...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)

Left for work at 6.45 this morning home at 8pm this evening. So much to do no time. Taught all day supervised pupils at break and lunch, had an after School meeting till 5 then had to write up todays behaviour incidents and sort lessons for tomorrow. My marking still needs doing as do end of term assessments, data drops and mid term plans. I'm exhausted and it's slowly destroying me.

I think it was Lou who was called a knob end wasn’t it?

*pushed

Colly - I didn't call you a knob end. I said the children in my class aren't knob ends. No name calling from me

Sorry I thought it was aimed at me.

As usual there's more than one 50p gone in the troll slots on these posts.

Fellow teachers, go forth to your pile of marking. Preferably with a cuppa and a pack of biscuits. Year 9 tests are on my knee as I type.

Let those who know our jobs better than us carry on, they do a perfectly good job of making planks of themselves without us. Leave them to it.

It's nearly half term. At least then we can catch our breath and catch up a bit then.

Ok. In which case it was Lou who wasn’t called a knob end 😂😂

It wasn't, Smile

Teachers' hours are notoriously hard to ratify as it is self reporting. Teacher Tapp did some interesting work on this recently and teachers did tend to (marginally) over report hours. Not because they were lying but just because memories were hazy and because there's no concept of overtime. There are also grey areas over lunch times which aren't paid, , but teachers report they are working, commuting times, and time between school ending and a parents' evening, for example. But, whatever, the actual truth, and for whatever reasons, UK teachers are working more hours than they do in any other developed country (and then in most LEDCs).

stop I’ve just had to reread the last two paged to work who wasn’t a knob end.

It’s harder to follow than a pile of yr 8 narratives!

marple, already half term here!!

pages and work out

Ffs.

When I was doing my PGCE I remember a tutor telling us that we should make a pact with ourselves about working hours. She suggested that after school we should make an effort to work EITHER 5-8 or 8-11 each weekday evening, and then to make sure that we ONLY worked one weekend day and ONLY 4-6 hours.
She was right, these are pretty much the hours I needed to work throughout my ten years in teaching. I also used to get in at 7am each day, 7.30 at the latest, then would be doing after-school stuff until 4pm.

So a 66 hour working week if I was careful and stuck to those times. I once worked out that if I did everything that I was asked to do I would be working a 90-hour week (by this point I was head of department).

Unsurprisingly I left teaching.

That PGCE tutor would get a piece of my mind.

I wonder if we petition MNHQ we could get them to alow us to colour code the goady fuckers on threads.

A slight coding change would mean that we could transfer the colours from thread to thread.

What is actually hilarious about this feed is that none of the “non teachers” have actually said we don’t think teachers work hard. We all agree you do, it’s just that maybe teachers are the most vocal about their gripes. Then the “teachers” have replied by trying to prove how busy they are, they are all ‘marking’ as they type, they have critised the non teachers for their spelling and intelligence. It’s made me a bit sad really, I can’t even got on your side when I’m trying because your so defensive.

By the way the your was intentional 🙈

Colly1616
What is actually hilarious about this feed is that none of the “non teachers” have actually said we don’t think teachers work hard.

What is funny is that you haven't RTFT or you would know that that isn't true.

Colly, if you're doing a Master's, you really need to sort out this your/you're business. Spellcheck won't help with that one.

*You’re 😂

Was the "critised" intentional too?

Any late joiners? A summary:

Non-teacher begins a goady thread about teachers not working hard.

Bunch of other non-teachers wade in saying they work as hard as teachers and therefore teachers don’t work hard.

Usual comments about 9-3 and loads of holidays etc

Actual teachers patiently posting about what the job is like eventually get pissed off with being goaded.

Non-teachers respond by suggesting teachers are all angry and bitter and should go and do something else because of their obvious unhappiness with their jobs.

HTH.

Someone earlier did point out that teaching is a very large body of people and so they appear vocal because of the numbers.

I am definitely not marking. It is lying abandoned, unloved and unwanted on my dining room table. It will stay there for a while, looking at me with its doe eyes every time I go in the room. And then I will throw it all in the bin eventually do it. I am protecting my occupationally induced bad back, shoulders and neck is my excuse.

FFS look at the OP.

Is it any surprise people get defensive?

Shall we start a "lawyers are lazy money grabbers" thread? Or maybe a "firefighters: sitting on their arses most of their shifts" thread?

No. Because that's not fair or true.

So why start one on teachers? It's constant nitpicking criticism and makes people wonder why the hell they bother.

And yes I genuinely am marking. It's just effing dull and I'm therefore looking for distraction. I make no apologies for procrastinating at 9:25pm