Beyond salary and ratios: the teaching career

Teacher unrest in Catalonia is no longer an arguable perception, but a sustained reality. It has long been expressed in assemblies, in corridors, and lately, in the streets. The demands are known: salary improvements, reduced class sizes, more resources, less bureaucracy. These are legitimate and necessary demands. But perhaps they are not enough. We are moving in the superficial waters of a very deep issue that we have not yet faced with enough determination: what does it mean to be a teacher today and how is this profession recognized over time?In the context of the State, and also in Catalonia, the teaching career continues to be more administrative than professional. The current system is essentially based on the accumulation of seniority and complements such as sexennials. Today, teachers can accumulate five sexennials throughout their careers, and there are already voices calling for a sixth to adapt to longer careers. But this logic, based on adding periods, can hardly be considered a full professional career. And it reflects neither the complexity nor the evolution of the teaching profession. More than an incentive to develop teaching competencies, sexennials have become a survival mechanism within the system: a long-distance race where the prize is, above all, persistence, and not the recognition of quality or professional leadership.This is, probably, one of the deepest roots of the malaise that is experienced. Because when there is no real recognition, motivation can shift to other areas: salary, conditions, workload. All of this is important, but it does not replace what gives meaning to a profession: the possibility of progressing, of being recognized, of contributing to the profession in a different way as knowledge and experience accumulate.Professor Qing Gu conducts research at the Institute of Education at the University College London on teacher well-being. She concludes that this is closely linked to opportunities for professional development throughout their careers, beyond strict material conditions. In other words, what sustains teachers is not just what they receive, but what they can become within the profession. What they can contribute.From a European and international perspective, it is very surprising —very much so— that the public debate in Catalonia continues to be focused almost exclusively on quantitative variables and salary incentives, while the construction of a true teaching career takes a back seat. A career that defines stages, roles, and responsibilities, that recognizes that not all teachers make the same contribution, and that this is not a problem but an opportunity. 

In staff meetings, teachers recognize themselves in groups labeled as the “motivated”, the “resistant”, or even the most “burned out” —and it is often these latter ones who have taken the microphone to criticize the system and belittle the students—. The fact that there is no professional career in which one can progress leaves management teams in a complicated situation: how to maintain staff motivation? How to reinforce commitment and fairly recognize the merit of the best professionals?The most surprising thing is that the Catalan regulatory framework (LEC) takes into account that teachers have the right to access professional promotion, and opens the door to the possibility of progressing through mechanisms that value and recognize their merits and contributions, beyond seniority. The LEC also includes the figure of the senior teacher, an idea that could open the door to recognizing roles such as mentoring new teachers, pedagogical coordination, internal training, or leadership of school projects. However, this possibility has not been developed. Why? Governments, both here and in Madrid, aim to keep things calm, even though the underlying discontent and unease continue to grow.Meanwhile, other educational systems have configured teaching careers with clear itineraries, which allow for growth within the classroom or transition towards leadership roles. In Catalonia, on the other hand, the risk is to continue adding scattered pieces without building the whole. Relieving tensions without solving the underlying problem. Professional recognition is not built solely on salary increases or ratio reductions, but also on structures that give meaning to the professional trajectory of each teacher. It is necessary, therefore, to change the starting question. We do not ask ourselves what teachers need to work better, but what kind of profession we want teaching to be. Do we want a homogeneous and flat profession? Or a rich, diverse profession with multiple paths? Do we want to make the teaching profession attractive to young people and retain talent? Or do we only want to manage current conflicts and let the days pass, pushing the years along?In a context of growing unease, this distinction is key. Because what is at stake is not only the well-being of the teaching staff, but the mission of the school and the future of the country.