WEAVING SENSES, GATHERING KNOTS: WORK WITH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS FROM A PUBLIC NETWORK DURING THE PANDEMICABSTRACT
This experience report is the product of work developed by two school psychologists from the Diadema Municipal Education Department during the period of face-to-face suspension classes in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the theoretical framework of historical-cultural psychology, the project called Weaving Senses, Gathering Knots consisted of holding four remote group meetings with directors and vice-directors of Basic Education. The objectives of the work were (a) to offer space for the expression and identification of feelings and emotions experienced during the pandemic, (b) to reflect about themes related to concrete and symbolic mourning, expected reactions in emergencies and disasters, and criticism of medicalization of life as well as the challenges to school functioning during the pandemic, (c) encourage and promote the sharing of professional experiences developed during this period. In general, the work provided mutual identification and acceptance, helping to reinforce the feeling of belonging.
Keywords:
historical-cultural psychology; school psychology; pandemic
RESUMO
Este relato de experiência é produto de um trabalho desenvolvido por duas psicólogas escolares da Secretaria Municipal de Educação de Diadema durante o período de suspensão das aulas presenciais no contexto da pandemia de Covid-19. A partir do referencial teórico da psicologia histórico-cultural, o projeto denominado Tecendo Sentidos, Juntando Nós consistiu na realização de quatro encontros remotos em grupo com diretores e vice-diretores da educação básica. O trabalho teve como objetivos (a) oferecer espaço para expressão e identificação de sentimentos e emoções vivenciadas durante a pandemia, (b) refletir sobre temas relacionados ao luto concreto e simbólico, às reações esperadas em situação de emergências e desastres, à crítica à medicalização da vida bem como os desafios ao funcionamento da escola na pandemia, (c) estimular e promover o compartilhamento das experiências profissionais desenvolvidas nesse período. De modo geral, o trabalho proporcionou identificação e acolhimento mútuos, contribuindo para reforçar o sentimento de pertença.
Palavras-chave:
Psicologia histórico-cultural; Psicologia escolar; Pandemia
RESUMEN
Este relato de experiencia es producto de un estudio desarrollado por dos psicólogas escolares de la secretaria Municipal de Educación de Diadema durante el período de suspensión de las clases presenciales en el contexto de la pandemia de Covid-19. A partir del referencial teórico de la psicología histórico-cultural, el proyecto denominado Tejiendo Sentidos, Juntando Nudos se consistió en la realización de cuatro encuentros remotos en grupo con directores y vice directores de la educación básica. El estudio tuvo como objetivos (a) ofrecer espacio para expresión e identificación de sentimientos y emociones vivenciadas durante la pandemia, (b) reflexionar sobre temas relacionados al luto concreto y simbólico, a las reacciones esperadas en situación de emergencias y desastres, a la crítica a la medicalización de la vida así como los desafíos al funcionamiento de la escuela en la pandemia, (c) estimular y promover el compartimiento de las experiencias profesionales desarrolladas en ese período. De modo general, el estudio proporcionó identificación y acogimiento mutuos, contribuyendo para reforzar el sentimiento de pertenencia.
Palabras clave:
Psicología histórico-cultural; Psicología escolar; Pandemia
INTRODUCTION
The Weaving Senses, Gathering Knots Project was developed after requests by administrators of the Education Bureau for support for school principals in the Municipal Network of the municipality of Diadema in the first semester of 2021. Considering the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the routine that was supposedly “known and controlled” suddenly changed, with an amplification of contradictions: changes in time and space, excess of information and misinformation, uncertainty regarding the professional future and life itself, in addition to combinations and oscillations of feelings and emotions.
The social distance established in Brazil in March of 2020 - measure adopted for a reduction in the advancement of the pandemic - demanded resignifications in everyday life and in personal and professional routines. In the country’s schools, onsite lessons were suspended and, in the Municipal Network of Diadema as well as in other networks, educators adopted school activities in remote mode for contact among teachers, parents, and students, and meetings for principals, teachers, pedagogical coordinators, and administrators of the Education Bureau.
