Motives and barriers in Emergency Remote Teaching: insights from the Greek experience

During the COVID-19 pandemic traditional teaching and learning methods were disrupted. Teachers were offered the option of remote teaching, either synchronously or asynchronously. A research study was conducted to capture the experiences of teachers in Greece during this transition, aiming to investigate their motivation for implementing Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) or not. Results indicated that teachers' motives were highly influenced by (i) the fear of administrative penalties, (ii) internal commitment to themselves and their students and (iii) pedagogical reasons. Furthermore, certain personal characteristics of teachers, such as gender, age, years of employment and employment status, were also vital factors for ERT implementation. However, technical difficulties, lack of infrastructure and lack of interest were the primary reasons for not implementing ERT at all. Findings of this study offer valuable suggestions for policy makers and researchers, as they provide insight of a significant sample of 1,120 teachers during a crisis.