The value of and values in the work of teachers in Estonia

Abstract

This article considers how the status of teachers relates to a changing value system, and how the perceived worth of a profession depends on the values its practitioners carry. The article analyses the work of teachers as both productive and reproductive, needing both material and non-material recognition. It argues that in times of radical social change, social groups struggle to determine what value is. The rapid introduction of a neoliberal market economy in Estonia has created a situation where teachers’ labour becomes a site of contestation determining what values prevail in society. Based on 24 semi-structured life history interviews, this article combines theories of the value of labour, of professionalism and the anthropological theory of value to argue for the key role that teachers play during rapid change to a societal value regime.