In the last period, there are more and more positions regarding the situation in the education system in Romania. Roughly speaking, one can observe the existence of two extremes in the reporting of the teaching profession in Romania. On the one hand, those who believe that any teacher, regardless of his activity in class, his moral attitude, his scientific training, deserves to be remembered. As many teachers, as many statues. Figuratively. On the other hand, as many teachers as there are statues, in the static sense of the term, the connotation of an inanimate object devoid of the symbolism associated with a monument.

It cannot be denied that part of society opposed this professional category. There seems to be joy in every failure of the system, and every time there is a scapegoat: the teacher. This kind of discourse is so general in its “analysis” that it can be applied to any question. The cyclicality of the transmitted message is for this type of “analyst” of the educational system proof that he was right from the beginning, he is right now and he will be right in the future. Because? – the system will not change.

On the other hand, the tendency of victimization, the appeal of martyrdom, which comes from some teachers, should not be ignored either. “We sacrifice ourselves for…”, “where is the respect for the past?”, “woe to the current generation,” etc. Supporters of such broadcasting believe that the system will change: from bad to worse. The “executioner” from the previous vision turns into a victim.

This constant attack on teachers, along with the frequent casualties, made me wonder which side of the barricade I was on. And, if everything is so terrible in the education system, why did I work for 10 years and do not rule out, if the context allows, resignation from the department. In conditions when “nothing works as it should”, even so self hatred testify?

Actually, this question can also be looked at from another point of view: the educational system that I know from below, from the department, from the 9 offices in which I worked, from the dozens of classes that I studied in, and from the interaction that I have with thousands of teenagers (yes, thousands!), it’s more difficult.

Firstly, I don’t consider myself a victim. Neither the disrespect of students, nor the attitude of parents, nor the system as a whole. I take full responsibility for choosing to be a teacher in Romania. Secondly, I do not consider myself guilty of the main shortcomings of the education system.

I believe that I had and still have a good relationship with my students and their parents. Of course, I am a teacher in Romania, and we know that this is their country (and not only theirs, but Romanians in general)[2]) is a revaluation of oneself. For this reason, I see no objection to the proposal Feedback from students. Vice versa. Maybe then I would find out that I was actually living an illusion. But, until proven otherwise, I believe that I make a good team with my students, and their parents are reliable partners in the educational process.

I felt respect and, in turn, I try to express respect to the participants of the educational activity, regardless of their age.

I very rarely felt pressured by the grades I gave my students. I have never considered it shameful for a student to receive mixed grades if they are given after an objective assessment. Every school year, I gave grades from 2 to 10. Only once, in the first year of study, a parent wanted to know why his daughter got a 4. I explained to him, he understood, he thanked me. Since then, I have made sure that my students understand why they get a certain grade before their parents. I try to give an explanation for each rating in the range of 2-9. And over the past 9 years, I remember only one other dissatisfaction from my parents, upset with an average of 9 points in a subject that is “not for the exam”. And the mandatory requirement is to make sure that the average score is, however, 10, as are the averages in other subjects. It was impossible. He didn’t understand.

It is rightly argued that the education system is politicized. E Polishinel’s secret the fact that the occupation of most management positions depends on belonging to a political party. However, I also know exceptions that make me happy and that prove to me that it is possible to do otherwise. It is difficult, but not impossible. Ideally, management positions should be held only by meritocratic criteria, and not by political affiliation. However, it should also be noted that political membership and meritocracy are not always mutually exclusive. And this time there are exceptions. However, the education system would have a lot to gain if the exceptions were cases where teachers in leadership positions were politically involved.

From my first year of study, I was told that if I wanted to have a “good career”, I should be a member of a political party. Although my path was not “good” by some standards, can be apolitical. True, I did not aspire to leadership positions, but I did not experience political interference in my classes. The Romanian teacher still has a lot of freedom. True freedom to choose one’s own means of achieving skills according to the school program. Of course, freedom does not mean educational anarchy. But it is possible to teach even according to the content of some textbooks, without making a professional bet out of it. For example, I am glad that my students can have the opportunity to form a more nuanced opinion about the Romanian Middle Ages or the interwar period, and sometimes a point of view opposite to that presented in some school textbooks.

On this issue, one camp might argue that teachers have too much freedom, while the other camp doesn’t have too little. The pressure is too great and comes from all sides. However, I really appreciate the opportunity to be a freelance teacher. And if it happens that in a certain context my freedom is limited, I hope to find the necessary resources to fight for it. Because I really believe in the values ​​that I pass on to my students. And freedom is one of the most valuable assets of democratic regimes. An exception in the history of the Romanian space, which we sometimes do not really appreciate.

Regarding the act of surrender, opinions were also divided. And from this point of view, subjectivism reaches its highest peaks. As I already mentioned, statistics show that Romanian teachers rate their work very well[3]. On the other hand, it seems that there is a lot of dissatisfaction precisely because of the low quality of the educational act. The reality is that we cannot know who is right. There is no specific way to track a student’s academic progress or the performance of teachers in the classroom. And it is often ignored that the educational reality includes several aspects, very important, in turn, beyond the main pillars of the educational system, students, respectively teachers. As always, it is quite possible that reality lies somewhere between the two extremes.

Messages about what teachers’ work means are once again dividing Romanian society. Some believe that teachers are overloaded with so many tasks that they do not even have time to breathe. Others, if they could, would realize the glial connection of our ancestors through the professor-teaching connection. He will leave them in day schools (at least for a few years, as a punishment for vacations, “where they did not work, sat for nothing, and still paid”). If it were after them, learning rate should be like everyone who “really works”: 40 hours a week.

“What is the time to prepare for the lesson? What’s the reading update? Isn’t that why they are teachers? Know the lessons once and for all and read the books on time? What did they do during college? Haven’t you read it? Of course not! It’s just an axiom that the stupidest graduates choose the education system.” Is it really so? Is there any serious research on this? And this time I’m talking about what I know, right? what I have heard from others or close to which i assume that it happens Among the 5 graduates of the Faculty of History (class of 2013) who chose the teaching profession, at least 2 of them entered the top 10. And 3 more – in the first quarter of the rating.

Another discursive constant that can be easily defined, a real moron, is the comparison of the education system in Romania with the education system “outside”, “abroad”. This comparison has a qualitative dimension: what is happening in other educational systems is good, while the educational reality in Romania is light years away from them. Very rarely are we offered a real comparative perspective between the educational system in Romania and another successful system “from abroad”. Because more often than not, our gaze is focused only on the successes of other educational systems. Far from perfect, they also face challenges. Some are smaller, some are larger than ours.

No one can deny the fact that (i) the education system in Romania is facing acute problems. Like many other countries, we are very far from Finland and in some aspects below the average European level. However, it should be emphasized that the problem is global. Most education systems face major challenges. So, we are part of the context of unprecedented transformations, in which one of the most affected areas is educational[4]. Of course, the fact that there are problems even in the most developed countries of the world should not reassure us. But we understand that the well-known saying “as in ours, as in no one else” can be applied to almost any education system. The problem of rethinking the educational system is not local or regional, but global. And the future of humanity will also be affected by how the world as a whole will treat problems in the education system.-

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