Identity positions of teachers facing social emergency situations. Learning in times of crisis

Abstract

This study explores how a situation of social emergency, as a critical incident, can impact on teacher's identity, analyzing which aspects of this teachers' identity are deployed in response to the crisis and which identity positions (IP) facilitate/hinder change and resilience. An interpretative qualitative study gathers information through in-depth interviews with teachers from 29 Spanish public primary and secondary high-complexity centres. The research reveals the intersection of different factors affecting teachers' experiences during situations of social emergency and crisis. It shows how heightened stress levels, sense of risk, fear, and uncertainty affect teachers' well-being. Despite these challenges, the prevailing activated IPs, particularly in Primary Education, function as facilitators, enabling effective coping with the situation and promoting learning at different levels. However, in this situations, the absence of spaces for dialogue jeopardizes the permanence of some of the IPs that play a resilient role during critical episodes, highlighting the need to generate new spaces for collective reflection that sustain the learning achieved.