Constructing imagined communities in the digital space of schools
A view from northeastern Estonia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.6414Nøgleord:
Imagined school communities, virtual space, Estonia, Russian-speaking minorityResumé
This article investigates the construction of imagined school communities in the digital space of schools. Drawing on Benedict Anderson’s theory of imagined communities, the study examines how two schools in northeastern Estonia, amidst significant systemic educational reforms and demographic shifts, use social media as a space to establish values and cultivate a sense of belonging. Using qualitative content analysis of over 200 Facebook posts from two newly opened state gymnasia in Narva, a predominantly Russian-speaking city, we found that social media served as a curated digital space for community construction, a compass for community direction, and a channel for articulating community commitments. The analysis demonstrates that social media functioned not only as an informational, but also as a cultural forum for generating new educational imaginaries. This study contributes to the spatial turn in comparative education by highlighting the value of researching social media to understand school community development and the role of digital space, especially during periods of systemic reform.
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