Cartographies of radical teachers: reimagining teacher professionalism for a socially just education in Catalonia (Spain)

The predominant view today of teacher professionalism follows the logic of global neoliberal educational governance. The result of this process is an identity that de-professionalises teachers, removes their capacity for critical reflection and transforms them into mere implementers of national curricula oriented towards ‘learnification’. But in a context of growing inequality, hate speech towards diversity and increasing segregation and exclusion, the educational system requires a different teacher professionalism. Drawing on Gandolfi and Mills’ project to analyse ‘radical teachers’ as an alternative teacher identity to the neoliberal one, this article presents the exploratory results of a study on ‘radical teachers’ in Catalonia (Spain). In the four interviews analysed, all the interviewees understand radical teachers to share three key elements that are both similar to and different from the Anglo-Saxon understanding of the term. A) as a response to an unfair context that the teachers wish to improve; B) as being expressed through bonding, applied ethics, care and trust; and C) as having a clear community, democratic and cooperative dimension. These elements suggest that the form of relational and community-rooted teaching observed in Catalonia constitutes a valuable alternative to the predominant neoliberal model and offers a framework for rethinking teacher professionalism today.