‘SOCIAL MEDIA ARE NOT NECESSARY FOR OUR WORK’. SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE PRACTICES BY PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. A GREEK CASE STUDY

Abstract

Social media implementation in teaching still faces restrictions due to institutional, pedagogical and social factors that affect teachers and academics’ attitude. This research explores teachers’ social media usage practices that contribute to teaching preparation taking place “out of the classroom”, since social media are not officially implemented in Greek education system. Teachers (n=121) of primary schools in Mytilene, Greece, were selected as case study. Research findings show that the majority of teachers, although using social media, do not generally utilize them for educational purposes and when this happens it refers mostly to search for educational content than post their own. Considering that younger teachers, teachers holding M.Sc. and Ph.D. and those familiar with ICT are shown to get more involved with the practices investigated, the research highlights the concept of habitus as a possible mediator that directs teachers to differentiate their actions between social media usage for personal and professional purposes.