I am not sure I agree that Teachers have absolutely exhausting jobs - much more so than most jobs - as said by man on r4 this morning

[RevolutionHere]

i am not sure what my dh, former welder would make of this statement

this is an argument regarding long summer holidays,

Respectfully OP you sound like you have no idea.

Teachers get blamed for behaviour of students, quality of work, results, sanctioning students, not sanctioning students, not reassuring parents, being too strict, they have to be aware of safeguarding flags, follow protocol when necessary, be there for students to talk to but , not say too much, not say too little, be aware of all their students needs/behaviours/any home or personal issues, deal with rude behaviour and also be present, teach, plan lessons and homework..!

They aren’t physically lifting rocks but the emotional juggle and mental somersaults are near constant.

There are a handful on this thread talking about doing just that though. I was surprised, a few people have spoken about working 30 years as though it’s a really long time. I’ve been working 22 years and have another 23 to go 😭 it’s not usual to only work 30 years.

I would have left teaching a long time ago if it wasn't for the holidays. They're the biggest perk.

🎶 It's the MOST WONDERFUL TIME of the YEAR 🎶

High five to fellow teachers! Hope you all have fab holiday plans. ☀️ 😎 🏝️

Cheers! 🥂 🍾

Yes, to be a teacher in the UK is absolutely exhausting! IN my home country a teacher does only 18-20h per week and is paid full-time wage. That includes 14 weeks of fully-paid holidays per year. Daily they teach for 3-5 hours and can go home. They moan a lot, though, and if they do, I tell them how good they have it.

This is the point surely.

NOT that not everybody is a teacher. But that almost NOBODY wants to be a teacher. Not even most teachers (who are stuck, because it's hard to transfer to something else).

If these amaaaaaaaaaaaaazingly long holidays were such a fab perk, and the job was no harder than any other job, surely there would be a waiting list of would-be applicants?

Our daughter’s wonderful teacher retired on Friday too, also after around 31 years and teaching so many of the local children - all I can say is that I’m sure it will be a huge loss to the school, but so richly deserved. Enjoy it! <3
The love and respect was palpable - there was hundreds of people gathered around clapping for her, lots of presents and hugs, tears… You give so much to a class/school and for such a long time. That’s honestly incredible! X

Yes it's exhausting but so are loads of other jobs.

I was a social worker and smiled as I passed all these students on the last day of term with bunches of flowers in hand for the teachers as they go off on their 6 week break.

Sorry but it really doesn't compare to other jobs.

It is a goady thread though…
At no point have I said teaching is the most exhausting job out there or the only exhausting job there is.

And I’m not a teacher. I’m a university lecturer who trains teachers and a governor at a primary and a secondary school. I’ve seen the profession from multiple perspectives and it is an exhausting job. It doesn’t have the monopoly on exhaustion but nobody said it did.

What's so hard and so impressive about welding? Genuinely interested as I don't really know what it involves

Teachers have authority? No one told some parents that!

Respect to you. Social work is incredibly hard and feeling the pressure of an underfunded system, just like education.

Don't make it a race to the bottom with this attitude. We all deserve better. Teachers holidays don't mean you have less holidays.

The thing is... different people find different things stressful. There are some people who will find the lack of flexibility and the sort of 'structured autonomy' inherent in teaching stressful, but others who will value that alongside the being part of a community. And the latter group would probably find, for example, that being a freelance writer or similar was stressful. Similarly, lots of people would find a job dependent on a high level of physical fitness and requiring significant physical exertion exhausting, whereas others would thrive on it. Some people cope well with the buzz of stressful situations because that's the way their brains are wired, others really couldn't deal with a high-pressured job where lives were at stake. One of my friends is a surgeon - he doesn't find it particularly stressful since he has confidence that he knows what he is doing and just does it. His personality is not particularly reflective (he is more of a doer) and he is fairly disorganized so I think appreciates having a job where he has shifts and where most things are organised for him and he largely just switches off when not on duty or on call. He'd struggle, I think, in an office job without that buzz and where the deliverables depended on significant interpersonal interaction.

I think teaching is a hard job, God knows I wouldn't do it! I worked in the NHS which is also stressful but we all have a choice of what stress we can deal with.

However, I do think there is a competitive misery among some of the teachers I know who have an attitude of being more stressed, more overworked and harder done by than anyone else.

