Virtually Uncharted Waters: How a Global Pandemic Has Taken Pre-Service Teachers out of Physical Classrooms and Perpetuated Pre-Identified Gaps in Preparedness for Working With Emergent Bilingual Students

COVID-19 has changed the way of life for nearly every individual in the US. One of the greatest causes of familial and systematic turmoil has been the transition of K-12 schools to the uncharted waters of remote learning. When COVID-19 forced the termination of practicum placements for pre-service teachers, it also limited the opportunity for pre-service teachers to have in-person exposure to Emergent Bilingual Students (EBS), an essential piece of creating Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions (KSDs) needed for their future classrooms. In this essay, I look back at research addressing the KSD gaps created through the lack of exposure pre-service teachers have when it comes to working with EBS. Building on previous research related to the KSDs gained from practicum placements with EBS, pre-service teacher gaps are identified, pandemic perpetuation of gaps are put forth, and potential solutions are named.