Teaching work and emergency remote teaching: extension of workdays and free time expropriation

Abstract

The aim was to investigate the effects of remote work, as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, on the working hours and free time of teachers who work in the public education network in the state of São Paulo. Through descriptive research, of qualitative approach, interviews and questionnaires with teachers were carried out. The analysis was inspired by the Marxist theoretical framework about the processes of work, education, time, and technology in the capitalist mode of production. The results indicate that the pandemic impacted the working conditions of teachers in the public education network of São Paulo and deepened ongoing trends, such as precariousness, managerialism, extended working hours and the use of information and communication technology as a mechanism of control of teachers’ time and work. Remote teaching remodeled the pedagogical dynamics and gave new contours to the journey, with advances in working time over free time.