Published: 2026-08-28

Sense of Subjectivity in the Pandemic Narratives of Special Education Teachers

Marzena Dycht
Pedagogical Forum
Section: Articles and essays
DOI https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2026.1.14

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the article is to reconstruct the experiences of being a subject of education during the COVID-19 pandemic for teachers – special education teachers. The theoretical construct on which the qualitative focus group research was based is the concept of the sense of subjectivity, which includes 4 dimensions: the sense of: 1) freedom of choice, 2) agency, 3) responsibility for one's actions, 4) equal interpersonal partnerships.
Methods: Focus group interviews were conducted as part of the government's Psychological and Pedagogical Support Program for Students and Teachers, conducted by Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw and partners among 33 special education teachers employed in special and inclusive education, via distance communication. The respondents came from 4 provinces (lubelskie, lubuskie, warmińsko-mazurskie, małopolskie).
Results: The study revealed a diversity of teachers' experiences. High qualitative indicators of the sense of subjectivity in the area of responsibility and agency were found.
Conclusions: The image of teachers working with students with disabilities and developmentally diverse students revealed in the research indicates them as entities with the need for co-decision-making and highly committed to creating the educational and therapeutic process for the benefit of the student and their family environment (despite the decrease in personal well-being due to the pandemic), with an awareness of social responsibility for the role entrusted to them and with a sense of equal, partnership-based social relations with other co-creators of the educational process.

Keywords:

sense of subjectivity, special education, COVID-19, special education teachers

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Citation rules

Dycht, M. (2026). Sense of Subjectivity in the Pandemic Narratives of Special Education Teachers. Pedagogical Forum, 16(1), 159–170. https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2026.1.14

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