The meaning of teacher professionalism through Adorno's taboo of the teaching profession

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to reveal the limits of teacher expertise by examining the specific historical and social conditions in which the teaching profession is located. To this end, the discussion of the taboos of Adorno's teaching profession is the center of the study. Adorno sees the image that makes it impossible for teachers to independently perform their jobs as taboos, and grasps the appearance of taboos in the teaching profession as a social condition and the causes of its formation from a historical and Freudian psychoanalytic perspective. The point to be emphasized here is that Adorno is the taboo of the teaching profession, that is, the deceptive social system that forces students to mediate civilization through education through consideration of the ambivalence of the teaching profession, and the tragic situation the teacher is in as a psychological and social agent, that is, the teaching profession. Therefore, the researchers first examine the history of the teaching profession in Germany and Europe in detail in order to reveal that the negative image of teachers has been historically formed. Next, based on Freud's libido, Oedipus complex, and superego concept, the process by which the taboo of the teaching profession was established as a social prejudice is considered psychoanalytically. Through this, the values, norms, and behaviors of society that teachers pass on to their students, that is, civilization, allow students to experience alienation. In the end, it is difficult for teachers to realize the content delivered through the act of teaching, which is one of their pure educational ideals and values. Therefore, this study aims to stimulate teachers' self-reflection by making them doubt their confidence in the teacher's professionalism.