Az oktató személyisége és a paradigmaváltás kihívásai

A pedagógus Bálint-csoport, mint erőforrás

Abstract

Digital pedagogy and online teaching bring about a paradigm change which transforms the social and cultural dynamics of education and faces the educator with a wide array of challenges. The changes impact the content, methodology and interpersonal conduct of education and require the teacher to form and develop new competences. This is a particularly testing task for the Hungarian educators, many of whom have been experiencing deteriorating mental health. Years before the onset of the current pandemic, experts began to emphasise the phenomenon of teacher burnout, pointing out that teachers’ mental health is exposed to an exceptionally high level of pressure and that the teaching population is particularly vulnerable to burnout. Apparently, burnout involves teachers in a vicious circle: the causes include features and practices of a dedicated teacher, however, the syndrome itself undermines the teacher’s professional self esteem and the efficacy of her work. As agents and motors of the sustainable development of digital education teachers are expected to enhance their expertise and potential, and continuously improve their professional selves. This will be unachievable without simultaneously taking care of teachers’ mental health. It is only a mentally healthy teacher that is capable of maintaining and preserving her personal integrity under the constant force of such challenges. Obviously, this cannot be accomplished alone. My experience shows that teachers’ Bálint-groups can provide a source of power. I claim that regular and continuous participation in case-processing Bálint-work empowers the teacher to cope with professional issues that are risk factors for burnout. In what follows I present and assess the operation and effects of a teachers’ Bálint group. In conclusion I recommend the integration of case processing Bálint-work in Hungarian teacher training as an empirical, hands-on component.