I also think there are some teachers who are so determined to be miserable that they spread that to all around them. I have a close friend who did one of those "teacher training on the job" schemes and I was shocked at how unsupportive and unpleasant some of the qualified teachers were. In the NHS our trainees were well supported despite the job stresses whereas, when she asked for help or guidance, she would be met with rolled eyes and a sarcastic "Welcome to teaching". Of the 7 trainee teachers that year, only 3 went on to the NQT year and 1 of the 4 that left lodged a formal bullying complaint.

Someone upthread mentioned relatives who enjoy the job and say that, with planning, it is a great career. One of DD1's friends is like that, a very young HOY, loves the job and says she does not work extra hours at home as others claim.

Every job has it's physical and mental challenges for sure, but not in a million years would I be a teacher. The teaching part is probably really rewarding but the entitlement from some parents and unwillingness to address their own child's behaviour looks very stressful and not what you think about when you sign up to be a teacher. A welders job is probably more physically demanding but the mental load will be far less. Shout out to all the amazing teachers on here. Each and every one of you deserve a lovely break.

I agree with this! As per my previous post, GPs like me, teachers and social workers are some of the jobs that appear to be burning their staff out most quickly and are also jobs that the general public love to bash (this is part albeit not all of the problem). We should stick together and support each other as our jobs are hard and misunderstood.

I mean that’s been the conversation in the media over the last few days - getting rid of some of the holidays because of childcare.
I think we make the distinction because non-teachers talk about the holidays as if we’re paid to sit at home and do fa when we aren’t. Most teachers are working (unpaid) to catch up on the work we couldn’t do during our term. We also aren’t paid for the significant amount of overtime we do every week either and have to pay the inflated holidays parents are so mad about.
the inflexibility doesn’t sound like a problem until you can’t attend your best friends wedding because it’s on a Friday during term time. Or, true story, three of your grandparents have died in 5 months and you get an email saying you can only have half a day off (unpaid) for the funeral because it’s actually really disruptive for you to have another full day off for a funeral and couldn’t it be planned on a less full teaching day?
Pension wise it’s great, nobody is saying it isn’t? I don’t know many teachers (or any if I’m honest) who have retired before 60.
Feel free if you think the benefits outweigh the cons to become a teacher, there’s a recruitment crisis at the minute so you’d be welcomed with open arms.

I was a teacher and left the profession when my eldest child was 2. I did find it exhausting, especially having to take so much work home with me.

My job now has longer hours in work, but u get to leave it in the office at the end of my shift

Happy well-deserved summer holidays to all the teachers out there!

People like to forget that time when they had to homeschool their very own children and they were up in arms about it. Teachers have all my respect because they deserve it.

I could not do your job in a million years. I’d either end up catatonic in a corner or arrested. I can barely handle the stuff I deal with in school.

Haven't RTFT.

Teaching 28 children while ensuring that they are supported in many unrelated areas would be absolutely exhausting.

That's without the annoying parents, ridiculous deadlines, sickness bugs, head lice, cheeky children.

I'd say most jobs have less of an impact, physically and emotionally.

Doesn’t work at home? How does she plan, mark, forward plan, line manage (as a HoY) when she’ll only have about 2-3 hours per week in school when she isn’t teaching? Some teachers (and I say this as someone with 35years’ experience) seem to do way more than I’d be prepared to but it is totally impossible not to do quite a lot at home.

I’m not saying my job is harder than others, but it is exhausting. I leave my house every morning around 7:30 and very rarely get home before 6

I mean, that timescale is just… modern professional working life, isn’t it?

I’m only at my computer now because I’m catching up on some admin before work tomorrow. I’ll leave for work tomorrow before you and return home much later than you.

And I am absolutely not pretending that your job is not enormously stressful. I couldn’t do it. I guarantee that my time at work tomorrow won’t be as always on as yours. No-one will shout at me or swear at me. I will have about half my day where I am in a high pressure, client-facing mode, but about half the day where I can gather my thoughts, work on my own, manage my own time. I understand that this is not possible when you have that intense 9-3 of “chalkface” time, plus meetings and prep and marking and admin on top. I am not doubting your fortitude or your exhaustion.

But I will have a week off this August and my teacher relatives have six.

OP hasn't mentioned that the person she quotes from the radio also said that holidays were a factor in teacher recruitment and retention.
But my all means get rid of the biggest selling point of teaching as a career!