Social Suffering in Teaching Work. Dynamics of Recognition and Disrespect in Secondary Education

Abstract

This article analyzes the experience of teaching work in secondary education from a normative perspective grounded in the theory of recognition. Based on a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with teachers from both public and private education systems, it examines the dynamics of recognition and disrespect that permeate their work experience and give rise to specific forms of social suffering. The findings show that teachers face systematic processes of invisibilization of real work, loss of professional autonomy, ideological recognition, devaluation of the profession, and disregard for health and life, as well as evaluation practices experienced as devices of dehumanization and moral injury. These experiences reveal deep normative conflicts that affect subjects’ self-respect, self-esteem, and self-confidence.