Secondary school teachers' perception of COVID 19 in the context of risk society: The case of Diyarbakır

With the Covid-19 outbreak, which emerged in December 2019, being declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020, utopian experiences started to be experienced all over the world. The distance education process that started on March the 23th in Turkey has led to major changes in the lives of teachers. In this study, the question "How are teachers' perceptions of the Covid-19 process?" was emphasised. The changing risk perceptions and fear states of teachers in this process were examined on the axis of concepts such as risk society, fear culture, danger and trust. It was emphasised how teachers evaluate the distance education activities carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic process according to their risk and fear situations. Qualitative research method was used in this study. Within the scope of the research, 24 teachers (10 males and 14 females) working at the secondary education level in the central districts of Diyarbakır were interviewed in depth using a semi-structured interview form and the data obtained were analysed by descriptive analysis method. According to the findings obtained from the research, it was concluded that Covid-19 created various risk and fear situations in the lives of teachers. It is seen that teachers' risk perception and fears have changed with the Covid-19 process. It has been determined that the fear and risk situations experienced by teachers during the Covid-19 process have left negative traces in their subjective lives and distance education activities they carry out. During the Covid-19 process, teachers experienced fears such as the risk of catching or transmitting a virus, the risk of losing a relative from the virus, the risk of having a severe disease, and the risk of turning the dangerous and uncertain conditions into an insecure life where everything is doubted. Teachers state that they are afraid of the risk situations created by Covid-19 in the field of education and that this fear also affects their distance education experiences. As a result, with the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers think that the changes in the field of education will also have effects in the social context.