Introduction

Crisis or conflict zones create major challenges to educational systems. Educators have to deal with built-in tension of maintaining students' safety and at the same time the need to allow certainty and routine. The displacement of people from their homes pose a significant challenge to the educational system (Oplatka, 2024). Whether a crisis is natural or human-made, processes fall apart, leaving organizations, communities, and individuals in unfamiliar territory (Rego & Garau, 2008). Educators though remain the most trusted adults in children’s lives (Alisic, Bus, Dulack, Pennings & Splinter, 2012; Netolicky, 2020). However, educational leadership has to be transformed (Mazurkiewicz, 2021) and requires skills that are different from those generally required as part of the ‘normal school environment (Smith & Riley, 2012). 

Six educators from a teacher education college volunteered to assist with a project regarding the management of educational programmes at evacuation centers during a time of armed conflict in Israel. The overarching purpose of the project was: to record educational processes operated at the designated evacuation centers and to derive practical insights that would help the war-zone regional education authorities make informed decisions to enhance operations in the centers. This paper focuses on one aspect of the project which investigated the professional identityof educators at a time of war crisis.

Professional identity

Professional identity is defined as “one’s professional self-concept based on attributes, beliefs, values, motives, and experiences” (Slay & Smith 2011, p. 86). It pertains to how teachers perceive themselves based on their ongoing interactions with their work context (Canrinus,  Helms-Lorenz, Beijaard,  Buitink  & Hofman,  2012). Professional identity is an ongoing process. It is dynamic and gets shaped and adapted through everyday practice and interactions with the world it encounters. It is shaped by the individual’s internalized beliefs and the experiences that the individual has in enacting their role (Olsen & Buchanan 2017). Professional identity emerges through an iterative cycle of interpreting the world through one’s self understanding, while also allowing the world to reshape that self-understanding. Thus, it is interconnected with both the individual and the environment in which they exist (Wenger, 1998; Gee, 2001). There is no uniform definition of professional identity, but there is a consensus that it is a multidimensional concept (Kelchtermans, 2009). It comprises multiple sub-identities related to different roles and relationships where agency and active engagement in professional development is crucial (Beijaard et al., 2004).

Professional identity at times of crisis

The role identity of educators is tested during war. In periods of conflict and upheaval, normalcy of life is disrupted and role and identities of educators become vital. Educators find themselves navigating a complex landscape. It is claimed that effective crisis leadership is more about the personal attributes and capabilities the leader can bring to bear, rather than relying on predetermined theoretical models, as each crisis is unique, requiring school leaders to be highly flexible in their response (La Porte, 2007). Educators need specialized skills, expertise, and competences to deal with the impacts of crisis situations (Betancours & Khan,  2008) as they also function as caregivers and support systems for children in traumatic environments  (Berger,  Pat-Horenczyk, & Gelkopf, 2007; Alisic,  Bus,  Dulack, Pennings & Splinter, 2012). When educators experience complete disruption of their professional landscape they are required to remake the landscape and self (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996). Educators may engage in defensiveness, or renegotiation, resisting or readjusting their identities, depending on the ‘disruption’ at hand (Ruohotie-Lyhty’s,  2018). A disruption of ‘displacement’ during war, may surface conflicts of identity and belonging.

Thus, the research question is: How is professional identity of educators reflected at a time of war crisis?

The study utilizes qualitative research, employing an interpretive approach aimed at examining personal experiences and meanings situated in specific contexts. The goal is to establish a holistic understanding by examining the complex processes and interactions involved (Creswell, 2013). The research was authorized by the National Chief Scientist Office. Participants encompass a purposeful sample of 20 educators. Their ages ranged from 30-60. Many of the educators assumed roles deviating from their original roles during their regular daily contexts due to needs of circumstances. Data Collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews at ten evacuation centers in five different geographical regions by a team of six researchers during a four-month period. Interviews were conducted by two researchers who manually took notes, to achieve a more holistic view, and lasted 60 minutes. The transcriptions of the interviews were compared between the two researchers to fill in gaps that might have occurred during the interview. Follow-up interviews were conducted with some participants, two months after the initial interview, to capture changes in their perspectives over time. Thus, 28 interviews were accumulated. The interviews were transcribed and yielded rich data. They were analyzed using thematic analysis on three levels in order to saturate the findings to arrive at a conceptual framework (Merriam, 2009). The transcripts were assigned initial codes to segments of text. These codes were then compared, combined into broader categories, and eventually refined into overarching themes that captured the core concepts and experiences of the participants. This inductive approach allowed themes to emerge from the data through an iterative coding process (Cresswel, 2015).

The analysis of the data yielded four themes reflecting four identities, each offering a unique perspective on the complexities that educators face in shaping their professional identities: A role in vagueness; A role on the move; A role in conflict; A role of vision and action (elaboration will be provided on site). (Quotes collected from interviews will be provided in the presentation to support the themes). Further analysis of themes showed how they merge into a broader recognition of intertwined professional identities that amalgamate within the educators’ professional identity: A novice professional identity, a ‘day-to-day’ professional identity, a crisis professional identity. The synergy between the three identities yielded a conceptual framework of a ‘short- term professional identity’. Given the limited existing literature on the professional identities of educators in times of crisis (Mutch, 2015), the research addresses a global issue regarding conflict or crisis zones, by adding a new dimension to the current conceptual framework of professional identity of educators in conflict zones. It yields both theoretical insights and practical applications for enhancing educators’ training and leadership initiatives, aimed at supporting the cultivation of robust educator identities. In order to effectively navigate challenging circumstances and turning crisis into opportunity, it is essential that educators possess specialized knowledge and competencies such as creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and driving innovation - rather than just relying on traditional professional tools and training (Hameiri & Inbar, 2014). This validates the need to incorporate Conflict-Sensitive Teacher Professional Development (Kirk & Winthrop, 2007; West & Ring, 2015), as highlighted by James and Wooten (2011, p. 61) that ‘a crisis is the best hope we have of preventing repeat occurrences’.

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