...do teachers really work that hard?

[User298895613]

I know the general idea on AIBU is that teachers work load is ridiculous, that they work extra hard and that they never never stop to the point that they r all seemingly leaving the profession.

But, AIBU to wonder if they are any different to anyone else? and actually might have it a bit easier? I mean, I also work myself into the ground, am exhausted, never stop etc... But I don't have summer holidays off to look after my kids, and I often work well into the small hours at night.

I'm not saying teachers don't work hard, but sometimes on munsnet I just feel like some teachers kind of spend a lot of time complaining about the workload, when maybe it's just the same as everyone elses, but with a nice long summer holiday?

(Sorry, I appreciate this will really inflame some posters, but it just had been annoying me lately)

Yawn. Another thread targeted at teachers. Yes, we work bloody hard. My husband is on 3 times my salary and admits I work double the amount he does.

Differentiation by providing different tasks seems to be finally getting the kicking it deserves.

Did you see the Simpsons clip on it? 25 years old.

How are the bottom end of the class going to catch up by doing easier work.

Bart had a fair point.

I love it when Edna Krabappel is nominated for a teacher's award and the prize is enough money so you never have to teach again

God that would be brilliant 🤣

I still harbour an ambition to set up a school when I win the Euromillions. One run on common effing sense.

Our NQT who is hanging on by a thread creates powerpoints and worksheets for each lesson with 3 sets of differentiated questions. I keep whispering in their ear that it’s not necessary because actually I’d quite like them to still be teaching next year.

Back when I did my PGCE it was laminated card sorts.

It’s like every time some stupid timewasting idea gets binned, another one takes its place.

Oh yes!

It'll all go the same way as VAK, brain gym and the rest of that utter guff.

I'm a big fan of cutting out all the crap now. Focus on the skills, and the resulting learning. Test it. Retest it later on, see what's stuck.

Back when I did my PGCE it was laminated card sorts

Anyone remember loop cards?! What a pile of crap!

Oh god yes.

The HOURS wasted on shite to please Ofsted/HOD/Uni

We need to be far less willing to accept this as a profession. Stand up for simple, good teaching.

I quit teaching 30 years ago but 'work' voluntarily at small local primary school at least one day a week since I retired. Teachers work very, very hard and are on-task the whole day. No sneaking off for a smoking break, no having a coffee whenever you fancy it, no chatting round the water dispenser. No going to the toilet if you need to: you have to wait till break time. Then there's planning, marking, after school meeting etc. Teachers are AMAZING!

Primary teacher here... I work 8am -6pm each day and then around 3-5 hours on a weekend usually. Slightly more hours per week than I did in my previous career (commercial industry) but the holidays definitely make up for it! Plus I'm much happier in this job despite earning less. Prioritisation is key if you don't want the work to take over. Overall I think I have a good work-life balance.

I hope people do work harder than me because most of the people that I went to university with earn more than me and I don't want to be the sucker that works harder than everyone else.

There are definitely times when my husband works harder than me but he is doing that because he gets cold hard cash bonuses. When I work long hours it means I don't go onto a support plan. That is a slight exaggeration because I don't think that my school would put me on a support plan because nobody else want my job. My husband and who works in the private sector is left to get on with the job- he is shocked at the scrutiny I am under.

Most days i work between 6 and 7am.
I then answer my emails on my phone on the way into work between 8 and 8-15am and them work straight threw until 6pm. I only stop to wee. I will then do on average another 3 hours at night between 9pm and midnight - at peak times I will do a bit longer or get up at 5am to start.

I also work about 4-5 hours on a weekend.

I have a packed life outside of school and so at least once a week I will be working way past midnight so I can have some kind of non teaching activity in the week.

On a Friday I stop work at 6pm.

So in an average week I do just over 70 hours. I take a lot of shortcuts and so know many teachers work more than me.

I do very little over the holidays but I will do some planning. I also do a lot of background reading in the holidays.

As much as I don't want to be the person who works the longest hours I hope there are not many more people who routinely work 70plus hours a week for long stretches. It is quite frankly a shit way to live and explains why teachers are leaving in droves

I've just finished for the night. No i am not finished but i need sleep. And yes I do think people in other jobs work bloody hard. It's just very rare that other jobs get publicly scrutinised by so many different parties. I also don't know of any friends in other jobs who quite literally have to justify every single move they make, including breathing, to appease said parties.

Oh and my first opportunity for a wee today, after leaving house at 7.15 was 2.47 this afternoon....

I can go from leaving work at 7am to coming home at 7pm without a wee.

I left teaching last summer after five years.

The advantages are that I now leave at the house at somewhere around 8.00am. I used to leave at 6.30am.

I get home round about 6.15 pm. Not much of a change there. Apart from parents' evenings I used to get home about 6.30pm.

Everyone I meet during the day is civil. Big change from the disruptive elements every school has.

I have an hour's break for lunch every day. A new experience.

I work most evenings, about 30 minutes to an hour to catch up on emails and forward plan. Massive change from the three to four hours marking and planning I used to do.

I don't get the long holidays anymore (not quite as generous as they seem because of planning and revision classes), but on the other hand I get two totally workfree days EVERY weekend. No more marking or planning on Sundays.

It's bliss. I will never go back to teaching.

I took my son out for tea this evening and to buy some clothes and we did not get home until gone 8pm. I left work at 6pm. Because I did not start work until 9:30 I have had to work until 1:30 in the morning. i need to get up at 5am to mark some A level essays. I will be in work until 6pm tomorrow and will be bringing a few hours worth of work home.

This is why I am looking to teach abroad.

I have just spotted my awful spellings and grammar on my post below. I expect to be told that I am clearly a bit thick. in reality I am very unwell and struggling to string together anything coherent.

The art/science of teaching and what works lacks consensus. A lot of the work teachers do is not contributing effectively to children’s learning. A lot of teachers know what works but have to do things that they know are suboptimal in order to please their hierarchy.

Fucking hell im applying for that also graduate scheme! Been working on accountancy for 20 years and that’s about what I get (big 4). - totally misses point of thread!

The holidays don’t make up for the workload.
If you would like to try it for a day you can have my job after the week I’ve had!! No one is saying other jobs don’t involve hard work but teaching is poorly paid for the first 7 years for the abuse you get. From kids and the public!! And the holidays tend to coincide with exams so it’s a case of look you have a week ‘off’ to mark these 200 exams. Oh yeah and at my school your told your not allowed to actually go on holiday in the week off/two week ones as we are expected to go in. How many jobs give you work to take home in your time off and it’s totally accepted. And when you do go away it’s 2x the cost.

Oh yeah and not being able to go the toilet. All day. I miss having a wee when I need one....

Mum DM was a teacher in the 1980s.

We had friends who were teachers in Germany. They worked about half the hours for double the pay.

DM was constantly ill and bad tempered when she was a teacher. The moment she switched to a new career, we got her back.

Im a teacher and I just don't understand why you are all working evenings and weekends. Do you not have a working time agreement? We do

Would I be working ridiculous hours for no extra pay? Would I buggery.
I always suspect there's a bit of martyrdom on these posts. Working hundreds of extra hours surely means you are not being efficient and good at your job? 🤔

I think they work hard for sure, but not harder than most other professions.