Greek primary school teachers’ narratives about their role negotiation during the covid-19 pandemic

Tzifopoulos, Menelaos (author)

No one can dispute the fact that the teaching profession seemed to be tested during the coronavirus pandemic. Teachers were called upon to perform a difficult and multifaced role, without help and support from the state. The issues that teachers had to respond to and solve are related to their autonomy, their digital literacy competences and their relationships/cooperation with students. The new working conditions terrified teachers, who had to manage their digital classroom through a violent readjustment. Under these circumstances, Greek primary school teachers’ narratives offer us their phenomenological perspective on how they coped with their teaching duties during this period of health and educational emergency. An initial attempt is made to empathetically approach the ‘world’ of four teachers, while the subsequent interpretive and critical analysis serves as a means to illuminate ‘hidden’ beliefs of their professional role, the reshaping of their identity, and their adaptation to the online teaching context. Through their narratives, the teachers reflect on the issue of the lack of support from the state. They also note that they found it difficult to manage their e-classes in such a short time. Finally, there is a need for more effective preparation of teachers in times of uncertainty and crisis.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Covid-19, narratives, primary school teachers, professional identity
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 125-146
• Numbering: Vol. 15, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-179241
• UDC: 37.011.3-051
• ISSN on article: 2232-2647
• DOI: 10.26529/cepsj.1713
• COBISS.SI-ID: 197871107

Copyright

Podatek o licenci CC-BY 4.0 je naveden na spletni strani revije (https://ojs.cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/about). (Datum opombe 9. 2. 2026)

• Publication date in RUL: 09.02.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: CEPS Journal: Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal = revija Centra za študij edukacijskih strategij
• Publisher: Pedagoška fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-2647
• COBISS.SI-ID: 254029824

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Pripovedi grških osnovnošolskih učiteljev o njihovem pogajanju o lastni vlogi med pandemijo Covida-19

Abstract

Nihče ne more oporekati dejstvu, da je bil učiteljski poklic med pandemijo koronavirusa na preizkušnji. Učitelji so morali opravljati težko in večplastno vlogo brez pomoči in podpore države. Vprašanja, na katera so se morali učitelji odzvati in jih reševati, so povezana z njihovo avtonomijo, usposobljenostjo za digitalno pismenost in z odnosi/s so-delovanjem z učenci. Novi delovni pogoji so učitelje prestrašili, saj so morali svoje digitalne učilnice upravljati z veliko prisilnega prilagajanja. V teh okoliščinah nam pripovedi grških osnovnošolskih učiteljev ponujajo njihov fenomenološki pogled na to, kako so se spopadali s svojimi učiteljskimi dolžnostmi v tem obdobju izrednih zdravstvenih in izobraževalnih razmer. Na začetku se poskušamo empatično približati »svetu« štirih učiteljev, medtem ko poznejša interpretativna in kritična analiza služi kot sredstvo za osvetlitev »skritih« prepričanj o njihovi poklicni vlogi, preoblikovanju njihove identitete in prilagajanju kontekstu spletnega poučevanja. Učitelji s svojimi pripovedmi razmišljajo o vprašanju pomanjkanja podpore države. Ugotavljajo tudi, da so v tako kratkem času težko obvladovali svoje e-učilnice. Nazadnje se kaže tudi potreba po učinkovitejši pripravi učiteljev med negotovostjo in krizo.

• Keywords: covid-19, pripovedi, osnovnošolski učitelji, poklicna identiteta