Content and procedure of facilitation the teachers' sense of belonging to educational reform

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical analysis of the content and procedure of the facilitation technology of teachers’ sense of belonging in connection to educational reform in Ukraine.
Distance learning in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge for all those involved in the educational process as it created an additional barrier in teacher-student interaction which reduced the participants’ sense of belonging into the educational process and had a negative impact, particularly on teachers’ psycho-emotional well-being.
According to the theoretical-methodological approach by C. Goodenow and H. Pesonen, the sense of belonging of the pedagogical community to educational reform arises due to the predominance of positive emotions over the negative ones in relation to the reform; manifests in teachers’ willingness to be an active performer of the reform, to participate in common professional and non-professional activities related to educational innovations; and as a result of sharing common professional values to perceive themselves as members of their professional group.
The procedure of sense of belonging facilitation technology consists of a set of reflexive exercises: the first block of questions is carried out according to the 4F model by Roger Greenway, the second – in accordance with the «Compass of Values» technique in author’s modification.
The use of this set of exercises might help to reduce negative emotions, increase the reflexive and predictive ability of teachers towards the challenge of the educational innovations’ implementation.
The scientific-practical value of the article is that it provides a step-by-step facilitating procedure of the teachers’ sense of belonging to innovations in education.
For the first time, it is considered the concept of «belonging» in terms of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects.
Further research may include approbation of the proposed set of exercises, making recommendations for the administration of educational institutions in terms of organizational culture optimizing, providing them with psychological methods of partnership and mutual understanding due to the resource potential of the teacher’s sense of belonging.