Social learning theory and teacher learning in an age of online teaching and learning

Claudette Bailey-Morrissey, Careers Development Institute, UK What’s the idea? Teaching and learning is a social activity. According to Bandura (1971), social learning theory explains human behaviour in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioural and environmental influences. Moreover, Bandura (1977, p. 22) states that ‘learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform what to do.' This guide offers insights into how teachers in my school adapted to online teaching and learning during the school closures between 2020 and 2021. These insights may be useful in helping teachers and school staff to learn from others and put such practices into action to support young people should further school closures occur in the future. What does it mean? Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory is useful in understanding teacher learning as it is characterised by key comp