The number of negative assumptions about teachers motives, nit-picking over fine details of what they do and the general attitude towards seems to be really poor. They are held up to unusally high-standards and expected to do the impossible it seems.
Imagine the scenario, 30 children, one adult. Each child generates a small mountain of paperwork in the form of marking, reports, assessment and planning needs plus more. Each child has different needs, abilities, fears etc. You are under pressure to teach more hours than you have in the day (really, look up the required number of hours per subject per week, it adds up to more hours than there are in a school week). Average workload outside traching hours (if you do it all decently, but quickly)
- 2 hours per night marking books
- 1 hour a day collecting resources and preparing a class
- 2 hours each for literacy, planning, numeracy, foundation etc. per week
- half hour per day writing up lesson evaluations
- half hour per day with parents/ resolving issues from the day, sending collecting letters and homework feedack etc.
- one afterschool club plus tidying up and preperation/ waiting for kids to be collected 2 hours
That's a basic 58 hour week inc. the 6 hours teaching day.
Then throw in parents evenings/ report writing/ additional long term planning/ after school perfromances/ fetes/ events/ compeitions/ sports matchs/ meetings with outside services/ dealing with larger issues with families and children/ arranging special events or theme weeks/ liasing with outside professionals who come into school/ holiday clubs/ one to one tuition or extra free tutition and the million and one extras like carol concerts or parish events. Which can push the job into occupying every waking moment some weeks.
Then throw the needs of your own family.
Everyone is still shocked when your reports written at midnight have a few typos or you dont pick up or know about every child as well as their parents from memory. You get impromptu meetings where parents are outraged you don't know every level of the top of your head. Every slip of the tongue or small error is analysied to death. Every other year you may even be lucky enough to get a parents peition against you, normally over a misunderstanding (e.g. for banning books in the class was my favourite-I never did find out why they thought I'd done that). Parents gunning for a fight over a missing lunchbox/ coat/ glove, then no apology when it turns up at home or on a sibling.
AIBU to think a bit more courtesy toward teachers and an appreciation of them being human wouldn't go amiss? I've had a range of jobs, retail, law etc, and I've never been in ajob where so quick are people to attack. Even the national media has teachers and schools as a favourite gripe, rarely a week goes by where I don't see a report which boils down to saying teachers are either a bit thick/ lazy/ uncaring/ money-grabbing.
I really love working with kids and seeing the difference I can make, and I think I have done well by hundreds of children who have passed though my care. The constant, and increasing, habit of expecting teacher to be no less than saints is really pissing me off! It's huge factor as to why decent teachers leave the profession, often leaving ones who simply don't care/ can't find other work.