To feel the rage with “teacher tired” posts

[Rainbowsandglitterbullshit]

The season of teachers posting SM messages “no one knows tired like an end of term teacher/TA/dinner lady” is almost upon us.

I want to scream, what about the fuckers who work stupid hours all week and don’t get 6 weeks off in the summer, half term, two weeks Easter, two weeks at Christmas.

I wouldn’t be a teacher for all the tea in China but these people chose their career.

Grrr, actually don’t care if I’m BU.

@Likethebattle. But as others have noted put, it is a different kind of job. I worked for a fin tech startup that, in two years, became a huge success. Incomparable to teaching. Some Jon’s have a momentum that works for you. Teaching, bizarrely is the opposite. You are pushing a different mountain everyday with your hands tied behind your back and an incredibly narrow space to articulate everything from Shakespeare to Austen, behaviour, counselling, support, guidance and boundaries when you have 30 different children, every 45 minutes challenging you. Think about it.

mistressiggi
I agree.
There seems to be a lot of people on here who can't (choose not to) see that silly social media shares are just that and not some conspiracy where teachers actually believe they work 83 hours a day more than anyone else.

I also smile when friends share similar things about twins, or cross fit, or running, or am dram. They're just silly slightly amusing things that people in any given circle will laugh at.

Otherwise it get boringly competitive like when a trainee at work was crate training their new 8 week puppy and said they'd been up all night over the weekend, some misery guts pointed out that was ridiculous because a 22 trainee waking with a new puppy doesn't come close to their 2 children when one of them was ill and projectile vomited across the house and the whole weekend was a write off. I sat there thinking they were being a wanker.

@hanvicteacher nothing more stressful or exhausting than how my day stacked up. I get you’re exhausted but we all are.

I work very long hours in a hospital, but i would hate to be a teacher. I cannot imagine having to sit listening to 30 kids screaming every day, then their ott parents!

Full-time teachers plan and mark every evening. A diligent teacher might need to devote a significant amount of the evening for this, and if they have children, it’s a massive juggle.
They’re also performing to an audience (class) for much of the day and very often dealing with behaviour so they’re on high alert constantly. There’s no built in down time within this, apart from their few free periods.
That’s why they’re tired.

@Likethebattle

So you didn't have a break? Go to the toilet all day?

I would love to see you after a week with 30 10 yr olds

Likethebattle you undermine your own argument by saying we are all exhausted! Do you think there are no lifestyles out there that leave people quite happy and relaxed?
I saw a post on sm this week that had a parent saying how hard it would be to have the kids home for 6 weeks. Someone came on to tell her she should say that to "x" (parents of a murdered child ). So basically, don't ever complain, to anyone, and you will be fine.

@Likethebattle but did you have to do your job whilst looking after 30 children that change every 45 minutes? 150 in a day that you have to be tuned into? I did a presentation in a university setting not that long ago. I started talking and then paused to look around the room. Everyone was listening. I could feel the tension shift in me. In my mind, I kept waiting for a voice to interrupt me. Also the audience were receptive and not in, antagonistic mode. There wasn’t a testosterone fuelled wall to fight against. It is only once you are in other jobs you realise how intense teaching is.

I mean I get what you are saying about choosing their profession but come on, we all get tired and you can not compare. It’s all relative. I’m tired all the time, I have two children a partner and neither of us work. But it’s hard at times and we are tired. Yes we chose to have our children but we didn’t exactly choose the disability that came with one of them. Point is, compared to the teacher we have it easy but I can still have a little moan when I’m feeling overwhelmed.

@Davespecifico yes, I think it is the always ‘on’ which becomes default that is the most exhausting. A housemates bf was an actor for the RSC. He would be exhausted after a tour but he did say that there is a ‘release’ that teachers don’t get. Another hsemate was an actor/comic. High octane stuff but try doing that for longer than a few hrs. 2 seasons of his own show at Edinburgh and he packed it in.

Still for teachers to say they are more tired than anyone else is ridiculous

No teacher ever actually day this. They might become defensive and explain WHY they are tired and why to job is hard but it's normally as a reply to "you play with kids for 6 hours,have 13 weeks off paid so what do you have to moan about" type posts.

Also factor in the energy levels of young children/teenagers esp boys. I am sec but taught primary and early years. Can you imagine what it is like teaching 30 4 yr olds how to read? Every day with the phonics? Listening to 30 of them each day? Amidst everything else?

