Changes in Some Aspects of Teachers’ Work in the Czech Republic Since 1989

Abstrakt

In recent decades, society has fundamentally changed; there are political changes affecting education and, consequently, demands on teachers’ work change, as well as parents’ and society’s expectations of teachers. The main aim of this qualitative research is to map the changes in the conditions of teachers’ work in the Czech Republic in the last thirty years according to the subjective perception of teachers-experts, i.e. respondents. The respondents are teachers who have been active in the profession for at least thirty years. All the respondents are women working as primary school teachers (Dáša, Lucie, Jana, Danka, Blanka, Dominika, Karolína).

In the research we deal with the following areas: interpersonal relationships at the workplace, communication and cooperation with pupils’ parents, and the teacher-pupil relationship.

The most important results of this research are as follows. The respondents are aware of and perceive the decreasing authority of the teacher today. They point out that the teacher’s authority has degraded in the eyes of pupils, parents, and society. The most widespread problem faced by teachers is the disruptive behavior of pupils, which may interfere with teaching.

Moreover, today’s teachers sometimes have to deal with parents who are completely uncritical of their children, whom they trust completely. When problems arise, these parents never see the root cause in their child but in other classmates or, most frequently, in the teacher. If a child receives a bad grade, these parents are willing to go to the teacher and try to find the error on their side rather than in their own children.