ABSTRACT
Teachers in Spain have always been and continue to be a heterogeneous body representing diverse interests. They are not greatly differentiated in terms of salary, however, and salaries (for a profession which was once considered synonymous with poverty) have been rising while, as a result of falling rolls and the introduction of new teaching specialisms, the conditions of work may have improved, at least for primary teachers. There is a relatively high level of trade union participation and even if the attitudes of most teachers towards educational reform have been ambivalent, even ignorant, the unions have been active in negotiations related to the implications of reform, in particular in relation to the number of teacher guilds (the cuerpos, corporatist bodies representing various groups of state employees, dating at least as far back as the dictatorship of Primo de River a, 1923-30, with significant powers and influence in the training and influence of new members) and the conditions of schooling. The author argues that the four most important implications of the reform for the teaching profession concern the number of guilds, the reorganization of schools, new bodies of students for each school, and new curricula.
