Warning: teachers and striking. AIBU to think that some of you may want to watch this?

[Iffy2014]

Apologies, as teaching and striking are continually done to death on here, and this may have already been posted. I've just been sent this video of slam poetry and thought some folks here may appreciate it.

I reckon this is a pretty clear explanation of how a lot of secondary teachers are feeling at the moment, and why there is copious moaning and striking.

She has a point. You'd never catch Chubby spouting lefty opinion in a posh accent.

But I'm a bit old fashioned I suppose in thinking that teachers just might have higher aspirations and standards

She isn't a teacher. But do carry on making an total arse out of yourself, by all means.

The fact is that there will be many jobs other people have no understanding or experience of and might not be able to do if they tried. However I don't think there is another job apart from teaching that so many people feel they can criticise with absolutely no experience.

define "professional". To me it just means someone that gets paid for what they do. if you think £17 an hour is "Little" then you and I clearly reside in very different worlds.

but when some of them moan about not being paid for holidays and the hours they do they immediately lose my support.

Who did that? Some posters corrected the point that teachers will now be on two weeks paid holiday, and explained how the hours are contracted to a poster who didn't understand.

Maybe too many teachers are idealists who find it difficult to be pragmatic and cope with the reality of working within a system? I know it's a massive cliche but I really do think we need more teachers who have worked in the private sector rather than just doing the whole school-university-school route.

You'd like me, then, fayrae. I didn't go into teaching until 29, after previously being a publican & music promoter. I'm all about the pragmatic. It's not necessarily incompatible with having the occasional ideal.

I don't think her swearing was necessary at all

Teacher people, just let people have their say on holidays. We know what we get and we know we probably get to actually have holiday for less than half of it. It's pointless defending our job as people don't respect it, so we might as well just nod and smile. I'm loving enjoying a Sunday for once and not being surrounded by marking and school work. We do get lots of holidays but it kind of gives back all the weekends we can lose!

And if people think it's a cushy job, then why don't they do it! We could do with more!

It's the same thing! If you are paid £21,000 a year it doesn't matter whether you are paid for the holidays or not. You're working x number of hours and being paid y amount of money. What difference would it make to anyone if they suddenly announced that teachers WERE being paid for holidays but their hourly rate was being decreased accordingly to compensate and they ended up with the exact same annual salary?

Did I say was? Read what's there, not what you think is there.

I shall carry on being an arse thanks.

if you think £17 an hour is "Little" then you and I clearly reside in very different worlds

It's already been explained that that figure is based on directed hours only.

Needaninsight. I agree. But swearing now seems compulsory. It's totally lost its effect because it is so overused. (But, as a cat's bum mouth I would say that wouldn't I?)

Parliamo, the caseworkers in my office earn £8.40/he but they're also expected to work outside of office hours and bank holidays including Christmas day. People with first class law degrees.

No idea what you are talking about, grimble - my last post to you quoted your post where you mistook the poet for a teacher.

If teachers were allowed to run schools themselves, what would they do? Would the pupils leaving school be any more prepared for life than they are now?

I agree kim All the reasons why I couldn't be tempted back to teaching.

Primary school teachers work an average of 60 hours a week. Secondary teachers slightly less.

This is from a DFE survey in 2013.

Details here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-workload-diary-survey-2013

I'm assuming you're being deliberately obtuse and not entering a discussion about what is professional or not.

Fwiw I don't think many teachers would argue with the fact that it is reasonably well paid. At the moment. It won't be for long with the fucking up that Gove has done. That is why teachers are striking.

And all that stuff about teachers having worked in the private sector stuff- in itself, not a bad idea, only having been in the education sector as pupil, student then teacher is not very healthy I'd agree. But as a teacher who has do e both was saying to me yesterday, it's not a case of public = bad, private = good, more a case of shit management is shit management.

I really, really hate the trenchant position that public is leftie wasteful lazy etc, private is dynamic, efficient and value for money.

What difference would it make to anyone if they suddenly announced that teachers WERE being paid for holidays but their hourly rate was being decreased accordingly to compensate and they ended up with the exact same annual salary?

It wouldn't in terms of take home pay, as a couple of us already explained. But it provides extremely useful flexibility that my HOD/HT can't suddenly demand that I spend the Easter fortnight working in school rather than catching up on my marking backlog/planning next term at home. which is a definite perk of the job!

Posters have corrected your misconception re: '13 weeks paid holiday' - no-one's denying that the weeks spent not in school are a key benefit of being a teacher.

More to the point, it certainly wouldn't make any difference to you. So I've no idea why it bothers you that our t&c are as they are! I don't care if your employer pays you weekly, monthly or in platinum-plated peanuts thrown at you constantly by a trained monkey called Kevin.

Is there any pointy in going over the same squabble over money/hours worked/holidays again and again? Has anyone mentioned INSET days yet?

All the facts are available with a quick google, yet somehow the same stuff gets turned up on every thread to do with teaching.
Non-teachers, if you are really happy with the system as it is, feel that your child is thriving and that we are building a bigger, better, socially more healthy society then I'd like you to talk about that.
How have the changes over the last decade turned our educational system into the leading light of the world that it is?
How do you see the new innovations and initiatives impacting on attainment?
If teachers are unhappy and leaving in their hundreds and thousands, does it matter if there is new blood willing and able to throw itself into the firing line?

5.6 weeks is still a lot less than 13 weeks that teachers have off

And a lot of people on 5.6 weeks (and many people get more, including TOIL) don't spend the hours working during the weekend that teachers do. You can't just compare the basic holiday entitlements.

I think there's a rule that it's INSET days on page 2, then unauthorised term-time holidays, then 'snow days' 50 posts after that.

I'm on supply, so I get paid a daily rate.
Obviously I don't get paid in the holidays, but I don't work in the holidays either. Nor do I do INSET days, parents' evenings or anything else at the HT's discretion.
Clarity and simplicity are my lifestyle choices now.