por qué no los dos?

In what is now a tumultuous third year of teaching/learning, teachers are in the spotlight again for so many reasons:

• Over worked, Underpaid
• Too much content, not enough time
• Unreasonable expectations
• Managing not just our teaching area, psychological issues of students, managing friendships, differentiating activities/instruction to meet the learning needs across a diverse range of students
• High levels of absenteeism – staff and students
• Extra classes/duties to help cover the gaps in staffing
• The constant barrage that we aren’t doing enough for students from parents, colleagues and society in general

 

I always challenge people who question “why strikes are necessary?” or “surely you have enough holidays to recharge and get organised?”

Recently I attended a webinar on Staff Wellbeing – one of the most remarkable points I remember is: teachers generally make upwards of 15 000 decisions in a day! (Just at work, not the outside family/personal/physical commitments – just WORK!)

That is a HUGE mental load for teachers! No wonder they are exhausted, I challenge if there is ANY another profession that makes that many decisions (most of which are instantly made during a class/environment where there is no time to think, reflect then respond) in one day! With the same amount of impact on that many people/individuals.

How many times does a teacher get thanked? By students, parents, society in general, the media? The occasional student will say thanks at the end of a lesson, or write a heart felt note at the end of term/year. I wonder when was the last time a parent sincerely thanked a teacher for not just the learning their child has undertaken, but the growth, emotional support shown by teachers, the interventions with learning to optimise growth in the individual, the behaviour/manners that are instilled/supported (usually expected by parents, not always enforced at home), the access to technology skill development, counselling services, consent workshops, sexual health/education, social media/digital literacy, cyber bullying, wellbeing management strategies – the list is endless! When was the last time a major article was released to thank teachers for the endless commitment to educating young people, the time they spend creating innovative lessons to enhance learners knowledge and skills? When did the media recently acknowledge the hours each teacher spends providing feedback to students to ensure they have met the demands of a packed curriculum?

 

So are teachers overwhelmed? 

“Ah yes”

Under appreciated? 

Ask a teacher, I think they’d say “Ah yeah, but that’s ok, I do it for the students”.

 

Articles of interest:

Article 1 Teacher Magazine

Article 2 Monash University

Article 3 The Guardian

Article 4 ABC News

Article 5 IEU VICTAS