PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN TEACHERS

Abstract

In the last year, several organizational changes have taken place in the educational system of all countries. They concern the social situation of distance learning due to the imposed pandemic situation in the world. Preserving the health and life of the participants in the educational process is a basic necessity. One of the significant social systems - education - has proved particularly vulnerable in the current global pandemic. The indefinite and unpredictable duration of the spread of COVID-19 has led the affected societies to a psycho-social crisis through impaired social functioning. Teachers were identified among the most exposed groups to the adverse psychological effects of a pandemic. High levels of stress, burnout, and anxiety were reported. Their professional role in public management and institutional control requires support and adaptation of the educational function in virtual learning modes. Psychodiagnostic data from teachers, accumulated in the scientific literature so far, inform pedagogical specialists' prevention and social support in the conditions of pandemic and post-pandemic. Distance learning in an electronic environment is becoming a current and promising trend in education. Pandemic situations call for educational reforms that bring schools, teachers, students, and parents into new communication, learning, and professional engagement patterns. In this context, there is a need for new models and designs of education, new organization and model of education management, new models of pedagogical interactions of the school with the family and other communities interested in education, new socio-pedagogical and psychological models for mental and physical health and well-being.