Why am I a teacher? Testimonies of female normalist teachers on the profession of educating

Abstract

This paper is a continuation of the project “Social history and life stories. Education of women in Guanajuato in the second half of the 20th century”, with the research objective of contributing to this topic by documenting the life stories of women who had the opportunity to study in order to practice a profession. We highlight the female teachers here, making them visible with a gender perspective. In this paper, from a preamble to the normalistic tradition that has been maintained in Mexico (a history in which three generations are distinguished), and from the brief description of the prevailing training models of these institutions, we focus on the central point of the watershed that meant the presidential decree of Miguel de la Madrid (march 23, 1984), by which he transformed the normalistic studies granting them the status of degree. In those years, the pedagogical baccalaureate, compulsory preparatory for degree in education, also marked a brief milestone. Thus, we characterize the technical-efficient and reflex-hermeneutic approaches (with the academicist’s persistence), as guides in teacher training. We complement the investigation with the testimonies of female teachers. The sample, made up of proximity and convenience, integrates nine preschool and primary teachers, from public and private schools, especially form the state of Guanajuato –since we include the generous account of a teacher from Parral, Chihuahua.– The analysis, with support of the Maxqda software, allows us to affirm that the reasons for being teachers continue to be: an indisputable vocation to serve, share knowledge and influence the value formation of children so that they are good citizens. As women, they agree that being teachers was the best option and they would do it again for the satisfaction and personal fulfillment that it represents.