SUBJETIVIDADES HEROICAS: TRABAJO DE PSICÓLOGOS ESCOLARES EN TIEMPOS DE PANDEMIA

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely redefined human life support systems. In particular, the education system has faced the forced virtualization of its processes, alarming child and adolescent mental health problems, and difficulties in supplying psychosocial support services. The impacts of this crisis have been significant in Latin America and, above all, in Ecuador, as it is one of the countries with the greatest health, social, and educational problems. Within this framework, this article aims to understand school psychologists' role in policy enactment of emerging educational policies to face the pandemic crisis in the Ecuadorian educational system. From a qualitative methodology with a discursive approach, empirical evidence is reported on interpreting the challenges of educational management in crisis and translating them into practices in specific contexts. Interviews were conducted with 7 psychologists who have been working in the Student Counselling Department, a professional staff that offers psychological and social support in Ecuadorian schools. The data has been analyzed through the discursive strategies proposed by Norman Fairclough. The findings suggest the configuration of heroic subjectivities, a professional position that renounces thinking collectively and collaboratively about the problems faced. The psychologists’ discourses suggest a monstrous construction of the educational world, where they must face titanic tasks. Likewise, discomfort emerges as an articulating element of the relationships with other actors, especially with central policy actors that promote new forms of school management, but also with families and students, which are built in deficit. However, psychologists deploy strategies to create bonds with the students, while evidencing all their actions to the control instances and counterattacking them when possible. These findings are discussed with respect to how to expand perspectives on school mental health and how qualitative research can create new meaning zones in educational policy.