The teacher as a child-rearer or the teacher as an educator. Two views of education workers on the teacher’s role

Abstract

Teaching is a learned and practiced profession. In the course of their activities, the teacher influences the formation of attitudes, and the views and awareness of children and adolescents. Teaching should prepare young people “to independently manage the development of their own personality, to undertake valuable goals and to choose responsible life paths”. The teacher’s work situation results from the role that the teacher plays in the process of the socialization and education of children and adolescents. This article addresses the problem of the differentiation of the role of the teacher in the education process in Poland in terms of two variables – education and upbringing (child-rearing). It answers the question of whether and how the perception of the teaching profession has changed in the perception of people practicing this profession. How do teachers who are currently retired teachers see the profession and role of the teacher, and how are teachers currently practicing this profession? Is/was the Polish teacher a child-rearer or rather an educator, understood here as a person imparting knowledge? How does the occupation affect the perception of oneself, from the perspective of two groups of surveyed teachers (currently employed and retired)? All the reflections contained in the article are based on interviews with retired and currently working teachers. These interviews were part of a wider research project conducted in recent years by the author of the article in Polish educational institutions. The research took the form of ethnographic field research.

Keywords

• teacher
• role
• educator
• child-rearer
• profession
• unstructured interview
• ethnography
• observation
• grounded theory