to ask WHY in the name of Gove are teachers striking again?

[loftyclopflop]

DD's school is closing on 1st October because they have chosen to strike. Is it over pay, pensions and conditions? Did they achieve anything by striking a couple of years ago other than massively inconveniencing a lot of parents?

I know Gove is a twat but do they really expect to change anything by taking the day off?

[nobutts]

Hi, I'm a teacher and I've worked in the private sector like many of my colleagues.
This is much bloody harder. Imagine delivering to 30 clients at a time for 6 hours a day all of whom have individual needs and you're accountable for their success not because of reaching a monetary target but because your job and their future depends on it.
I LOVE teaching ..I do it full time and am also full time head of SEN...wow! Two jobs in one! ...if many parents had any idea of quite how much we care about their children's education, you simply wouldn't have threads like this.

Also if you want the holidays..that's fine, become a teacher..it's apparently easy, well paid and with fabulous perks.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I also strongly believe that most teachers care too much about their pupils to fully operate a work to rule policy.

[awaynboilyurheid]

Not all teachers are straight from school/uni so I am very glad you stated that, I did nursing while my girls were young, night shifts, so I know what hard work is but let me say there is nothing easy about teaching now anyone who kids themselves on its 9 till 3 has never taught , politicians would not last two minutes in teaching yet think they know best so I would support the strike if it came to Scotland .

[Orangeanddemons]

Eretrew. Would you like your lively 13 and 14 year olds being taught by a 67 year old? Who may be too frail to cope with their liveliness?

I would love to work to 67 if I had a desk job, but I'm on my feet rushing round all day.teaching is incredibly physically demanding and required boundless energy, and I'm to sure many 67 year olds have that sort of energy

[eretrew]

Orangeanddemons- I wouldn't mind it at all, we are all going to have work longer and teachers are no exception.

[ThisIsMySpareName]

noble - teachers have been working to rule for over a year now

Not if they are working 70 hour weeks including evenings and weekends and half of the holidays they're not. Unless they are contracted to work that of course.

[noblegiraffe]

thisis

Yes, indeed, because their contract includes as many hours as necessary to carry out their jobs effectively. And that's lots of hours.

[Lilacroses]

I am a teacher. I bloody love my job. It is fantastic. I work in the most brilliant, caring, forward thinking environment you can imagine. BUT I think it is greatly enhanced by working part time. Teaching is absolutely bloody exhausting, I've done other jobs and this is by far the most shattering thing I've ever done. Not only the face to face time with the kids (30 ish at a time all day) but the planning, marking, assesments, meetings, interface with parents, etc etc.

Seabright...do you actually know many teachers? I think it's hilarious that you don't believe they work 10 hours a day? I arrive at school at 7.30 to prepare, I then teach from 9-3.15. I then spend till 5 or 6 in meetings or marking work and then I come home, make dinner, get Dd to bed and do a couple more hours. That is normal for a teacher. I do that most of my teaching days and I work on one of my days off all day as well. I actually don't work as hard as some of my colleagues and as for our headteacher I cannot believe she is actually still standing, she barely stops for even a whole day at the weekend.

Dd's headteacher (who brilliantly runs a huge school) told me she was excited because she was taking 4 days out of school during the summer holidays to go away with her family. The rest of the holidays she would be in school supervising building works and just...working!

I have no problem with people saying that teachers are lucky, I consider myself very lucky, but when they insinuate that they don't work hard or are somehow lying about the hours they work...that really pisses me off.

[Dominodonkey]

Yanbu to ask.

I am a teacher and I have never gone on strike. This time I am considering it.

For me one of the key issues is that the directed time limit might be going and that PPA may also go. So teachers would have more lessons and even less time to plan. I have written to my MP (who is a Junior Minister) to ask for information so I can see the full picture before I make my decision.

[loftyclopflop]

OP here - before anyone asks "where's OP got to?". I'm RTFT but I thought teachers can only strike about pay and conditions not about education policies like class sizes, curriculum changes, SEN.

And stop stamping your feet and crying "teacher bashing" - I'm asking about reasons for strike other than Gove being the twat we know he is. Will carry on reading and thanks for replies so far.

[noblegiraffe]

Parents should be furious about the changes teachers are striking about.

Your kids are increasingly being taught by unqualified teachers
Your kids are being taught in increasingly large classes, getting less attention from the teacher
Your kids' curriculum is being fucked about with, exams are being fucked about with in a way that many professionals disagree with, but who Gove chooses to simply ignore because it doesn't fit his agenda
School budgets are being cut, so teachers are losing their jobs meaning your kids won't be getting as good an education
Teachers' pay is being cut (effectively, with increased pension contributions). Want extra curricular clubs? Tough, the teacher who ran them has had to take on an extra job tutoring to make ends meet.
Good teachers are leaving in droves, meaning your kid is more likely to be taught by less experienced teachers.

