-19 Lockdown

Authors

Jean D. Kirshner Dr., University of Northern ColoradoFollow

Abstract

This qualitative research explored the lived experience of teachers, school administrators, parents, and children in Belize, Central America during the COVID-19 lockdown. Through field notes, correspondence, and interviews, a narrative approach was leveraged to convey the impact of two years away from classrooms and from each other. Both the trauma and loss of this disruption on global literacy, along with three forces that nourished the capacity for resilience, were examined.

Keywords

COVID-19 lockdown, disruption, global literacy, community, identity, resilience, qualitative research, narrative

Author Bio(s)

Jean Kirshner is the co-founder and president of the Belize Education Project. Dr. Kirshner is also an assistant professor of teacher education at the University of Northern Colorado. Her research focus and work has been on decolonizing strategies in work with teachers in Belize. Dr. Kirshner's book titled, "Decolonizing Transcultural Teacher Education through Participatory Action Research: Dialogue, Culture and Identity" was recently published by Routledge. She has also published in a variety of journals including, International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies, International Journal of Education Policies, Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal, Education Leadership, and Social Studies and the Young Learner In addition, Dr. Kirshner has served on Douglas County School District teacher development and instructional leadership programs, as well as the District’s Literacy Framework committee. Please direct correspondence to jean.kirshner@unco.edu.

Acknowledgements

This is dedicated to the creative, passionate, and ever resilient educators of Belize.

Publication Date

4-11-2023

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2023.5826

Recommended APA Citation

Kirshner, J. D. (2023). Disruption, Transformation, Resilience, and Hope: The Experience of a Belizean Community During COVID-19 Lockdown. The Qualitative Report, 28(4), 1125-1144. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2023.5826

ORCID ID

0000-0003-4530-9186