Kharkiv Teachers about the Ideal Teaching Team: Controversies and Harmonies of Educators' Consciousness

Abstract

The article explores the state of consciousness, educational practices, and daily life of school staff and education administrators in Kharkiv under wartime conditions, using the example of the city's largest and most affected district – the Saltov district. It is noted that, against the backdrop of significant researcher attention to macro-level manifestations of war (political, geopolitical, economic), the state of the education system, particularly in frontline regions, remains insufficiently studied, given the significance of this system for community functioning and understanding societal transformations. It is argued that the rather prolonged period of online learning (caused by the destruction of schools, migration of teachers and students, as well as the consequences of the pandemic) has significantly impacted teachers' perception of the essence and functions of the school collective, particularly the function of forming an independent and responsible teacher personality. The results of an empirical study are presented, conducted with the participation of the article's author in May-July 2023 by staff of the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Within the study, 1,023 respondents from 33 schools in the Saltov district of Kharkiv were surveyed. Emphasis is placed on how Kharkiv teachers perceive the teaching collective in which they work and what its key characteristics they consider ideal. It is demonstrated that the hierarchy of characteristics provided by the respondents is marked by high internal consistency (nearly all indicators >4.0 on a 5-point scale) and consensus. It is underscored that the highest significance (mean score >4.5) for the surveyed is held by such socio-psychological characteristics of the teaching collective as mutual respect (among all participants in the educational process), a favorable moral-psychological climate, and bullying prevention. Particular attention is devoted to how these characteristics are perceived by different groups of respondents, namely: gender groups; groups based on place of residence (teachers who at the time of the survey resided in Kharkiv city, in Kharkiv oblast, in other regions of Ukraine, abroad); professional-qualification groups (distinguished according to level and profile of education); etc. Based on this study, conclusions are drawn regarding the evolution and specifics of the state of Kharkiv schools under wartime conditions.