“I don't even have time to exist”: the everyday life of university teachers
Resumo
This paper research how teachers deal with difficulties encountered in the everyday workplace. A qualitative approach was used; interviews with professors, both full and part-time, and participant observation in public and private universities in Brazil and Colombia. Three aspects were proposed to understand how they deal with difficulties: efforts, relationships and perspectives. Efforts refer to the intensity of activities, the responsibilities they must assume and the changes they must face in their work. The relationships, which stand out, are with those who share their day-to-day life with others (children, partners, parents, friends or colleagues). Finally, the views of their own labours stand out, highlighting a strong affective engagement experienced by teachers as members of a community. The complexity of their activities, added to the intensity of their role, makes them permanently look for solutions to deal with difficulties, leading them to establish in their teaching duties as the core of their lives.
Downloads
Referências
BARRAGÁN, Diego. Las interacciones de los profesores universitarios en los procesos académicos. Una propuesta analítica. In: KAPLAN, Carina.; BARRAGÁN, Diego. (Eds) Tiempos de cambio. Diálogos desde Norbert Elias. Buenos Aires: Editorial Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, 2022, p. 355-386.
BARRAGÁN, Diego.; SARAT, Magda.; MORALES, María. Condiciones de empleo y autonomía: una paradoja de los docentes universitarios. Revista de Sociología de la Educación – RASE, v. 16, n. 2, p. 159-176, 2023.
BAYECK, Rebecca. Is microethnography an ethnographic case study? and/or a mini-ethnographic case study? An analysis of the literature. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, v. 22, p. 1-6, 2023.
BELAY, Sintayehu.; MELESE, Solomon.; SEIFU, Amera. Elevating Teachers’ Professional Capital: Effects of Teachers’ Engagement in Professional Learning and Job Satisfaction, Awi District, Ethiopia. SAGE Open, v. 12, n. 2, p. 21582440221094592, 2022.
BJøRNDAL, Cato. Student teachers’ responses to critical mentor feedback: A study of face-saving strategies in teaching placements. Teaching and Teacher Education, v. 91, p. 103047, 2020.
BOSE, Anuradha. Learner diversity in higher education: Articulations of diverse subjectivities through everyday life experiences. Society and Culture in South Asia, v. 9, n. 2, p. 264-298, 2023.
BOURDIEU, Pierre. Capital cultural, escuela y espacio social. Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI Editores, 2010.
BURTON, Sarah.; BOWMAN, Benjamin. The academic precariat: Understanding life and labour in the neoliberal academy. British Journal of Sociology of Education, v. 43, n. 4, p. 497-512, 2022.
CHENG, May.; TANG, Sylvia.; WONG, Angel.; YEH, Fang-Yin. How early career teachers overcome everyday work-related challenges: an analysis from the perspective of teacher buoyancy. Journal of Education for Teaching, v. 49, n. 5, p. 753-767, 2023.
CIDLINSKA, Katerina.; NYKLOVA, Blanka.; MACHOVCOVA, Katerina.; MUDRAK, Jiri.; ZABRODSKA, Katerina. "Why I don't want to be an academic anymore?" When academic identity contributes to academic career attrition. Higher Education, v. 85, n. 1, p. 141-156, 2023.
CROW, Graham.; HEATH, Sue. Social conceptions of time: Structure and process in work and everyday life. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. Available in: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230501928 Access in: 11 aug. 2025.
DE GRANDE, Pablo. Aportes de Norbert Elias, Erving Goffman y Pierre Bourdieu al estudio de las redes personales. Andamios, v. 10, n. 22, p. 237-258, 2013.
DONKER, Monika.; VAN VEMDE, Lian.; HESSEN, David.; VAN GOG, Tamara.; MAINHARD, Tim. Observational, student, and teacher perspectives on interpersonal teacher behavior: Shared and unique associations with teacher and student emotions. Learning and Instruction, v. 73, n. 101414, 2021.
DUBET, François. Sociología de la experiencia. Madrid: Editorial Complutense-CIS, 2010.
DUSCHATZKY, Silvia. Maestros errantes. Experimentaciones sociales en la intemperie. Buenos Aires: Paidós, 2015.
EARL, Kerry. The complexity of judgment in the everyday work of educators. Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies, v. 20, n. 4, p. 307-310, 2020.
EISNER, Elliot. El ojo ilustrado. Indagación cualitativa y mejora de la práctica educativa. Barcelona: Paidós Educador, 1998.
ELIAS, Norbert. Scientific establishments. In: ELIAS, Norbert., MARTINS, H.; WHITLEY, Richard. (EDS). Scientific establishments and hierarchies. D. Reidel Publishing Company. 1982. p. 3-70.
