TEACHER PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN TRANSITION: EXPLORING RESILIENCE, VALUES, AND CHANGE IN EDUCATION

Abstract

In the turbulent times when the future is uncertain, the professional identity of teachers is important in sustaining quality of education and community resilience. This study examines the transformation of teacher professional identity in Ukraine by analysing how educators reform their roles, values, and sense of purpose during the war and systemic disruption. Amid displacement, institutional instability, and ongoing insecurity, teachers have assumed expanded responsibilities as leaders, providers of emotional support, and agents of social cohesion within their communities. The identity is not a fixed attribute but an ongoing negotiation shaped by policy environments, collegial relations, and broader socio-political forces. During relative stability, this negotiation typically reveals gradually through professional learning, reflective practice, and established socialisation. In contrast, periods of severe societal disruption compress these processes, compelling rapid identity reconfiguration under heightened psychological and professional strain. The research involved 58 secondary school teachers from different regions of Ukraine who participated in semi-structured interviews. To situate identity transformation within broader contextual dynamics, a STEEP (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, and Political) analysis was conducted to identify external forces shaping professional experience. Thematic analysis, following Braun and Clarke’s approach, revealed three interrelated dimensions of identity transformation: (1) resilience and moral strength as foundations of professional continuity; (2) collaboration and cohesion as mechanisms of mutual support; and (3) pedagogical transformation characterised by heightened social responsibility, empathy, and adaptive creativity. The findings indicate that wartime conditions, while intensifying psychological and professional pressures, have also deepened teachers’ commitment to their profession and reinforced their role in sustaining stability, hope, and shared national values. The study highlights the importance of integrating reflective, identity-oriented components into teacher education programmes in order to strengthen emotional resilience, professional agency, and adaptive capacity in contexts of extended uncertainty.