Abstract
Digital platforms in education have experienced a considerable rise of interest in many different types of studies about distance learning and teaching; studies on the impact on teachers (Klapprofth et al. 2020; Yao 2021; Stachteas, Stachteas 2020; Marek et al. 2021), educational and digital inequalities (Oliviera et al. 2021; Gillis, Krull 2020; Dudová 2021), but also teachers' work conditions (Mouralová, Hejzlarová 2022; Pirro et al. 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic drew the attention of social researchers as it caused sudden and, in the European context, unprecedented measures of protection against it. The conditions of social life changed from day to day, and individuals, groups, organisations and institutions had to change. This includes how teachers used social networks and how they functioned in virtual environments. Yet, little attention has been paid to the role of digital platforms in providing space for self-support/self-help for teachers' communities (see Mouralová, Hejzlarová 2022).
The paper aims to fill in the blind spot and describe the dynamics of one particular (but immensely popular) Facebook public group gathering teachers in the Czech Republic called Ucitele + (Teachers +) and analyze the topics raised there in the first phase of the pandemic, in the period 2/2020 - 6/2020, in order to answer the following research questions: What sort of issues did the teachers raise in the Facebook group? How can we understand the selection of the issues in terms of particular roles a virtual platform can play - i. e., peer support, self-help, empowerment, micropolitics? Answering the questions enriches the scholarship focusing on teachers' needs and the ways of covering their needs, not just during the times of pandemic.
Social media use increased enormously all over the world during COVID-19 as people searched for 'just-in-time' news, information, social connections, and support in their daily lives (Greenhow et al. 2021). Teachers' professional peer grouping was no exception. Teachers needed the support of one another during the unprecedented change in their teaching lives. This was not possible anymore in the space of school staff rooms. A more instant, open and comprehensive source was searched. The teachers reached out for teaching support in the online 'teaching staff room'. Facebook public peer group for teachers Ucitelé + was established in 2017, a few years before COVID-19 spread, but enlarged enormously during it. The more people reached out and joined, the more valuable the network was. The group gained prominence and power during COVID-19 and created micro-politics that managed to put a force on the policymakers. I draw upon Greenhow et al. (2021, p 1451), who researched teachers' tweets in the US and Canada during that time and who argue that during the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers reached to social media for personal "just-in-time" professional development like other times; however, the importance of the utility of teachers' questioning discourse in emerging situations as is the COVID-19 is crucial.
In my paper, I show the research in the specific situation of the Czech Republic. The schools in Czechia are very decentralised and separated. There is no professional chamber to unite all schools and teachers, although there are many small professional social networks which have limited support. Town councils govern Czech primary and lower secondary schools (in the Czech Republic, one institution). Still, upper secondary schools are governed by a county, making connections and cooperation across the school levels even more difficult. Social media networking is a logical consequence of the lack of support and networking across schools in the Czech Republic.