text: Irina Voiculescu
illustration: Bianca Popescu

 

Behind the scenes of a career in education

– interview with Andreea Porumbel

"Career" - a word so common and at the same time so differently perceived. If we think about what career means, the DEX tells us that it is "occupation, field of activity, rung in the social or professional hierarchy", but the definition differs from person to person. For me (and most likely I'm not the only one), career is now one of the worries that is approaching faster than I imagined. With that in mind, this interview is a closer look at a career we all know about, but maybe don't know enough about.

Professor Andreea Porumbel teaches Romanian language and literature at the "Saint Sava" National College and is one of those teachers who every day manage to enrich my cultural area, my level of knowledge and, at the same time, put a smile on my face. To my great joy, the following discussion gave me the opportunity to learn more about you, about your career in education and more.

Q: What prompted you to become a teacher and where did your passion for the Romanian language start?

A: I have always felt attracted to this profession. I think it was a natural attraction, without the need to justify anything to myself from this one option, about which I never had any doubts. Both before and after I became a teacher, I felt that no other profession could have truly fulfilled me. The passion for the Romanian language started in the family, I think, my mother had a certain inclination towards creativity and interpretation. Then, this passion was cultivated in me by the teachers I met. I was always lucky to meet very devoted teachers, who actually delighted us with their lessons, with the way they addressed us.

Q: What was your path in education until you arrived at Sava?

A: Until I arrived at "Sfântul Sava", I taught 7 years at the high school and by circumstances, needless to explain now, I had an incomplete year (8 months) in which I taught French in my father's native village. It was the most beautiful year until I arrived in Sava. Those children gave me deep joy through their sincerity, through the admiration with which I felt that they surrounded me. They were very "delicious"...; the youngest were in the 4th grade. I remember that once, one morning, they waited for me in French class with a play they had prepared with the teacher for a competition. I was also amazed by their gesture and their acting abilities, and I think that I could always return to a place like this, and I really don't rule out this possibility in the future.

Otherwise, beyond my didactic path until I arrived in Sava, I always longed to end up in a good school and I can say that this wish was fulfilled in the most beautiful way possible.

Q: How did your high school teachers influence you?

         A: My high school Romanian language teacher, Natalia Mălăianu, really had a special impact on me. I saw her again last summer when I visited her in the town where I grew up. He gave me the last book you wrote and apologized when he wanted to sign my autograph because his hand was shaking. Of course, my next gesture was to actually take her trembling hand in mine and kiss it, because, as I told her, I felt that it was, symbolically, the hand that formed me. We rejoiced for two days because we managed to talk and tell so many things. ..And he was happy when I recited to him two poems that I knew from high school and that were written by you.

Q: One of the things I appreciate about your classes is the lack of constraints and the opportunity to freely express our ideas and opinions. How do you see the impact of this teaching style on the student, at the expense of the classic memorization of a comment?

         A: I think there is a need for rigor in teaching any discipline. However, beyond any didactic scenario, I must admit that the Romanian language class has greater flexibility and leaves room for a very strong affective side, and from this point of view I consider it a privileged discipline. Not because it is the first in the catalog, but because it is really a "spiritual time" in which students can develop certain values and attitudes, by the way they themselves evaluate so many characters and events, by the way they capture and formulate the message of a literary work and convert it into a life experience. Therefore, I believe that the freedom of learning, thinking and expression is an important premise for the study of the Romanian language and literature, with a view to satisfactory results for both students and teachers.

Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges/difficulties in your career?

        A: The weights are many at times, but if you put incompatible things in the balance, you can imperceptibly tilt towards failure and dissatisfaction (because we are not compensated accordingly!). That's why, the moment you happily walk away from a class where you felt the students enjoyed what you did together, all the difficulties, real or not, fade away. I think this is the greatest joy: the light in the children's eyes, their joy, their respect for what you do. Otherwise, training courses, the rush for documents and diplomas, competitions, etc. are just the text at the bottom of the page; above, however, the poem remains, the story remains....

Regarding challenges, I believe their role is to reinvigorate us. A challenge is like a boundary between routine and dynamism; it is always necessary to readjust your vision of how you can resonate with generations: the students you know as a teacher are increasingly "new" in relation to the spirit of the time or the times, while the teachers who welcome them follow their age. Thus, a natural perception gap is created, and the challenge is not to let a chasm form and to find communication bridges with the newest generations.

Q: What do you think about the current preponderance of women in the education system?

        A: If this aspect is not just a coincidence, then I would try to explain that, perhaps, the dominance of the female gender in this profession is determined by the fact that it requires a lot of patience and meticulousness. I think it is a profession with a special sensitivity, a sensitivity that often wears feminine, almost maternal clothes.

(*editor's note: not to understand that these traits are excluded in other people)

Q: Can you give me an example of a time in your career where your determination was tested?

         A: My determination is tested by a certain routine, rarely, but also frequently by the voraciousness with which I do certain things. This consumption has a certain echo even after the classes are over and during a week, etc. It's not like you leave work and that's it, you're done with it for the day. Teaching the Romanian language and literature is a profession that involves much more...

Q: What do you think about the lack of female authors in the program? Do you think there should be a balance between male and female representation, for a wider spectrum of literature?

         A: I think the curriculum is, anyway, the one that arouses the greatest hostility and the impression of obligation. Therefore, the authors are easily protected and sought with more passion. I believe that any teacher can give himself the flexibility to include female authors in his didactic efforts in the classroom, for greater inclusiveness, but he must do it in time (not in final classes, when priorities are different).

Q: What is the most beautiful, satisfying part of this job?

         A: Everything I do is the most beautiful part. I think that this job is not only a "golden bracelet" (as the saying goes), but also a magical one. If you realize that you, the teacher, have such an important mission in the lives of people at the beginning of the journey, that you are perhaps unwittingly shaping their thinking or perception of reality, then the magic has been discovered. The responsibility is huge, but the satisfaction is commensurate. Moreover, I believe that the teacher is a real actor, who has to desynchronize his true thoughts or moods determined by the troubled times we are going through, in order to offer, with love, a formative message to his students.

Q: Finally, do you have a message or quote that you would like to pass on to our readers?

         A: I would like to think that we have new chances, as a society, to restore the aura due to those who practice this profession. Let's not continue to impertinently put on our sunglasses and treat them like nothing. Only by showing respect and gratitude to teachers can we raise the level of education in our society.