Introduction
Dear Members of the Education Community, Much has been said (and written) about lack of motivation and other more serious problems affecting the mental health of teachers in our part of the world. A look, even if it is a superficial look, at our education system immediately allows us to grasp a fairly generalized situation of discomfort among professionals in this field. The psychological pressure is very great and one finds a series of important handicaps, which prevent a normal development of one of the most beautiful professions that one can exercise.
The prestige of the teachers
To begin with, without it having to occupy the first place, we can refer to the prestige of the teachers. The profession is prestigious in very different ways, according to countries and cultures. It would be very interesting to square the good or bad results of the educational system with the prestige that the teachers may have in each place. In Finland, South Korea or Singapore, which always appear as references, do teachers enjoy a more socially prestigious situation than among us, or less? What do they get paid, compared to other professions? What incentives do young people have for wanting to dedicate themselves to it? What cut off mark is required to enter to study Teaching, in each of these places?
The attitude of fathers and mothers
The prestige of the profession, however, does not depend only on how the administration treats it (although it does depend to a large extent): it also depends – and this aspect I think is very relevant – on how parents and teachers treat it mothers If in the family context, the teacher has prestige, his profession is valued, his work will not be discredited in front of the children, nor will he tend to put it in question, nor – above all – will the children be given the right when they can conflict with the teacher. If it is not valued, everything will be called into question and will end up, unfortunately, hanging by a thread.
Changes in students’ attitudes
Certainly, the attitude of adults with children in relation to teachers has varied greatly over the years. I know the case of a high school teacher, an excellent principal of an institute and a professional of more than recognized value who decided to leave her position because of the attitude of the parents. He told me that, when celebrating a graduation party at the center, the collaboration had been less and less, the involvement less and less, the individualism more and more galloping, and that the drop that had spilled the glass had occurred after one of these parties. He mentioned that, after the event, the space occupied by the parents had been full of papers on the floor, gross and absolute disorder. Incivility, unfortunately, is transmitted from generation to generation, and the educational system will hardly be able to help raise students with civic behaviors with parents who function in this way.
The change in attitude of the students
Likewise, the attitude of the students has also changed. The prevailing bonism and drift imposed by the pedagogical sect has led to an important change in attitudes among students. The teacher ceases to be an authority (in the positive sense of the Latin “auctoritas”, which has nothing to do with authoritarianism), and becomes a kind of facilitator, who, fundamentally, must entertain the group and of contributing to making everyone have a good time, much more than helping to acquire skills and, still lacking, knowledge. It was not the case that Education could function as a social leveler and the quasi-state society that we are re-creating was going to make fists, in the fields of one more adjusted to merit and equal opportunities. This also does not contribute much to facilitate the work of those who are dedicated to teaching.
The bureaucracy
And finally, although it is not among the smallest chakras, we have the bureaucracy. Where one paper used to be made, now fifty are made. Where a numerical grade used to be placed, now half a dozen items are listed that must be developed one by one. Where until now you took mental notes to do better in class, now you have to prepare a rubric. The bureaucracy, little by little, is covering up the true work of the teacher, which involves reflection, reading and permanent training (in what he is competent in, not in cheap psychology).
conclusion
Given all this, it is not surprising that there is disenchantment. But the disenchantment can only be reversed by giving prestige to the profession, returning authority to teachers, ensuring them adequate working conditions, increasing the Education budget and directing it appropriately, working to modify the family-school relationship and reducing as much as possible the bureaucracy Without all these factors, it is difficult to entrust enthusiasm, which is absolutely necessary for the task of educating.