Teacher resilience following a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in the southwestern region of Puerto Rico
In the early morning of January 7 of 2020, the southwestern region of Puerto Rico was rattled by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake, causing significant damage and the displacement of approximately 8,000 people. To this date, thousands of aftershocks have occurred and are expected to continue for the next ten years (United States Geological Survey, 2020). The strong quake caused the collapse of Agripiña Seda School in Guánica (Figure 1) and forced close to 240,000 children out of school (Coto, 2020). Of the 856 public schools in Puerto Rico, 561 were inspected for damages and only 177 were certified by engineers to be safe to open (Coto, 2020). At the end of January only 20% of the island’s schools were open (Coto, 2020). In the areas most heavily impacted by the earthquake, classrooms were set up in convention centers, fields, universities and shelters. Just two months after the earthquake, the first coronavirus cases were reported on the Island, prompting a shelter-in-place order that forced teachers and students out of school again. In the context of the earthquakes, the pandemic represents an additional challenge for remote learning, as many of the students in the earthquake-devastated area lost their homes. This is a devastating blow to the education of Puerto Rican youth, who had already missed an average of 78 school days after hurricane Maria (Ujifusa, 2018).
The American Psychological Association (2014) defines resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress.” In particular, educational resilience as defined by Wang, et. al. (1994) is “the heightened likelihood of success in school and in other life accomplishments, despite environmental adversities, brought about by early traits, conditions, and experiences.” Determinants of resilience include a host of biological, psychological, social and cultural factors that interact with one another to determine how a person responds to stressful experiences (Southwick, et al., 2014). In this context, the ability to go to school may prove to be an important determinant of resilience after the traumatic experience of a natural disaster.
The purpose of this study is to learn about the experience of teachers in the public education system following the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that rocked the southwestern region of Puerto Rico in the early morning of January 7, 2020. The study will use a mixed methods approach to assess the impact of the earthquakes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of teachers and their ability to teach. Data obtained through individual interviews and mental health surveys will help identify areas for intervention in increasing teacher and system resiliency in communities that are especially vulnerable to the effects of continuous seismic activity.