Vzdělávání v (pandemické) krizi: Případ „bezděčného“ sensemakingu v koordinaci vzdělávání v základních školách
Education in (Pandemic) Crisis: Unintentional Sensemaking in the Coordination of Elementary School Education

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study is to examine the dynamics that shape the coordination of institutions involved in education during times of crisis. Our case study analyzes the coordination of measures against the COVID-19 pandemic in elementary schools, with a focus on the 2021/2022 school year and the role of key institutional actors. Central to our approach is the concept of sensemaking − the process of forming and revising understanding in response to crisis. Specifically, we draw on concepts of normality and crisis, as well as scholarship on education in crisis, to investigate how the meanings of individual actors shaped perceptions of crisis and normality, the temporal dimensions of crisis, and both self-perceptions and perceptions of others. The instrumental case study is based on public policy documents and 12 interviews with representatives of institutions within the education system and related actors. A detailed analysis of the dynamics of actors’ perceptions and their interactions reveals a vivid picture of policymaking in the final pandemic year, when the meanings of “children in schools,” “coping with the situation,” and “recognition” emerged as essential elements of collective sensemaking. We describe this collective sensemaking as “unintentional,” as it was not actively steered but developed through adaptation to the meanings of the Ministry of Education − the actor wielding the greatest power.

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