Someone say teachers only get paid for 195 days. Does this mean if your wage is 25k you only get 12.5k. Or is the 25k for 195 days work?

25k for 195 days

Thank you Ridley. In that case it doesn't matter much if you get for paid holidays, you still get the same annual salary as other professionals who work 331 days.

@BoneyBackJefferson a quick google will find you all the information you need. Perhaps look in the burgundy book.

A teacher is paid for 195 days work and statutory holiday pay is 28 days (I rounded it up to 30). It's not rocket science. Other than 5.6 weeks all the rest of the time is unpaid.

For TAs the advertised salary is pro rata for term time only usually. But for teachers the salary you see is what you get paid for term time only. For both the salary is spread out over 12 months.

You are presenting to disinterested and hostile crowds for hours on end. You have to be a police officer and authority figure, but are constantly responsible for the psychological wellbeing of your students as well. You can never have an off day because teens smell weakness. It is always loud, and it is louder on days you have a headache. There are (critical) eyes on you all the time. Your "customers" (parents even more so than students) are often entitled and your hard work is seldom acknowledged or rewarded. You often earn less than those with a similar educational background, and there are few opportunities for growth. Of course, none of these circumstances are unique to teaching, but the combination is why so few stay. So yes, I am fairly confident in saying that teaching is one of the most mentally draining jobs out there, and teachers deserve their holidays more than most. I've had a lot of different jobs, and this is certainly my experience. If you disagree, please become a teacher. We need you. I teach university now, which in terms of income and prestige is a lot better than teaching secondary school, but it really shouldn't be.

I beg to differ Fyette. Every job has challenges and stress. So until you have done every job under the sun you can't say one is harder or more challenging than another. Truth is nobody really gets what other people's jobs involve. What is a starting wage for a teacher anyway, I thought it was around 22k which isn't actually unusual for a graduate wage.

Every job has challenges and stress.

Sure, every job has challenges (even if sometimes that challenge is overcoming the boredom of not having enough work to do).

So until you have done every job under the sun you can't say one is harder or more challenging than another.

That makes no sense. Sure, I haven't had every job under the sun, but I have had quite a few very different jobs, and teaching secondary school was the most stressful and draining by far. Even if I had had only two jobs, I'd be able to say one is harder or more challenging than the other.

I'm all for understanding and compassion, and I will never dismiss someone feeling work stress in whatever position they're in. Circumstances always vary: difficult colleagues can make an otherwise cushy job a living hell. That doesn't mean we can't compare the intrinsic stress of different professions.

Saying that holidays are unpaid doesn't really help the case for martyrdom. £25k rising to £40k for a non year round job is pretty cushty.

Saying that holidays are unpaid doesn't really help the case for martyrdom. £25k rising to £40k for a non year round job is pretty cushty.

How do you explain the recruitment and retention crisis then?

I absolutely couldn’t teach nursery or be a childminder. However, their charges don’t write many 3000 word essays, which my sixth formers do... When do you imagine they get marked?
If it takes you 13 weeks of holiday to mark essays, you’re not doing it right.

Ah yes, the real world, where if you get sworn at, attacked, molested, sexually harassed etc. the person gets fired.

Sure, yeah that happens all the time. Bosses harassing staff are always fired. People are never bullied at work, no sir-ee, it’s stamped out every single time and the culprit is fired on the spot.

Have you ever actually worked (or known anyone who has) outside of a classroom? Have you ever read the many, many threads here about being people being bullied and harassed at work?

I alluded to this previously but to expand I think a lot has to do with increased numbers of graduates, most of whom aren't fit for anything like approaching a graduate job. Which teaching is, of course, but relatively easy to get into - 2.1 from anywhere will see you in. Having been rejected from everywhere else, they'll try it for a bit, realise you actually have to work and have a specific skill set, and then leave. This is what I see from the younger graduates around me coming out of ex polys who tbh aren't capable of much beyond basic admin but think they're worth more so head for a pgce.

*langkaw

Sorry but teaching in the summer term is like being at a drunk, angry wedding at the end of the night with the heating on full blast. You try to give a speech but no-ones listening as they're too busy fighting. You want to go home but instead you need to stand there for 8 weeks....*

This.