The COVID-19 outbreak has interrupted all aspects of life worldwide, with immediate and dramatic effects on health and the socio-economic situation. Countries in Europe and around the world, albeit with some differences, have gradually lifted restrictions following major learning disruptions due to school closures at the start of the pandemic phase. However, key protection measures are still in place, especially with regard to physical distances. Approximately 63 million primary and secondary school teachers and approximately 1.5 billion students were affected by school closures in 2020 (UNESCO, 2020). In this context, teachers needed to rapidly develop new skills to enable them to deliver distance learning and adapt their practices to ever-changing settings. It was, and still is, a challenging undertaking. The previously celebrated UNESCO World Teachers’ Day has become even more important in the light of the challenges that teachers face (and still face) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers, in fact, make a crucial contribution to the promotion of the mental health and well-being of their students, as they are at the forefront of ensuring that learning continues. In Italy (but also in other countries), the pandemic has forced teachers to deal with the innovation factors that have been proposed for years: the use of technology, distance learning, flexibility of practice.  From this point of view, the crisis has acted as an accelerator for a change that has not been triggered by previous system actions. Teachers have gone through a particularly uncertain time in terms of their professional life and work, with an increase in workload. In this sense, it is also important to be prepared for change, which minimizes the feeling of 'loss' and may reduce resistance to adaptation to new scenarios.

We are aware that the pandemic has provided a vital opportunity for researchers and educators to consider how their methodologies, pedagogical philosophy, pedagogical approaches can adapt and respond to children's specific voice and emotional needs at this time. This issue is inevitably reflected in the didactic way of acting, not only in methodological terms – for example, learning new methodologies or techniques – but also in the emotional sphere, which is the most invisible and unconscious dimension of the educational relationship. We recognize the importance of exploring the implicit and emotional aspects of this new professional situation in the lives and work of teachers. 

In view of these premises, the aim of our work was to seek to listen to the voices of the teachers and to explore the representations of their practice and experience of this sudden change. Paying attention to these dimensions means encouraging the meta-reflection and awareness of teachers and, most importantly, encouraging them to welcome the "change" that is important for adaptation to ever-changing situations. In particular, our work report on the experience of secondary teachers, which we have explored using narrative and biographical approaches and, more specifically, using unconventional and creative means of data collection, that is, the adaptation of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® as a reflective practice of pedagogy. LEGO® Serious Play® methodology is based on a number of theoretical foundations, including: Seymour Papert's ideas of constructionism, Vygotsky's ideas of language and thought, as well as ideas of conceptual metaphors and play as serious activity. 

Our work involved the organization and delivery of two on-line workshops with 80 secondary teachers on the occasion of the in-service training program organized by the University of Catania in October/November 2020. The workshop used an experiential approach and visual methods to allow teachers to become active knowledge builders by deconstructing their beliefs and expressing their 'hidden word’. Lego Serious play is an innovative, facilitated methodology that uses brick-building and metaphorical storytelling as a form of communication. Visual and experiential methods can be a creative and highly informative way of generating interactions with research participants. Participants had the opportunity, through Lego bricks, to release invisible energies as teachers build tangible, personal and mutual understandings of complex concepts in an interactive and stimulating atmosphere. Teachers were asked to build a model that represented 'Teaching during Covid Times'. This was intentionally, somewhat vaguely, to create an environment of 'generative ambiguity' in which participants were able to interpret 'role' ideas and their experience in their own way of thinking. Through play, participants could rediscover the capacity of practical thinking. To explore their experience, the data for our reflection and analysis included: visual data (photos of Lego models), narrative writing to describe teacher models, and semi-structured interviews with a pool of participants (n=15). All the activities were be carried out in accordance with ethical procedures

Data were analyzed using a grounded approach and models are presented in three thematic areas: 1) personal (teacher's personal attitude, values and ethics); 2) teaching practice (teacher's teaching and teaching practice in classrooms); 3) teaching profession; (professional skills). The answers and the models were very varied. Teachers shared a sense of loneliness, frustration and the need to find new ways to reach students who are kept at a safe distance in their classrooms. In fact, students are not in a position to be close to teachers and classmates. They must remain firm in their seats, while teachers sometimes need to act as controllers, inviting them to continue wearing masks. Also, the sources of stress from the teacher multiplied with the advent of Covid, as online teaching has created a lack of physical, temporal and/or psychological boundaries between school and home. Moreover, widespread concern for the health of one's family and oneself has increased levels of stress and a variety of negative emotions (anxiety, anger, sadness, and loneliness). Some teachers have indicated the importance of their role in promoting student well-being, providing correct information and acting as psychological and emotional support. In this sense, teacher responses focused on student well-being, prioritizing emotional and material needs over mandated curricula and testing. The results of this study have different and important implications. The use of the Lego models as a tool for critical hermeneutic analysis is important in promoting the reflective skills of the participants in teacher education. In fact, visual methodologies can be used to explore the profound meanings of educational practices, especially during this time of crisis. This study has shown that the use of kinesthetic brick modeling methodology for reflective practice is a promising option for teacher education and for understanding the hidden meaning of teaching practice.

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