This international study investigated teacher perceptions toward systemic racism and online distance learning within the context of the COVID-19 as a dual pandemic. Teachers from three locations in Europe and the United States participated in 18 hours of virtual live professional learning lectures using a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) conceptual framework and Schoolwide Enrichment Model pedagogical model in Gifted Education. Given tragic events of systemic racism viewed globally during the pandemic combined with a sudden change from face-to-face traditional learning in buildings to online learning platforms, teachers faced challenges with instructional delivery but gained opportunities to address DEI issues in their virtual classrooms. Despite the pedagogical and societal hardships of COVID-19, teachers with little or no training or experience forged pathways in online distance education. The study provided professional learning as online Professional Learning Institutes to equip P-12 teachers with knowledge, skills, and dispositions to effectively create differentiated curricula based on DEI concepts. 

Professional literature supported positive aspects of online teaching and DEI concepts during this dual pandemic. For example, socialization in online learning connects online teaching and learning and issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (Siemens, 2004). Teacher performance with technology and technology training impacted student learning (Lei & So, 2021). Teaching style, preparation, and feedback impacted student learning (Bolliger & Martindale, 2004). Teacher perceptions of online instruction effectiveness compared to face-to-face instruction showed no statistically significant difference (Lei & So, 2021). Freshmen and sophomore interviews found students completed third and fourth college years with “color-blind racism” ideology (Bonita-Silva, 2015). 

The researchers asked participants to complete a nine-hour online course on the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM; Renzulli, 1986) as a self-paced Pre-Institute professional learning intervention. The SEM knowledge and skills proposed enrichment for all students and provided foundational methods and practical strategies. Participants practiced using the Renzulli Learning System (RLS) components during the Pre-Institute that included the Renzulli Profiler, Differentiation Engine, Project Wizard, Super Starter Templates, Project Showcase, and the Cebecci Test of Creativity.

Prior to the four-week Professional Learning Institutes, participants signed consent forms, The researchers adapted published surveys on DEI (Pohan & Aguilar, 2001) and online distance education (Çelen et al., 2013), and participants completed pretests to establish a baseline of teacher knowledge, skills, and dispositions toward the dual pandemic areas of DEI concepts and online distance education pedagogy.

The four-week Professional Learning Institutes consisted of nine hours of DEI concepts with three lecture hours during the first three weeks. Week 1 focused on SEM Type 1 enrichment designed to introduce learners to the diversity concepts. During Week 2, lectures addressed SEM Type II enrichment learning focused on real world skills and inclusion concepts. Week 3 addressed SEM Type III in-depth enrichment learning and equity concepts. The fourth week provided additional time to complete enrichment curriculum tasks posted in Google Classroom. Each of the three locations worked in separate online classrooms with the same tasks. 

All live lectures included translation and captioning to support the international collaboration between a European country and the United States. At the end of each live lecture, participants asked questions in their own language with explanations translated for non-English speaking participants. Participants unable to attend lectures could view recorded lectures hosted on a dedicated YouTube channel. Following the four-week Professional Learning Institutes, participants completed the DEI and online distance education surveys. 

The researchers asked two questions: (a) How does a virtual Enrichment Camp impact teacher perceptions of systemic racism during the dual pandemic, and (b) How does a virtual Enrichment Camp impact teacher perceptions of teaching during the dual pandemic? The online Professional Learning Institutes served as the virtual enrichment camps. 