But yes, blame the teachers when they take action.

[NewNameforNewTerm]

Not all the unions have agreed to strike. But remember those who do lose a day's pay and pension, so we are not taking it lightly.
We have had heated debates in our staffroom, which basically boil down to the impact this government's attitude towards teachers is / will have on the children.
Will the changes to the pay and conditions ensure the recruitment and retention of the best teachers - NO.
Will the government's new curriculum really improve the quality of education we provide each and every child or just try and mimic certain politicians' Eton education regardless of whether it fits what the child needs or prepares them for the future world of work? - NO.
That is the main reason people I have spoken to are considering strike action.

We have all agreed it would be impossible to work to rule. We couldn't actually do our jobs under that approach.

[sunshinemeg]

Oh god, it always depresses me to hear that as teachers we have "6 weeks off in summer" does nobody actually think we do work then? Just because your children are not in school doesn't mean we are not still planning new schemes of work, organising classrooms, setting up new field work visits and making sure that come September we have everything in place to support whatever gets thrown at us.

As for work hours - I leave my house at 7.30am and return anywhere between 5 and 7pm. After cooking and eating dinner with DH I will then do a further 1-3 hours of work. Of course I only work 9-3.

Add in ofsted, constant changing demands, and the fact that my job doesn't even remotely resemble what I signed up to, and you get a taste of why we have no other option but to strike.

[mirry2]

I'd hate to be a teacher but I don't think this strike will be received sympathetically by the general public. Life is tough for lots of us and teachers are perceived to be well rewarded for what they do. Sorry.

[Lilacroses]

I'm not "stamping my feet" at all OP. I'm replying to Seabright's post doubting teacher's working hours. I've never been on strike (have been teaching for 15 years) and I don't think I will this time either.

[Awks]

We got the school letter last week communicating 2 things. The proposed strike action by teachers and the fact that no holidays in term time would be permitted as the children's education would be affected by feckless parents. WTAF.

[happyon]

I support the teachers too. Gove is a disgrace as anyone who knows anything about education will tell you. Our state system is being pulled apart before our eyes, just like the NHS.

But above and beyond the immediate concerns, I am glad to see that some people are willing to stand up for what they believe. Some of you ought to read some history, at least to get an idea of what working men and women went through to win the right to strike and to reject the idea that we ought to be grateful just to have a job with no right to complain about wages and conditions. Do you really think that all workers should shut up and put up because others have it worse? It's so depressingly defeatist, especially when it is plain to see who is bearing the brunt of this recession (not the most senior bosses in the private sector, that's for sure).

Strikes do work, by the way; not all of them but if they never did, why do you think so many employers and Tories have tried so hard to curb workers' rights to strike? Because historically they have worked enough times for them to remain a viable form of protest when employers are simply unwilling to engage otherwise.

[englishteacher78]

Awks - teachers didn't make the decision about term time holiday, Gove did.

[cardibach]

Judging by many responses here, we teachers don't need to worry about losing public support by striking - we don't have it anyway.
I'm a teacher in Wales, and we aren't striking because the Education Minister from the Welsh Government is in talks with the Unions. That's all Gove has to do to stop this, but he won't. Now, who is causing the disruption to your children's education?
(Many thanks to those of you who are understanding of striking teachers' reasons, by the way).

[Dawndonnaagain]

Awks
One day isn't going to make a huge difference, 2 weeks holiday may make a difference, dependent on time of year, year group etc.
No point even trying to draw a correalation there.

[itsametaphordaddy]

Awks - the no holidays in term time was decided by government not schools or teachers. I'm sure you know that but you seem to be comparing the two.

[AcrylicPlexiglass]

"The average life expectancy for a teacher retiring at 65 is 67"

Really? Where's that statistic from?

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Good post, Happyon.

[MmeLindor]

The reason teachers are striking is because we parents aren't on the barricades protesting about the shit that Gove is pulling on our education system.

And we should be supporting teachers and kicking Gove in the arse.

[revealall]

I got into work at 7.15 Monday-Fri and left at 6pm (give or take 5 minutes or so). Got back in. Had tea etc. I then start prep, finish marking etc from around 7.30-9ish.

How many hours of those 10 hour days are contact... 4 or 5? People get cross when teachers complain about the hours when quite a lot of it is desk work with a cup of tea- not teaching.And why not move to a school were you don't have to mark 120 books everyday?