Učytelskej – Konvička Jaroslav (2021)

Čenda is a teacher. It was hard to admit. His life was laid out like a football stadium. When he was asked in childhood what he wanted to be when he grew up, he opened his mouth filled with words like astronaut, cowboy, tractor driver, but his father had other plans for him. While battling with a class of fourteen-year-old rascals in front of the blackboard, and his Don Quixote-like nature clashes with the rigidity of the education system, in his free time he fights an internal battle for his own identity. "Učytelskej" is a probe into the soul of a young teacher from a border town in a forgotten region, who finds himself on the very edge of his trust in the system that has surrounded us for several hundred years. With his characteristic sarcasm, he embarks on a "Don Quixote" battle against rusty educational mills and societal prejudices. Will his love for a young assistant help him find a way out of the labyrinth of self-pity? Can he repair his strained relationship with his father? Can a teacher even transform back into a human? And will Twitter users ever stop arguing? In his third book, Jaroslav Konvička presents a satirical novel about the ailments of Czech education and society, about the search for meaning and the flight from the sparks of burnout syndrome.