Not a Virtual Education

The Entanglement of the Private and Public Spheres in the Lives of Women Teachers During the Pandemic in Iran

Abstract

This feminist case study explores how the shift to virtual education during the COVID-19 pandemic restructured the boundaries between public and private life for women teachers in Iran. Drawing on informal, in-depth conversations with ten married, middle-class secondary school teachers in East Tehran, this study examines the emotional, relational, and labor-based consequences of teaching from home. The research question guiding this inquiry is: How did the move to virtual teaching during the pandemic entangle professional responsibilities with domestic expectations in the lives of Iranian women educators?

Grounded in feminist standpoint epistemology and supported by the work of Fraser (2017) on progressive neoliberalism, the study highlights how gendered labor expectations intensified under the conditions of lockdown. Teachers reported experiences of increased domestic burden, blurred boundaries between work and family life, emotional exhaustion, and the internalization of patriarchal norms.

The findings are grouped into three thematic areas: (1) the entanglement of professional and domestic responsibilities, (2) internalized gender roles in the home, and (3) the social devaluation of teaching as feminine labor. These narratives reveal how neoliberal and patriarchal forces coalesced to privatize risk and responsibilize women during a time of national crisis.

This study contributes to feminist scholarship by illustrating how women’s voices from a particular socio-political context speak to broader global patterns of gendered inequity. It concludes with implications for educational policy, social justice advocacy, and the moral imperative to center the lived experiences of women educators in future emergency planning and pedagogical reform.