Social apathy as a form of teachers' adaptation to negative institutional factors

The article aims to reveal the alternative idea to the widespread approaches to the interpretation and solution of the teachers' psychosocial problems that consider the impact of contemporary sociocultural trends. The research mainly focuses on the understanding of the deep sources of the school system problems, on the construction of an explanation model for these sources to describe the situation in terms of teachers' psychological and emotional wellbeing, of the impact of negative organizational factors, and of the developed concept of social apathy. The study was conducted by the method of focus group among Tomsk teachers. It revealed the main problems that complicate their work and the meanings teachers put into their activities, as well as ways of interpretation that encourage them to continue to work or to quit. The respondents noted that over the past 10 years the Russian educational system saw some negative trends such as frequent changes in approaches and standards of education, the emergence of the cult of the child's right, the spread of disrespectful attitude to the teaching profession and work in society, the growing informatization and pragmatism of the young, the lack of teachers' community, declarative and bureaucratic nature of activities. The majority of teachers adapt to the problems in the profession through a strategy of abstraction and pragmatization. In this regard, it seems necessary to change the methods of working with teachers, including the formation of identity, to change their discourse from obligation to “self-determination” and “utility, necessity”. Apathy arises when a person does not understand their own strategies, motivation; therefore, it is necessary to create a “free” space in schools for teachers. Joint work with teachers on the understanding of the social situation, universal problems, their inclusion into the social context must create the reflective field for a conscious choice and help use internal resources in this significant profession.

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