The quasi-experiment study used a pretest/posttest design with three iterations of four-week online Professional Learning Institutes. Each institute consisted of 18 lectures hours of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) conceptual learning and pedagogical training in the online Renzulli Learning System (RLS) based on the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (Renzulli, 1986; 2021). Thirty-five primary and secondary level teachers completed teacher perception surveys on diversity, equity, and inclusion (15 items) and online distance education (20 items) as pretests to establish a baseline of teachers perceptions toward DEI concepts and online distance education pedagogy. Researchers in three locations invited P-12 teachers from professional organizations and university courses related to Gifted Education to participate in the study. Participants could complete the Professional Learning Institute for university credit hours with additional assignments and supervised interactions with gifted children recorded through Zoom. The RLS professional learning coordinator delivered Zoom lectures on SEM Types I, II, and III enrichment using the RLS platform to demonstrate DEI concepts. University professors with expertise in Gifted Education and Graduate Assistants presented lectures on DEI concepts with specific exemplars related to SEM Types I, II, and III enrichment learning. Participants complete The Profiler in the RLS to determine strengths, interests and preferred learning and expression styles. The RLS then generated matched enrichment activities with participant Profile results categorized as Virtual Field Trips and How-to Books as examples of Type I enrichment to introduce diversity concepts. Enrichment categories included Critical Thinking and Creativity Training as Type II real world skills and Independent Study and Contests and Competitions to demonstrate Type III in-depth learning. A graduate research assistant tracked participant progress and posted announcements through Google Classroom. Participants used the RLS to create individualized enrichment activities based on their RLS Profiler results. Some participants worked with P-12 students to enhance their learning experience with RLS pedagogy and DEI concepts. Both English-speaking and non-English participants attended live lectures as a group during two week days and one Saturday. Research from each location hosted separate Google Classrooms to manage projects and post announcements. After the four-week intervention, participants completed the DEI and online distance education surveys as posttests to provide a comparison with their pretest responses. Participants used codes to preserve anonymity and confidentiality. Participants who completed the intervention lectures and both surveys received signed completion certificates. Participants also received professional learning certificates upon completion of the SEM training during the Pre-Institute phase of the study.

The researchers combined pretest and posttest perception survey data from the three institutes for group analysis. Demographics of the 35 teachers measured experience teaching, geographic location, and gender. Online Distance Education survey statements clustered together as 10 positive and 10 negative statements. Examples of pretest/posttest that changed from negative to positive perceptions included, "Lessons cannot be offered through distance education" DEI item and "Instructors in distance education are inadequate in terms of knowledge and skills." DEI survey pretest/posttest statements of agreement that changed to fewer who agreed included, "Many women in society continue to live in poverty because males still dominate the major social systems in America," and "People with physical limitations are less effective as leaders than people without disabilities." The study found teacher perceptions changed in a favorable direction on 14 of 15 DEI survey statements with lower ratings on the mixed racial parenting item (item #1). Similarly, teacher perceptions toward online distance education shifted in a favorable direction on 19 of 20 survey statements from the pretest to the posttest with a lower rating on distance education as an instructional delivery system in the future (item #12). These results indicated the online Professional Learning Institute intervention changed participant perceptions toward online distance education pedagogy and DEI concepts in a favorable direction. Recommendations from the study include follow-up on pretest/posttest results through structured interviews with attention to outlier DEI item #1 and online distance education item #12. Controlled sample size in different locations could provide comparisons between groups. Increased posttest results in all locations would strengthen study results. Further analysis of self-reported online teaching proficiency responses could provide insight on pretest/posttest results. Online Professional Learning Institutes with low or no cost to participants as in this study can target specific content, skills, and dispositions deemed needed during crises.

Bolliger, D., & Martindale, T. (2004). Key factors for determining student satisfaction in online courses. International Journal on e-learning, 3, 61-67.https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/2226/ Bonilla-Silva, E. (2015). The structure of racism in color-blind, “Post-Racial” America. American Behavioral Scientist. 59(11), 1358-1376. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215586826 Çelen, F. K., Çelik, A, Seferoğlu, S. S. (2013). Analysis of teachers’ approaches to distance education. Procedia Socia and Behavioral Sciences, 82, 388-392. Lei, S. I., & So, A. S. I. (2021). Online Teaching and Learning Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic – A Comparison of Teacher and Student Perceptions,Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education,33(3),148-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/10963758.2021.1907196 Pohan, C., & Aguilar, T. E. (2001, March). Measuring educators’ beliefs about diversity in personal and professional contexts. American Educational Research Journal, 38(1), 159-182. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038001159 Renzulli, J. S. (1986). The three-ring conception of giftedness: A developmental model for creative productivity. In R.J. Sternberg, J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 53-92). Cambridge University Press. Renzulli, J. (2021). Scale Renzulli. Scale per l'identificazione delle caratteristiche comportamentali degli studenti plusdotati. Trad. It. Sorrentino, P., Pinnelli, S. Erickson. Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2, 1-7. https://bit.ly/3zj2GO9