”Vi manliga lärare”: Folkskolans lärare och lärarinnor i kamp om löner och arbetsområden 1920-1963

Abstrakt

Mellan 1920 och 1963 fanns ett manligt och ett kvinnligt folkskollärarförbund. Förhållandet mellan dessa präglades länge av motsättningar, men 1946 tystnade plötsligt polemiken. I stället inledde förbunden ett samarbete, som 1963 utmynnade i en förbundssammanslagning. Därmed skapades Sveriges Lärarförbund. Från denna grundberättelse utgår avhandlingen och dess övergripande syfte är att ur ett i första hand manligt perspektiv förstå omvärderingen av folkskollärarinnorna från motståndare till samarbetspartners. I ett förändringsperspektiv söks förklaringar i reella sakförhållanden som till exempel de rådande lönesystemen och den vid 1940-talets slut påbörjade enhetsskolreformen. Sökljuset riktas emellertid också mot mentala genuskonstruktioner och förändringar i dessa. Vilka egenskaper och förmågor tillskrevs lärare och lärarinnor före respektive efter brytpunktsåret 1946? Hur såg de genusföreställningar och nya skolförhållanden ut, som åtföljde och möjliggjorde 1950-talets samförståndsklimat mellan de manliga och kvinnliga folkskollärarförbunden? I avhandlingens slutkapitel öppnas dörrar mot besläktade problemområden. Dessa handlar om männens tidigt påbörjade sorti från klassläraryrket samt om könsojämlikhetens nya former i den reformerade skolan. Detta trots att en formell jämställdhet hade uppnåtts mellan lärare och lärarinnor.

We male teachers : Male and female elementary school teachers in struggle for wages and working fields 1920-1963

Between 920 and 963 the elementary school teachers in Sweden were organisedin two separate unions, one for women and one for men. The relationship betweenthe two unions was tense, which resulted in several open conflicts. However, in946 the discord came to an end. Instead the two unions started to co-operate,which lead to one unified teacher association. This thesis has its focus on theperspective of the male teachers, and its aim is to clarify why women teacherswere initially looked upon as opponents rather than colleagues, and why the twoopposing groups were finally able to co-operate after 1946.

The main sources for this investigation have been the publications of theteacher unions and the minutes from the board and congress meetings. In thesetexts i have looked for thoughts and ideas, which could explain why the two unions,especially the male teachers association, reacted the way they did. By applying aperspective of conflict it has also made it possible to analyse the arguments andideas on us and them , ie male vs female teachers. The thesis is based on theconcepts gender and identity as presented in the Field and Capital Theory byPierre Bourdieu. Other central concepts for this analysis have been the Theoryon Social Closure by the sociologist Frank Parkin, where he uses the conceptsclosure and usurpation.

The most important cause of conflict before 1946 was the salary system, theresult of which was lower salaries for women teachers. To defend this system, themale teachers claimed that by nature men worked harder than women. Since mostmen were the breadwinners of the families, they needed to be paid more. However,the concept of equal pay was introduced and completed as soon as in 942. Theintroduction of a unified school system, the Comprehensive School, also stronglycontributed to the need of co-operation between male and female teachers. In thisunified school system, the elementary school teachers had to compete with othergroups of teachers. It was important to stick together in this struggle with newenemies. Men and women were more or less forced to work together, rather thankeep on fighting each other. They could agree on the fact that every elementaryschool teacher had the same competence, regardless of their sex. In the final chapterit is stated that the unequality between the sexes still existed, but in other forms.