Omani Social Studies Teachers' Perceptions of Change in Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The research aims to identify the level of social studies teachers' assessments in the Sultanate of Oman regarding the change in teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve the research's objectives, the researchers employed a descriptive-analytical approach. A questionnaire prepared by the researcher and based on a review of several previous studies, consisting of (28) items, was used. After verifying the validity and reliability of the instrument, the Cronbach alpha for internal consistency reached 0.856, which is a high and applicable percentage. The research was applied to a sample of 445, including 206 male teachers and 239 female teachers from the governorates of North Al Batinah, Muscat, Dhofar, South Al Sharqiyah, and Al Wusta for the academic year 2021-2022. The research results showed that the level of social studies teachers' assessments of the change in teaching style reached a high level of 3.76, and that the best teaching style from the perspective of social studies teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic is face-to-face teaching. It received an approval rate of 79%. Furthermore, the research sample members disagreed about the level of effort required by distance learning. While 42% of the sample members believed that its adoption came at an appropriate time, 38% believed that its adoption came at an appropriate time to some extent, and 20% believed that its adoption came at an inappropriate time. Approximately 58% of the study sample had average knowledge of distance learning methods, and the majority (60%) believed that implementing this teaching style during the COVID-19 pandemic was appropriate for the circumstances of only some students, teachers, and the community. The research recommended developing a training plan for social studies teachers to enhance their assessments and prepare them for the requirements of change in teaching. Based on this, the researchers propose studying the training and supervisory programs provided to teachers and the challenges they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.