The project was elaborated by means of the theoretical referential of cultural-historical psychology, which conceives human beings as active, historical, and social, while establishing relations with the world and other beings, not only determined by reality but also determining it (Cheptulin, 1982). According to Vigotski (2000), its most important theorist, language is regarded as a mediating instrument in the relations among human beings and it is the means by which feelings and thoughts operate, and consequently, meanings are constituted. Based on this theoretical framework, the project aimed at creating a collective space for the benefit of expression, support, and identification of feelings and emotions experienced during the pandemic, as well as the promotion of discussions on relevant themes in this context. In the first part, there was the proposal of critical reflection on the processes of medicalization of life, which regard collective matters related to social, political, economic, cultural, and relational aspects as individual problems that would manifest themselves in individuals under the guise of “illnesses”, “disorders”, or “diseases” (Forum on The Medicalization of Education and Society, 2015). In this context, we approach the expected reactions to emergency or disaster situations, emphasizing that certain feelings and emotions refer to the pandemic scenario and not necessarily to evidence of pathologies (Noal, 2020). We also approach the concepts and characteristics of concrete and symbolic bereavement (Kovács, 1992), healthy and necessary processes that, somehow, we all go through by means of the ruptures imposed by the pandemic, in addition to the loss of beloved ones and acquaintances, which makes them different from other forms of bereavement, which demands professional help and constitute exceptions rather than commonplace. In the second part of the project, we proposed a discussion on the challenges against the operation of schools during the pandemic, aiming at the sharing of experiences developed by professionals at schools during this period.
According to the Technical References for The Practice of Psychologists in Elementary Education,
&391;...&393; when we say that psychologists want to work for the benefit of mental health, for formation, and for the improvement of work conditions, we mean handling the unpredictable, and attempting to collectively analyze what is produced in everyday life, benefitting the experience of another time that is slower but arguably more inventive &391;...&393; (CFP, 2019, pp. 33-34).
In order to name the project, we use the term “weaving”, which means “interlocking things” and the word “senses”, which refers to directions, meanings, and feelings. “Weaving senses” is the name of the first part of the project - realized in two meetings - and expresses the possibility of putting together narratives by means of feelings and emotions experienced during the pandemic period, while aiming at sharing and building meanings. According to Lion (2017), in the narrative, &391;...&393; “people are no longer alone in their experience and start seeing things in common in diversity” (p.28). the expression “Gathering knots” is the name of the second part of the project - also realized in two meetings - in the Portuguese language, the word “knots” translates as “nós”, which is a homonym for the personal pronouns “We” or “US”, in a reference to a gathering of people, and to the possibility for participants to build or reinforce identifications and feelings of affiliation by means the sharing of experiences. The present report focuses on the first part of the project.
EXPERIENCE REPORT
The 127 principals and vice-principals in the 61 schools of the municipal network were organized into six groups containing 12 to 26 participants, according to schedule availability and the levels of elementary education in which they worked: Child Education (nursery, children aged from 0 to 3 years, and kindergarten for children from 4 to 5 years) and Elementary Education I (1st to 5th year). The meetings were realized between May and June of 2021, by means of a service of remote videoconference. The proposal was formalized by means of a newsletter from the Education Bureau and was part of the schedule of formation activities for school principals.
In the first meeting, the participants were invited to represent a feeling experienced during the pandemic by means of a drawing or words, and then present their production to the group - the presentations continued in the second meeting. They were permeated by dialogue among participants and by reflections promoted by the psychologists. The themes approached by the principals and vice principals were thus categorized: a) feelings and affections experienced during the pandemic, b) bereavement, c) work conditions and use of technology, and d) mutual support among peers. Below, we highlight some of the most representative speeches and drawings.
The two first categories predominated, with constant allusions to oscillation, combination, and confusion of feelings. “I feel imprisoned, chained. Feelings of insecurity, instability, and conflict all the time, a coming and going of feelings”. “i drew a boat. Sometimes, it is safely docked, and sometimes it is out in the ocean, adrift. It is awful when you don’t know where to go”. The scenario of uncertainties, questions, and lack of perspective approached by these testimonials was illustrated by drawings of rollercoasters, storms, desert roads, endless roads, question marks. Sadness, fear, anger, insecurity, apprehension, anguish, despair and preoccupation were often mentioned, which corroborates the instability experienced in the context of the pandemic. On the other hand, hope was also present, sometimes it was attributed to a near future, sometimes to the present moment, revealing a contradiction in the experienced context: “I got a feeling that we wander aimlessly, without perspective, hoping that things get better eventually”. “Hope for better days, we have to believe, what is gone is gone”.
