Professional Advocacy in Education. The Legacy of the 1960s Students’ Protest and the Forging of a Social-Professional Identity among Teachers (Spain, 1970-1982)

Abstract

Students eventually finish their degrees and are incorporated in the labour market. The impact of ex-activists of student movements on their workplace is a relatively unknown aspect of student mobilization. This article looks at how the exciting university years and the experience acquired in collective actions and protest are introduced in professional spheres. It uses the case of Spanish teachers to see how the spirit of the 1960s influenced professional mobilization in the Spanish Education system in the 1970s and 1980s. The article begins with contemporary discussions regarding professions and advocacy. It explores this notion across several professions, culminating in how it is used today with regard to teachers’ professionalism. The next section of the article looks at the students’ movement in Spain and how it combined international demands with the national struggle against the dictatorship. The relationship between the students’ movements and the mobilization of primary and secondary education is the issue of the following section. Finally, it looks at the struggle of teachers around several issues such as the access to and quality of education, the opening of preschools centers and teacher training in order to illustrate the effort to forge a social-professional identity tied to wider social struggles.