THE PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPE OF POLISH TEACHERS AS PRESERVED IN THEIR DIARIES FROM THE FIRST MONTHS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The article presents the conclusions formulated on the basis of a qualitative analysis of diaries submitted by Polish teachers in response to the competition conducted in the years 2020-2021 by the Institute of Social Economy of the Warsaw School of Economics. The analysis of the diaries made it possible to answer questions about the condition of not only the teachers themselves, but also, and above all, about the emerging picture of the state of the Polish education system. The difficult times and new circumstances of school functioning during the pandemic highlighted the importance and essence of the teacher profession. However, these experiences also revealed the weaknesses of the education system, forcing us to look at the extent to which teachers are able to adequately recognize the situation of their activities, to what extent they have the ability to recognize the essence of “what is good and right”, how their awareness of their socio-professional role is shaped, what importance they attach to their work and what are their abilities to overcome extraordinary difficulties.The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for education that have resulted in profound changes in the way we think about school and its environment and about the work and professional development of teachers.