Transformative learning in times of crisis: exploring teachers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic was profoundly traumatic for the entire world as, during the period of the crisis, life was profoundly disrupted due to nobody knowing what would happen next. The purpose of our study was to specifically explore what impact the pandemic had on the experiences of teachers. The investigation involved expert interviews with 16 teachers using criterion-based snowball sampling, followed by analysis of the data using the documentary method. Mezirow’s transformative learning stages were reinterpreted in the presentation of the study’s findings in the creation of a new framework. This framework is composed of three orientations: despairing, conscientious, and surpassing. Partly due to poor management of the crisis, members of all three orientations were forced to rely on each other in their communal navigation. It was found that teachers in the despairing orientation group felt they were lacking in their professional belonging and commitment, while teachers with a conscientious and surpassing orientation were committed to the teaching profession, despite the systemic challenges they faced. It is hoped that the findings of the research offer a new perspective on how crises can be transformed into a space of emancipatory experience.