From the pandemic to the community: effects on the school

Abstract

In the context of a pandemic, the article poses the question whether or not the situation created by COVID-19 has favored the reinforcement of a community feeling. In light of this question, the article presents and discusses two hypotheses, an optimist one and a pessimist one. The first interprets the current crisis as an opportunity for enforcing the community, while the second identifies the dangers of the so-called populist temptation. Therefore, the discussion of these two scenarios is projected, in the first place, in a debate on the future of democracy. Secondly, we use the functioning of schools to illustrate the impact of the pandemic on the education system. We look at the limitations they showed during the first wave of COVID-19 and suggest the need for schools that focus on people and the community as the best way to adapt to highly complex contexts.