Abstract:

Objectives:
Teachers' professional identity has shifted due to their ability to resolve various educational challenges, confirm their commitment to the school, and relate to social media within the school environment. Part of the teachers' professional identity is expressed through the responsibility towards the students. Studies revealed that "WhatsApp" facilitated communication between teachers and students. However, the primary use of it is for didactic and procedural purposes. Still, there is evidence that teachers are also using WhatsApp to take an interest in the students' well-being and encourage them.
Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the association between the teachers' professional identity and the way they use WhatsApp to communicate with their students. The hypothesis was that teachers with a higher sense of professional identity (independent variable) would have a higher sense of commitment towards the students (mediating variable), which would lead to more comprehensive communication with them through WhatsApp that goes beyond the limits of the didactic-procedural discourse (dependent variable).

Methodology:
The questionnaire was distributed to the convenience sample of 142 middle and high school teachers (mean age 43; 87% female). Statistically, the Pearson test was conducted to test a linear relationship between the variables. Then, to test the mediation model, a regression test was performed.

Results:
The regression model for predicting the use of WhatsApp in the teacher-student relationship was found to be significant (F(2, 141) = 10.20, p<.01), where the predictor variables add 11% to the explained variance of the use of WhatsApp in the teacher-student relationship. In the first step, the professional identity variable significantly contributed to the model. A more cohesive professional identity was associated with a higher use of WhatsApp in the teacher-student relationship. In the second step, the predictor of commitment had a significant positive contribution to the model. A higher commitment of the teachers was related to a higher use of WhatsApp in the teacher-student relationship. The mediation model was tested using PROCESS. The indirect effect of the teacher's commitment to communicating through WhatsApp in the teacher-student relationship was significant (t= 2.53, p= 0.01, CI: .015-.281).
These findings show that the research hypothesis, according to which teachers with a higher professional identity will feel a higher degree of commitment towards their students, which will lead to a more comprehensive relationship with their students through WhatsApp, was confirmed.

Discussion:
The current study presents the informal role of WhatsApp in the relationship between teacher and student. It illuminates how teachers with a high professional identity use WhatsApp to connect with their students. The use of WhatsApp, other than for learning purposes, shows the ability of the teachers to communicate with the students using their tools. It is recommended that further studies examine the effect of such communication on students' motivation to learn.

Keywords:

WhatsApp, teacher-student relationship, professional identity, quantitative research.