Care Work as a Primary School Teacher

Today, I have a guest: Sofia Ciprian. Sofia is a young, multi-talented women I met some years ago. She is sharing with us her experiences during the last months as a primary school teacher in Spain. An intersectional approach in the how teaching speaks about what society values and what matters in life.

Enjoy and thanks Sofia !

For the past seven months, my life has revolved around singing, reciting animal names and wiping tears from the faces of seven-year-olds. To summarize, I’m a primary school teacher. Last fall, I moved across the world to become a language assistant for Spanish students at a bilingual primary school in Madrid, Spain.

When I first started teaching at my primary school in Madrid, I was not sure what to expect in this completely new environment. I graduated with a degree in political science and communications, so teaching young children was not my expertise. I assumed it would be an easy adjustment and a low-stress job since as a teaching assistant, I always have other teachers with me in the classroom. I was quickly proven wrong. My experience as a bilingual teacher has been fulfilling in many ways, but it has proven to be incredibly overwhelming and demanding at times. It has pushed me to reflect on the stereotypes we put on teachers and recognize the important role educators play in the lives of young children.

My mom is a teacher, so I have always been familiar with the reality of life as a teacher of young kids; the emotional toll it takes on you, the way your job is often disrespected and trivialized, the emotional investment you develop in the success of your students and your desire to watch them thrive. I always knew teaching was a difficult and important job, but spending seven months as one has made the message even clearer to me. 

Teaching has typically been associated with being a woman’s role, a nurturer of young minds. This alludes to one of the many reasons teachers are not taken seriously professionally. After watching my mom put so much time and effort into creating lessons that engage her students, as well as seeing how much effort I put towards my own students, I cannot comprehend how this job could not be taken seriously. Teachers are not only educators but also part-time parents for all their students on weekdays. The lessons we teach students help them begin to form their own morals and beliefs. From the hours of 9am to 2pm, teachers are the only set of eyes monitoring the actions of young children. Some students might not have a strong support system at home either, so teachers are really the only resource some of these students might have. Primary school teachers, in particular, are interacting with young learners as they begin to develop a sense of self and learn to interact with those around them. It’s a rewarding experience to get to help teach young kids not only about the school subjects but also about themselves, however, that kind of responsibility also comes with a lot of pressure. 

The reality of care work in the classroom means you are working about three jobs at once. Throughout one day in the classroom, I will alternate between teaching lessons, providing individual support to some students, mitigating classroom arguments, and teaching kids to regulate their emotions. Many of these small incidents that take place in the classroom are important teachable moments and despite often wanting to make the most of them, that is not always possible when I am trying to manage a class of 23 energetic and talkative children. When students are invading the personal space of their peers or hugging and kissing their friends who ask them to stop, I often use that as an opportunity to have a conversation about consent and learning to express love to your friends in ways that make both students comfortable. If I see a student crying over a fight with their friend, I will pull them both out of the classroom and ask them to use their words instead of crying as a response. These are some of the moments that make me the proudest in the classroom because I see how well kids absorb what they learn and can make small changes to be more considerate. 

My time as a teacher has changed my perspective on the professional world and what scale I use to determine jobs that are aligned with my interests. Teaching has proven to be a profession that makes just as much change as non-profit work or human rights law, it just creates an impact in a different way.

Teaching requires a lot of care work, but that does not make it a less important or challenging job. Instead, it makes the job multi-faceted and deserving of respect. In the same way that care work needs to be regarded as a full-time job in American family households, care work in the classroom should be treated with appreciation and value. Teachers work hard not only to educate students on math and science but also to help them begin to navigate the world and their feelings. Care work, whether in the home or in the classroom, is a vital part of our functioning as a society.