Among knowledge, affections, and regulations: an institutional analysis of brazilian education management during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This article presents an experiential account whose general objective was to identify the instituting movements in a public school located in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul, south of Brazil, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Instituting movements are understood as responsible for the ongoing (re)creation of processes that challenge and reconfigure the institution within the context in which it operates. The specific objective is to identify the main challenges faced by school managers, as well as the strategies adopted to address them. The Institutional Analysis framework developed by Baremblitt was used to guide the field insertion analysis, which took place from September to December 2021. Four in-person meetings were conducted, lasting 60 to 90 minutes, in addition to social media contacts and interactions in different spaces within the school. The data were organized in a field diary, recorded, and transcribed with consent. Eight main challenges were identified, from which two analyzers were defined: i) bringing the school into the cell phone, which indicates that the boundaries between the public and the private gradually blurred, creating a new reality in which work and personal life became intertwined; and ii) multifaceted school management, which suggests that participatory actions arising from teamwork produce a kind of creative light to manage antagonistic experiences. It is concluded that the school faced work precarization, but the managers were able to overcome adversity through horizontal collaboration, clear roles, common interests, efficient communication, and lasting bonds among the professionals.