Another highlight was the use of elements that are generally present in communication in social networks: “emojis’’. “I drew several little emoji faces smiling, crying, angry, indignant”. “I made several emojis: gratitude, fear, doubt, hope, joy, a whirlwind of feelings”. Concrete and symbolic bereavement were present in the narratives as expressions of loss of the school environment, of the demarcation of time by means of onsite events and displacements, of the previously established references. “Bereavement does not refer to the loss of life, but also of spaces and references”. “We lost an EJA student last week”.
The changes caused by the home office situation were also reported. Overload and burnout were mentioned in addition to difficulties to conciliate professional and personal life. The drawing of a chameleon symbolizes the constant changes in routine that, according to the testimony of a participant, produces discomfort: “I feel like I have to adapt to different realities. If it was possible to change the color of my skin, I guess I would have to change in order to adapt”. Drawings of computers, cell phones, and of heads with their insides in confusion were present in a considerable part of the productions, and they were associated to the words: suffocation, tiredness, and mental exhaustion. “I feel exhausted, messages 12 hours a day, excessive connection.” “Seven in the morning: 50 e-mails, 80 unanswered calls, 1200 WhatsApp messages to answer”. The use of technology is conducive to distance work, but it also leads to excessive availability and overtime work.“the cell phone no longer belongs to me. It belongs to the school and i never have a chance to talk to friends”. “Technology stole our privacy”
In this scenario of uncertainties, mutual support among colleagues and team members was recognized as a source of motivation and as something essential for the continuity of work. “If we didn’t have one another, I wold have had a nervous breakdown. I feel so lucky”. “Things are crazy at home and if I didn’t have my colleagues, it would have been much more difficult”.
The perception by the participants that they were not the only ones with those feelings and the mutual trust developed in order to share such feelings produced feelings of support: “I felt supported, I know I am not going through this by myself”. According to Rosa and Andriani (2008) “intersubjectivity is an individual construction space and such space leads to the construction of meanings” (p. 275). It is important to emphasize that the chat room (written messages and/or comments in the videoconference service) was not often used, which suggests that the space offered for oral communication was considered enough.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
In general, it was possible to observe that the space for expression and sharing of feelings, in addition to revealing the experienced contradictions of reality, led to support, identification, and approximation among peers, reinforcing feelings of affiliation. The contributions by the participants with their stories could be sewn together and connected to the social and historical context, contributing to the resignification of work and life. Thus, as social creatures, we must have the conditions and opportunities to go on, especially in the professional context, weaving senses and gathering knots.
References
- Cheptulin, A. (1982). A dialética materialista São Paulo: Alfa-Omega.
- Conselho Federal de Psicologia(2019). Referências Técnicas para a atuação de psicólogas(os) na Educação Básica Brasília: CFP.
- Fórum Sobre Medicalização da Educação e da Sociedade(2015). Recomendações de práticas não-medicalizantes para profissionais e serviços de educação e saúde 2. ed. Brasília: CFP .
- Kovács, M. J. (1992). Morte e desenvolvimento humano São Paulo: Casa do Psicólogo.
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Lion, C. M. (2017). Caminhando no contexto das práticas colaborativas e narrativas: experiências profissionais transformadas. Nova perspect . sist., 26 (57), 21-36. Recuperado de: http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-78412017000100003&lng=pt&nrm=iso
» http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-78412017000100003&lng=pt&nrm=iso - Noal, D. (2020, setembro). Saúde Mental e Atenção Psicossocial em Desastres e Pandemias Curso remoto promovido pelo Laboratório de Pesquisa “Psicanálise, Saúde e Instituição” do Instituto de Psicologia da Universidade de São Paulo. São Paulo - SP.
- Rosa, E. Z., & Andriani, A G. (2008). Psicologia Sócio-Histórica: uma tentativa de sistematização epistemológica e metodológica (pp. 259-288). In: E. M. P. Kahhale(Ed.), A diversidade da psicologia: uma construção teórica. 3. Ed. São Paulo: Cortez
- Vigotski, L. S. (2000). A construção do pensamento e da linguagem Tradução: Paulo Bezerra. São Paulo: Martins Fontes.
