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,

Hugh respect for teachers!

my mother was a teacher… I saw how hard she worked! She still in touch with her students. There is great deal of respect for teachers in my household.

no disrespect for teachers coming from me

And you feel you can speak so confidently about this because …

Then why post this thread?

Why won’t you say what your job is ?

I don't teach, but I work in education. The days I have "taught" I am absolutely bloody exhausted, because standing up in front of a group of disengaged young people and getting them to listen to what you have to say is a full on performance that I couldn't keep up beyond the odd day here and there. I'm not sure how much you'd have to pay me to teach to be honest. Give me my cushy desk job any day!

It's mentally exhausting in that you are never off. Your brain is permanently in teacher mode. You have a code of conduct for in ab and out of work. You have safeguarding responsibilities in and out of work. However I don't think it's the most exhausting or demanding job ever. I do think it's underpaid and the holidays are one of the only things keeping people teaching.

I’m a hospital doctor. It’s pretty exhausting.

However. Ive got two close family members who are high school teachers. I actually think, on balance, they have it worse than me.

it is not relevant.

If he said more exhausting than most other jobs, I think he's right. He didn't say more exhausting than every other job. I'd rather do just any anything than teach. I have tons of respect for them, doing a job I could never do.

It’s that time of year when people who haven’t got a clue go ‘oh teachers and their holidays …’
Happens every year

because there are other jobs more exhausting imo

I think teaching is exhausting and far more exhausting than many, many jobs but I think its a bit naive to go on radio and say 'most jobs' as it invites comparison and competition and noone wins. Who wants the most exhausting job in the world. I dont..

Yes it is, you’ve got an opinion on my job so what’s yours ? Why the reluctance ?

I would say it's exhausting - most jobs have an off hour or two when you are eg reading stuff, writing stuff, walking to somewhere. Stuck in front of a class there's no escape.

what is mumsnet for, if it isnt for opinions?

It’s not a race to the bottom. Most definitely teaching is not more challenging or stressful than lots of others jobs but it would be nice to value all roles and support staff to have the best work life balance possible for all our chosen profession/roles. Which doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be accountable by benchmarking and having metrics against performance. That’s incredibly important in lots of areas. Not only teaching and absolutely should still happen and employees be supported to achieve and managed where it’s proven unachievable.

DH works in a warehouse. He walks c. 50k steps a day, in steel toed boots on a concrete floor. He does rotating shifts 6am-2pm / 2pm-10pm / 10pm-6am.

im a senior strategic advisor. I have to make really important decisions, often in an ambiguous context, balancing different priorities and objectives. I have to think quickly and decisively even when I’ve not got all the information I’d like to have.

ds works in a supermarket. People are vile to him. And it’s dirty and gross.

dd is waitressing over the summer. Hangry people are mean and rude.

I can conclude that working is hard. It’s all exhausting and pressured and demanding.

thanks teachers for all you do. Also thank you to everyone else who provides the services and structure that supports our day to day lives.

Now let’s stop arguing and support each other ✌️

because you are asking unnecessary questions.

I’m an ex teacher and it is exhausting. It’s the type of profession where you are never ‘off’, from the minute you walk into the building until you leave there is no head space, no quiet time, no proper break or lunch, even going to the loo is difficult. Imagine giving 5 hour long presentations everyday back to back where not everybody present wants to listen or engage but if you don’t make sure they do then you’re not doing your job. Now imagine that you’re also responsible for everyone of those people having full understanding and progressing their knowledge to a point they can sit tests in what you’ve been telling them about. And if they don’t do well, it’s your fault. After 5 hours of back to back presentations you have to have the work that people have done, you then need to use this to plan 5 more hours of presentations and you need to make sure you cover stuff they didn’t quite get but you can’t fall behind as they won’t be ready for their test on time.

Do this for hours a week and then also have no breaks, have no proper lunch, supervise the people at all times, also respond to emails and phone calls, also mark the work, also split up fights, also check they’re not being neglected or abused, plan some assemblies too and deliver these, stay until 8pm for parents evenings and open evenings, attend staff meetings, plan some trips and visits, get exam entries in, performance manage other staff, get in touch with parents, shop for supplies, sort out friendship issues, stop people smoking where they shouldn’t be, make sure you’re ready for an inspection, contact social services, contact the police, organise prom, etc

Then have 5 days off where you catch your breath as it’s half term (and work on all the things you didn’t have time for) then do it all again for 7 or 8 weeks.

It’s an exhausting job (as are others).

Teacher pay was never the issue for me, it was the lack of flexibility and the expectation that you did more and more with not enough hours in the day.

I don’t think the day of a welder is comparable but I’m sure it’s still a hard job.

But not informed opinions clearly …

Is being a welder mentally exhausting? Because teaching is.

I’ve had many jobs over my lifetime but teaching was by far the most exhausting.

As an example, when I worked in marketing I had to do a lot of presentations, and had time in between for preparation, analysis etc. In teaching, it’s like all day every day is a long presentation, and all the preparation and analysis happens after work.

I completely agree that teaching is more exhausting than most jobs, I’m not a teacher but have friends who are and I totally acknowledge that they have it harder than pretty much everyone else I know. Spending all of your time & patience around children at school, can’t have an off cba day because your class needs your best self, no real breaks between yard duty/lunch duty/coat room duty, the expectation of 30 sets of parents that you’ll pick up on each and every little thing about every child as if you are their 121 tutor, SLT breathing down necks, and then just as they
”finish” for the day it’s time to start marking, lesson planning etc.

I would hope people wouldn't rise to this latest teacher bashing thread.