ELIAS, Norbert. Compromiso y distanciamiento. Ensayos de sociología del conocimiento. Barcelona: Península, 1990.
FERNÁNDEZ, Alvanice. Narrativas de professores universitários: Análise de processos de socialização profissional. Revista Práxis Educacional, v. 13, n. 25, p. 176-197, 2016.
GOFFMAN, Erving. Los momentos y sus hombres. Barcelona: Paidós, 1991.
GÓMEZ, Viviola.; PERILLA, Lyria.; HERMOSA, Angélica. Moderación de la relación entre tensión laboral y malestar de profesores universitarios: Papel del conflicto y la facilitación entre el trabajo y la familia. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, v. 24, n. 1, p. 185-201, 2015.
GREIVE, Cynthia. Escola publica, processo civilizador, modernidade eurocentrica e exclusão sociorracial: Dialogos con Anibal Quijano e Norbert Elias”. In: Greive, Cynthia.; OLIVEIRA, M. (Eds) Historiografia da educação: abordagens teóricas e metodológicas, Fino Traço, p. 49-100, 2019.
GRINBERG, Silvia. Self-made school and the everyday making in Buenos Aires slums. British Journal of Sociology of Education, v. 40, n. 4, p. 560–577, 2019.
HOLMQVIST, Diana. A cry, a clash and a parting: a French pragmatic sociology approach to ‘the struggle over the teacher’s soul.’ International Studies in Sociology of Education, v. 31, n. 3, p. 347–366, 2020.
JACKSON, Philip. La vida en las aulas. Madrid: Morata, 2010.
JAUHIAINEN, Arto.; JAUHIAINEN, Anne.; LAIHO, Anne. The dilemmas of the 'efficiency university' policy and the everyday life of university teachers. Teaching in Higher Education, v. 14, n. 4, p. 417-428, 2009.
KYNDT, Eva.; GIJBELS, David.; GROSEMANS, Ilke.; DONCHE, Vincent. Teachers’ everyday professional development: Mapping informal learning activities, antecedents and learning outcomes. Review of Educational Research, v. 86, n. 4, p. 1111-1150, 2016.
LYNCH, Julianne.; AULD, Glenn.; O'MARA, Joanne.; CLOONAN, Anne. Teachers' everyday work-for-change: Implementing curriculum policy in 'disadvantaged' schools. Journal of Education Policy, v. 39, n. 4, p. 564-582, 2024.
MAIWALD, Kai-Olaf.; SUERIG, Inken. Microsociology. A tool kit for interaction analysis. London: Routledge, 2020.
MANNING, Nick.; BIRK, Rasmus.; ROSE, Nikolas. Niche sociality: approaching adversity in everyday life. Sociology, v. 57, n. 1, p. 72-95, 2023.
MAYYA, Shreemathi.; MARTIS, Maxie.; ASHOK, Lena.; MONTEIRO, Ashma.; MAYYA, Sureshramana. Work-life balance and gender differences: A study of college and university teachers from Karnataka. Sage Open, v. 11, n. 4, p.
MEAD, George. Filosofía del presente. Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 2010.
MERCADO, Eduardo. El oficio de ser maestro: Relatos y reflexiones breves. México: Colectivo Cultural De Nadie, 2007.
MURPHY, Arthur. Introducción. In: MEAD, George, Filosofía del presente. Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 2010.
PAWŁOWSKA, Beata. Pride in teachers´ everyday work. Conditions and contexts. Qualitative Sociology Review, v. 16, n. 1, p. 28-48, 2020.
PROASI, Laura.; ESCUJURI, Juan. Vida personal y desarrollo profesional de los profesores memorables. El modelo de instalación: una mirada desde el entramado narrativo. Revista Entramados- Educación y Sociedad, v. 3, n. 3, p. 135-141, 2016.
ROBAYO, Aydee. Subjetividades docentes en la universidad pública colombiana. Comunidades de práctica a propósito de sus narraciones. Revista Colombiana de Educación, v. 68, p. 229-263, 2015.
ROCKWELL, Elsie. La experiencia etnográfica. Historia y cultura en los procesos educativos. Buenos Aires: Paidós, 2015.
SIMMEL, George. Cuestiones fundamentales de sociología. Barcelona: Gedisa, 2003.
SOUZA, Katia.; SILVA, Verônica.; REIS, Liliane.; ET AL. Cadernetas de saúde e trabalho: Diários de professores de universidade pública. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, v. 34, n. 3, p. e00037317, 2018.
WEBER, Max. ¿Qué es la burocracia? Buenos Aires: ElAleph, 2000.
Copyright (c) 2025 Perspectivas em Diálogo: Revista de Educação e Sociedade
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Este trabalho está licenciado com uma 