Teacher by vocation: between home and school

The extension of the role of mother to the role of teacher in the second half of the 20th century.

Abstract

Women moved from the private classroom, the family, to the public classroom, the school, where the role of teacher was an extension of the role of mother and where they adapt their profession to the political-social context, thus assuming a subordinate and limited role to the transmission of the dominant ideology and the creation of a welcoming climate that will reflect the home one. This research aims to understand and show the aspects that affect the professional development and teaching practice of a teacher who lived in school during and immediately after Franco's regime, whose story is an example of how domestic life was opened to the public sphere through teaching and the subordination and dedication of women to this profession. To do so, a qualitative methodology was used, specifically the biographical method, whose main research instrument was the in-depth interview, accompanied by written stories, the consultation of personal documents and the writing of a diary of the researcher. Among the main results, it is worth highlighting the gender differences that frame Teaching Studies and, consequently, the professional opportunity, the “vocation” of a teacher and her uncritical position that adapts to the political-social context. Through this research, the life of a woman and teacher is told who is the mirror of many women of this time and who reveals the origins of certain gender differences related, for example, to the performance of managerial and organizational functions in the schools.