Comunicación institucional y gestión de la crisis : Estrategias para directivos educativos a partir de experiencia vivida en la pandemia por el Covid - 19

Abstract

De las crisis pueden devenir grandes transformaciones. La pandemia ocasionada por COVID-19 puso a prueba los sistemas sociales a nivel global, entre ellos el educativo que fue llevado a una transición forzada hacia la virtualidad, sobre todo en países en donde esta modalidad apenas estaba siendo adaptada con grandes dificultades debido a los factores socioeconómicos que generan desigualdad y círculos de vulnerabilidad que a su vez conllevan a una desventaja significativa en el acceso a las herramientas educativas alternas. En Colombia fue declarada la emergencia sanitaria en el mes de marzo de 2020. A partir de esa fecha todos los centros educativos, instituciones y universidades fueron cerrados y la educación remota se convirtió en el modelo educativo transitorio por excelencia sin distinción entre instituciones públicas o privadas. Las instituciones se vieron retadas a revisar y adoptar formas de comunicación que facilitaran la gestión y el trabajo de directivos y docentes, tal es el caso del Colegio Internacional Camino a la Cima ubicado en la ciudad de Bogotá, Colombia. Es así cómo surge el interés de generar conocimiento formal sobre la comunicación en medio de la crisis (no solo sanitaria), pues la experiencia mostró que allí había un terreno poco explorado en el campo educativo.

The greatest transformations can come from crises. The pandemic caused by COVID -19 tested social systems globally, including education, which led to a forced transition to virtuality. Especially in countries where this modality was barely being adapted with great difficulties due to the socioeconomic factors that generate inequality and circles of vulnerability that in turn, lead to a significant disadvantage in access to alternative educational tools. In March 2020, a health emergency was declared in Colombia. As of that date, all schools, institutions, and universities were closed, and remote education became the transitory educational model par excellence without distinction between public or private institutions. The institutions were challenged, to review and adopt forms of communication that would facilitate the management and work of directors and teachers, such is the case of Colegio Internacional Camino a la Cima, located in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. The previous is how the interest in generating formal knowledge about communication amid the crisis (not only health) arises since the experience showed that, but there was also little explored terrain in the educational field. Therefore, this research sought to provide strategies for the handling of communication by the directors of Colegio Internacional Camino a la Cima, in times of crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) and other situations of crucial difficulty. The qualitative study had an exploratory and descriptive scope. For data collection, interviews were held with five directors as well as surveys of a sample of 40 students and 40 parents. The research findings reveal that communication is a key issue in contributing to the quality of interpersonal relationships among the members of the educational community and, therefore, to the educational process itself. It is concluded that interpretative differences at the individual and collective level can cause friction in the relationship between people, especially in times of crisis. Therefore, the definition of concrete actions to manage the predicament must be a democratic process that allows the community members to express their needs and propose strategies to deal with the difficulties instead of being only recipients of managers' decisions.