Teachers face difficulties that are often lumped together under the vague heading of "teaching malaise". This article describes, in the light of a pragmatic sociology, the analysis of how they cope with the introduction of new working norms. Using resistance, adjustments, cunning and a range of strategies, they try to build the meaning of the job and their own dignity, while simultaneously "saving their skin". Ethnographic research, the underpinning of this article, shows that managing difficulty lies at the heart of the job.
teachers; labour; sociology; profissionalization