Culture Shock: Things I Was NOT Prepared for When I Moved to Spain to Teach English

Moving to Spain to teach English has been an incredible adventure, but it has also come with its fair share of surprises. As someone who grew up in East London, there have definitely been certain things about Madrid (and Spain in general) that threw me off guard! 

Here are a few things that come to mind: 

1) Student-Teacher Relationships

Within the first week of working at a secondary school in the south of Madrid, one thing stood out to me loudly and clearly: student-teacher relationships are completely different from what I was used to. Students call their teachers by their first names here. Growing up in England, there is a strong sense of hierarchy between teachers and students; questioning a teacher or disputing a request was seen as disrespectful and could be punishable by detention, a phone call home, or even suspension from school.

By the end of my first month, I had seen several instances where students would question their teacher and express disapproval of a teacher’s decision without receiving the kinds of punishments I mentioned before. When I asked my colleagues about this, they did not seem overly concerned and even expressed that they preferred students to call them by their first names to ‘minimize the distance’ between them and their pupils—a concept that was valid yet completely foreign to me. While I can only speak about my specific school and teaching experience in Spain, it’s worth bracing yourself for the many differences you’ll likely notice when working in a Spanish school.

2) Professional Relationships

I think the CIEE staff at my September orientation did an excellent job of mentioning some of the cultural differences that can occur within the school working environment, letting us know that it can be normal for colleagues to share information about their personal lives and non-work-related endeavors. However, it still came as a surprise to me when one of my teachers confided in me about her relationship issues, requesting advice on how to improve their communication. Or how about the time when one of my teachers told me about her best friend’s marital dramas—I did not ask for this information or start that conversation. Many weird and wonderful stories have been told to me unprovoked, most very entertaining (some very questionable). On the flip side, I’ve been invited out to play a game of Padel, attend dinners, and one teacher helped me sign up to my local gym at the beginning of the year when my Spanish was non-existent, and helped me fill in paperwork related to travel and visas.

3) No Laptops in Cafes

With this one, I definitely have mixed feelings. I had decided that I wanted to get ahead with some work in a different space, so I set out to find a cute café to work in for the day, which was not Starbucks. It came as a surprise when I entered a cute, snazzy café and saw very clearly a sticker on the table that read ‘no laptops, no problems.’ Though I found it strange, I tried the next café and ran into the same issue, where I was not able to use my laptop either. After passing through about six different cafes, I found one but was only able to work until 7 pm (it closed at 1 am), before they said that laptops would no longer be permitted until the following morning. I understand that many café owners do not want their sacred spaces to turn into offices, so I guess I cannot be too mad at it. However, this is definitely something to be aware of if you think that you’ll be able to pull out your laptop at any café with no issues—think again!

4) Plazas & Bedtimes

I was pleasantly surprised when I was walking through Madrid city centre and came across plazas every so often, which are essentially spaces for people to sit down, relax, and talk. They’re often accompanied by a beautiful fountain, and sometimes even a small park for children! Coming from East London, these are NOT something that I would come across very often, but I think it’s so lovely that there are spaces for people to meet up without necessarily having to pay to do so. I was also shocked by how many people—young and old—were out late at night (around 11 pm), chatting away and drinking a Tinto de Verano (a must-try, forget Sangria). I also saw many children playing together very late at night, which I must say was bizarre for me considering that my bedtime was 9pm for many years!

Conclusion

I would say that living here in Spain has definitely been an eye-opening experience, and has made me reflect on many things - though I did not think teacher-student relationship dynamics would be one of them (you can just tell I'm really a teacher, sigh). For anyone who is thinking of moving here, my advice would simply be to go with the flow and be flexible - there is alot that you will discover about Spain, how relative 'normality' is, and yourself! 

Hasta la próxima <3