Adaptations by Polish secondary school students to Covid-19 restrictions imposed on education participation

Grzegorz Godawa, Ewa Gurba
The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kracow, Poland
Alicja Senejko
University of Wrocław, Poland

The emergence of the pandemic has disrupted the functioning of societies and individuals, putting health and lives at risk. The pandemic also had an impact on adolescents for whom social isolation, the change in the form of education from face-to-face to remote, and the difficulties arising from developmental changes became stress factors. Functioning in such a difficult situation required the implementation of adaptive measures by secondary school students. The aim of this study was to identify the coping strategies used by secondary school students, and the relationship between reactions to pandemic-related stressful life events with such factors as personality traits, level of stress and types of threats related to Covid-19. The study showed that adolescents coped with the pandemic situation with the most frequently used strategies being planful problem solving, escape-avoidance and seeking social support. Empirically identified strategies used by young people constituted a system of logically and functionally interrelated factors. The findings of the study described provided a basis for presenting practical guidelines for educational practice.
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Authors: Grzegorz Godawa (corresponding author) is an associate professor in the Insitute of Pedagogy and Family Studies, The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kracow, Poland. He is interested in the axiological foundations of social life and education as well as in social support. He deals with education on various levels and areas of its implementation. Email: grzegorz.godawa@upjp2.edu.pl Ewa Gurba is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kracow, Poland. Her research interests include the development of adolescents and adults, relationships between parents and adolescents, processes to stimulate growth. Email: gurbaewa@wp.pl Alicja Senejko is an associate professor in the Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Poland. She deals with the issues of development in adolescence, psychology of identity as well as psychological defence and its role in securing development. Recently, the subject of her research interest is issues of trauma and the possibility of post-traumatic growth. Email: alicja.senejko@uwr.edu.pl Please cite as: Godawa, G., Gurba, E. & Senejko, A. (2021). Adaptations by Polish secondary school students to Covid-19 restrictions imposed on education participation. Issues in Educational Research, 31(3), 782-799. http://www.iier.org.au/iier31/godawa.pdf