Students of pedagogy on social relations at the beginning of the pandemic – in the light of a qualitative analysis of their personal and social reflectiveness

Abstract

The article presents partial results of qualitative research concerning opinions of pedagogy students on the psychological-social situation experienced by people at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The necessity of limiting the transmission of the virus sentenced whole societies to home confinement, limited their mobility and people-to-people contacts, brought the world to a standstill. For many, it also became an inspiration to reflect on the current hierarchy of values. 36 students of the Maria Grzegorzewska University were the sample of the research and they were divided into two age groups - those beginning their studies and those finishing them. They were asked to prepare short essays collecting their reflections from the first stage of the pandemic. The texts were
analysed in accordance with the research methodology. There were 4 key categories singled out in the students’ utterances, which made it possible to show the group differences in their attitude towards discussed issues. The younger respondents were more concentrated on their personal perspective and their opinions were more emotional and optimistic. The older respondents showed more distance towards reality, their remarks were bitter and targeted the issues of social policy, consumerism and egoism of modern societies, more frequently treating the question of the pandemic not as an end in itself but as a springboard for more thorough social criticism.