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Teachers
Whilst I don’t necessarily agree with the strikes, nor if I’m honest do I fully understand them today, I’ve seen plenty of really shitty statuses and stories about teachers and how they have it easy / get lovely long breaks / don’t know what a working week is really like / couldn’t survive in the private sector …and they are the nice ones! I’m not sure if those statuses are even relevant to the strike…but it has got me into letter writing mode….apologies to those with no children or no interest in the strikes whatsoever or to those who actually give a crap about their kids future and are engaged with their learning at shool! 😉
Being married to one, I’m well aware of what goes into a teachers week/month/year to help educate your little darlings.
They are educators, councillors, event organisers, collaborators, budget controllers, and ultimately driving your child’s future often with very little support at home. To many children, they also act as parents, being the one that has to discipline, be kind to, listen to and care for with very little or no interest or love from their parents at home.
They are actually giving your child more opportunities than you, to help them work together in society, rather than against it. Please don’t think that your child just goes to school for a book led education…
To those that think their job is easy and “they should work a real full time week”? Please do try working a normal teaching week which would start at 7, with no regular fag/coffee breaks like you may take at your leisure in a day. Think about it…they don’t even get to run to the loo if they need a quick wee as they can’t leave your little people on their own. They often do not get a long (or even short somedays!) lunch that you take so easily whenever you want. You may choose to sit at your desk to eat yours, they don’t have a choice.
Then the kids go home…and there’s two more hours of tidying up after your little darlings and then setting up for the next day, to start the whole process over again.
They’ll then get home, mark papers, create more reports…the list goes on!
To say their job is easy or not that risky, I ask that you please stand a day in my wife’s shoes. Try having a chair thrown at your head (by a 5 year old) whilst also dealing with 20 other kids who she’s trying to actually hold the attention of and educate, whilst wrapping a bandage on her hand from your little tommy who at 5 still doesn’t know biting is bad…day in day out…all year and tell me that’s easy? Palease!
By the way, how is that office chair you’re sitting on reading this? Facebook funny today? Something good get hashtagged today?
Teachers often work 60+ hours a week dealing with disruptive children who actually have very little support from their parents at home which often leads them to being way behind on literacy/numeracy, so need extra attention at school and teachers are expected to just deal with it. They actually love helping these children, because they also get to see the joy and excitement of a child that has broken down a barrier and learned something new. But they also have 20+ other children to educate today too…
They are driven by passion…..and they don’t get overtime.
They are being monitored by ridiculous levels of scrutiny that most people never have to go through in a “normal” job. External inspections, internal appraisals and lesson observations against monstrous criteria that most people would struggle to cope with once. Let a lone multiple times…at random… in one term!
Generally Teachers become teachers because they give a shit about children, education and the kids future. They don’t just fall into teaching like you might into your career when your looking at the job pages. They are preparing our future generation for, our future, with very little support at home-regardless of what “class” you want to brand these types of schools, kids or families into.
You please try doing what they do day in day out all school year and tell me you don’t need to get submitted to a psych ward at the end of it.
Yes they get the long summer break. They need to recharge before coming back in to deal with your little darlings. They’ll also spend a lot of the time off marking papers, creating reports, setting the agenda for the next term. Do you do that on your holiday? No, but you are “reachable on email if it’s urgent”…that’s tough isn’t it?
This post is generalising quite a bit, but I couldn’t sit back and look at some of the comments I’ve seen this morning and not reply. Most of my parent friends are amazing – this rant is not aimed at you. this is in response to all you ignoramuses not educating yourselves before you post a rant about your little tiddles “losing out on education” because of a one day strike because “teachers have it so easy”. Please do come to the school gates one day and have that conversation with your kids teacher at 4pm
Do their job for a week and tell me you wouldn’t be complaining too?
That’s it. Rant over. Back to my nice warm mug of tea, at my desk, in my comfy chair with the music on and Facebook open in the background of my work….