The Teacher's Lounge

April 24--

​The mythology and mystique of the teacher's lounge has always been a part of the American education system, at least for me.  As an elementary student, I remember we all used to walk by the teachers lounge, even try to subtly peek in if the door was cracked, to see exactly what was happening behind the door. What was in there? What were the teachers doing? What did it look like?  It was a mystery that students would never be privy to.  As I moved on my my education, those questions continued and , as memory serves, the student gossip and curiosity became more nuanced in some ways.  What kinds of conversations were teachers having? What were they eating?  Were they talking about us in there?  As I think back, I remember those questions crossed my mind each time I walked past the “teacher's lounge” placard at my middle and high school.

As an adult and new teacher, the teacher's lounge took on a whole new identity. It was a place for me to learn and watch my seasoned colleagues, to receive advice, to accept the gift of a flash lesson plan when I needed it most - the phrase “here’s what you do” were the most welcome and cherished words as a new teacher…a million thank yous to Suzanne MacLehose and Doug Paulsen from my Darien High School days in Connecticut!) In the teacher's lounge, I watched how others coped with and found joy in teaching.  It was in those often nondescript spaces with just a few computer monitors, a xerox copy machine, and a big lunch table. In the few years in the early 2000s, I took a break from teaching and I can’t say I missed the teacher's lounge all that much.   But I also found incredible joy in listening to the incredibly creative storyteller and singer Bill Harley's song “The Teachers Lounge,” which captures how a teacher's lounge can be a magical place. (Sidebar: Bill Harley is amazing.  Listen to his stories.  You will not regret it!). In any case, even while I was on a break from teaching, the lore of the teacher's lounge was still there….

One of the huge privileges we found during our visit to schools in Morocco was the open-arms welcome into each building's teacher's lounge.  Well, this wasn’t just restricted to teacher's lounges…we were welcomed *everywhere*.   But as we were invited to enter the first lounge, we walked in with that sense of exhilaration that always comes with stepping into a restricted space…how lucky we were, we told ourselves, but even more importantly…what would we see?!  What lay behind the doors of the teacher's lounge never disappointed.  As we stepped inside, we found a warmth, a space with colorful “sectional” Moroccan style couches, always heartfelt welcomes and embraces, and endless curiosity about who we were and why we were visiting.  And always tea and cakes!  The teacher's lounges we visited were among some of our most beloved moments during our stay in Fès, and we marveled at the camaraderie between educators as they sat with their tea, heads leaning into one another, mingling and perhaps sharing reflections on their day of teaching or perhaps just sharing stories unrelated to school.  ​

We were fortunate to see many teacher's lounges since our multitalented host teacher Hicham works at two schools this year.  Plus, he took us to many other schools and at each, we were invited into principal's offices, classrooms, and teacher's lounges each time. We saw the sectional couches in each, the teacher's lockers for supplies, and the tables for tea.  We also found that these visits to teacher's lounges often prompted or led us to talk about the similarities and differences between American and Moroccan schools, and particular teachers’ experiences.  Some questions that came up as we connected in various teachers lounges: Do you have budget cuts too? How many classes do you teach? What hours are students in school? What supplies are available to you?  What kind of cake is this?  We had so many questions. ​

On one of our last days, we shared some of the financial concerns our schools face, and learned that Moroccan teachers face much the same struggle for appropriate pay.  We even learned that they were on strike and public schools in Morocco were closed for two months, in September and October of 2024.  We learned that teachers were then given a 1500 dirham raise over the next two years (750 dirhams per year) and back to school they went.    In any case, teacher's lounges, places I didn’t really think too much about pre-departure, turned out to be important settings in our exchange experience story.  And the bonus: We got to once again feel that exhilaration of stepping into a space that still feels “off limits” and thus thrilling.