Bored of teacher friend banging on about how hard her job is

[JustACog]

Friend's a teacher and I'm tired of the chat about how her job is harder/longer/more stressful than everyone else's.

Almost every conversion now gets round to her moaning about how much she's overworked how much time she spends marking or planning. I do believe there is a lot of work involved in teaching and it's not a job I could do but I'm fed up of it being laid on thick. Fed up of the martyrdom around the sacrifice she's making for the children

CF said to me that I'm lucky to have my job (nurse full time shifts in A&E) as I just get to switch off when I leave and she's on the job from dawn to dusk.

AIBU to call her out on this, really feeling like I'd like to ask her what she really thinks other people do that's so much easier than teaching.

@Downton57

And yet you ping me, are you one of the perpetual victims of being a teacher, add in how underrated you are and how hard the workload is whilst still ignoring why the media machine isn't pumping out articles of ex teachers changing careers and making bank in the private sector.

Teachers have been moaning about their conditions for generations, to still try and pull the 'uneducated' card is not only ironic but shows the deep down 'I'm alright jack thinking'

Must admit, the not getting paid for holidays thing confuses me.

A grad teacher starts on ~£24.5k. Assuming that's not for hols then this covers 195 working days out of 365 days.

A grad something else starts on £xxx and that's for 260 days (20 hols, 8 publics and 232 working days all paid for) out of 365

Pro rata-ing the grad teachers salad on starting to that of their peers in other professions means a comparative salary in the order of £32.6k

Is this right? Seems like a good deal

You either get paid amazingly for your time in class, or like the rest of us the wages are a bit shit for a full year of public service.

But not both......

Salary not salad!

1Morewineplease
(Yes... I work in a school.)

Makes me wonder how you can work there and now so little about the people that you work with.

JustACog

It was explained up thread, but I suppose that its fun to come back and prod the thread again.

We get 28 days paid holiday (this info can be found on the unions websites). The rest of the time is not paid. The annual salary is split over the 12 months.

Here we go with the "but I don't understand... Can someone please explain... I'm not goading honestly"
🍿

If teachers really don't get paid for holidays (they do of course in that they have a wage every month) then they get £30k for working two thirds of the year. Not really selling the overworked martyr image tbh.

This is for Scotland, but I gather a similar idea in rUK -
A full time teacher is employed for 195 days - 190 pupil days and 5 in-service. There are 40 days of paid leave with the rest of the holidays being deemed "closure days" with no payment
You might view them as anti-social holidays in a way - a great length but zero flexibility and always the most expensive time for travel. So not a direct equivalent with having the same amount of time to take but at your discretion. Certainly a big reason why (even) more of us do not leave the profession.

I despair.................a year is 365/366 days. How is this not understood?

@Justanotherlurker I’m not sure I’m entirely following your point but you do know teachers are leaving the profession in droves don’t you? Not necessarily for higher paid jobs but for different jobs. That the media isn’t reporting this doesn’t make it any less true.

I’m a teacher. She sounds like a knob. It’s not a competition.

This in spades. Both jobs are hard. I'm a teacher but I have spent a LOT of time in hospitals lately, and I could not do a nurse's job for love nor money.

TimeAfterTimeAfter

All teachers get paid £30 K even the ones that have only just started?

You really must do better.

worcestersauce29

Its probably not understood for the same reason that you don't understand teachers contracts.

@TimeAfterTimeAfter we’re desperate for teachers - please come and join us!

I'm totally goading now, wasn't in the beginning but what the hell now, if I'm going to be accused of it I might as well have the fun of doing it.

And 195 + 28 days for 24.6k salary still make grad teachers and presumably those in experienced roles very well paid for a public sector job

*teachers'

One of my friends is a nurse ( not A & E ) She has been in the job for years and is fairly senior. She complains about it ALL the time - short of staff, stupid doctors, stupid patients - she's had time off for stress but won't consider any other role. We've been friends for decades but l find her really draining. I absolutely couldn't do her job but she sounds like she really hates it - if you suggest a change she says she can't. I don't know what to say! I know she needs to vent but it does my head in - she goes on about the pointlessness of treating old people and how shortsighted the doctors are to refer them - my parents are in their 80's, what the fuck am l supposed to say to that? "Yeah, better to just let them die then everyone can go home early?" I love her but l wish she'd get another job, this one is eating her alive.

"CF said to me that I'm lucky to have my job (nurse full time shifts in A&E) as I just get to switch off when I leave and she's on the job from dawn to dusk. "

I don't believe she said this at all, but nice touch to really stir things up to bash teachers (and i'm not a teacher) 👏🏻

Got to be honest I am a teacher myself and I have a teacher friend that does the same thing; it does my head in! Always lists to me all her to do list as if I dont have one . I think it's a personality thing not a teacher thing.. I have plenty of teaching friends who don't do this.

@SpaghettiSharon I wouldn't fit in with the culture. Can't stand whingers.

JustACog

There was a thread on new years days started by a "teacher". with all manner of bollocks including that teachers moan about their pay.

Some no doubt do, but most of us are actually happy with it.
(apart from the same reasons that others are not happy, pay freezes, below GDP pay rises etc.)

TimeAfterTimeAfter
Can't stand whingers.

The irony.

You are being unreasonable. Her job is much harder than the jobs of most.

OP I totally agree with what you are saying.

A NQT on £24.5k PA as a total salary including the ‘unpaid holiday’ (so ‘part time hours’).

A NQ nurse on bottom band 5 is paid just under that at £24.2K for full time hours.

So yes, pro rata a NQT does get paid well; I guess the problem is more that they don’t have the opportunity to actually earn this ‘full time salary’ to achieve it.