Między solidarnością a wykluczeniem. Nauczyciele jako grupa zawodowa w sytuacji kryzysu

Abstract

The author presents teachers as that professional group that has experienced serious crises over the past few years (the 2019 strike and the COVID-19 pandemic) that have had a significant impact on their integrity and being evaluated by society. In these difficult situations, teachers have been faced with many challenges and not easy decisions, which have resulted in, among other things, destabilization of the teaching process, disunity and lack of solidarity within the professional group. They also entailed a strong polarization of society (including parents and students), who represented far extreme views. The purpose of the undertaken study is to attempt to answer the question: Are teachers victims of the system, the pandemic or of themselves? The analyses referred to in the text proved that teachers are victims not only of the system, but also of the excessive expectations often placed on them. False generalizations (teachers perceived as oversensitive about themselves, despotic, shouty, infantile, intrusive, manifesting a lack of mutual respect) are not only detrimental to educators, but also contribute to creating barriers to interpersonal communication. Moreover, it turned out that in crisis situations that require “speaking with one voice,” teachers as a professional group did not quite pass the test of practicing such an important value as solidarity.