Public thinks teachers work fewer hours and are paid more than they actually are

[noblegiraffe]

The global survey of how society views teachers has found that people in the UK think that teachers work fewer hours than they actually do and are paid more than they actually are.

But interestingly, they think that teachers should be paid more than the pay they’ve overestimated.

So how much would they think teachers should be paid if they had an accurate view of the hours involved?!

Interestingly, support for performance-related pay for teachers has plummeted since the last survey 5 years ago, from about 3/4 support to 1/3. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to remove performance related pay.

www.tes.com/news/british-public-thinks-teachers-deserve-ps7500-pay-rise

work in general is paid very bizarrely - it doesn't always bear much relation to hours worked, effort, responsibility, skills, social value and so on.

@CuckooCuckooClock really? So my cohort who all started on between£22000 and £26000 per year and are all still sub £35000 are getting paid more than teachers?

For most classroom teachers yes you are correct.

Why should it be a race to the bottom? I think we should be striving for every one to have a good deal.

Lots of people are keen to become vets, it’s a highly competitive uni course to get onto.

Not so much teaching, in fact there’s a critical shortage and training places can’t be filled even when the government throws up to £30k at people to train in some subjects tax free.

Which is odd if teaching is such a cushy number.

@CuckooCuckooClock "I thought vets were more intelligent"
Wow - touchy and personal. Very nice. Always good to have an open and constructive debate without it turning unnecessarily bitchy.

My point was and still is not that teachers are over paid, have it easy etc etc, merely that, if you worked out your hourly rate over a year, taking into account unworked but paid hours off, you actually would find yourself not at all worse off than many other professions, and in many cases better off than others (NHS nurses for example).

Getting defensive and nasty serves no purpose.

Yes as usual no one is able to explain that are they noble
Teaching's such a cushy job yet no one wants to do it.

But Tropicana, this thread isn’t about other professions, it’s about the public thinking that teachers work fewer hours than they do and are paid more than they are.

The article says, despite that, they still don’t want their kids to become teachers. So they think teaching is a crap job even though they think it’s better than it actually is.

But you're wrong Tropicana
A teacher's hourly rate works out very low for someone with postgrad qualifications.

@noblegiraffe yes lots of people are keen initially, unfortunately professional burn out is high, with people leaving the profession in droves sadly after 3-5 years qualified, and vets having higher suicide rates than than the national average (4 times) and double that of doctors. Yes initial recruitment may be high but retention is a significant issue currently

@CuckooCuckooClock what is the hourly rate?

And sorry for the bitchy comment. Just I've heard it all before and the frustration gets the better of me. I apologise.

This particular thread was about teachers so I commented as such. I do a slightly different job now but I was an NHS nurse for many years. Nurses, especially band 5s are often hugely over worked and I also think underpaid for the huge amount of responsibility they have.

Even on my hardest days on the wards though I still thought teachers were over worked and would never do their job. I don’t see why we can’t strive for better working conditions for lots of different professions. Not accept it being shit for everyone.

I live in a hole and eat rocks for a living

Teachers don’t know they’re BORN

If a bunch of vets are leaving, then I’m surprised the DfE hasn’t set up a Vets to Teachers program. They seem to be trying everything other than improving retention rates to plug the teacher gap.

@Tropicana1 what's an average vet salary for those full time after about 20 years?

Many teachers will hit their high at about £30-35k. There is a crisis in funding primary school teachers and it's awful in secondary too. Watch BBC Schools programme.

Ds now teaches in FE and last September he hit the £30k barrier he had a promotion to subject co-ordinator.

College hours are 9am - 6pm so realistically he has to be in by 8.30-8.45 at the latest. Monday morning staff briefing at 8.30pm. Lunch is a snatched 20 mins if lucky.

I work for a construction firm. The basic working week is 38.5 hours, anything after 4.30pm is time and a half and weekends are double time. The plumbers, gas fitter & electricians are only on about £25k basic but most warm up to £30k with overtime. The managers are on a lot more. I myself work in accounts 9-5 and earn the same as dh for far less hours and less pressure.

Has anyone mentioned how utterly draining it is trying to be an amazing role model and the best person you can be when you are surrounded by 30 5 year olds who all want a piece of you. You can't just walk off or have a bad day.

@CuckooCuckooClock appreciate it. I understand, it's easy to be passionate about something and get frustrated.

My intention was never to turn this into an C vs Y type of thing - my original comment didn't even mention my profession I was just trying to make the point that being a member of a profession in general often leaves you feeling short changed and that isn't solely an issue that affects teachers. But then I got jumped on by people so felt I needed to defend myself with a comparison between our professions.

"How many teachers will miss their own children’s Christmas plays this year"
How may doctors, nurses bus drivers secretaries and cleaners etc will also miss their own children Xmas play. Lets not spoil an interesting thread by trying to make out that teachers have so so much harder than others.
As TooStressyForMyOwnGood says "I don’t see why we can’t strive for better working conditions for lots of different professions."

I think I get paid about £13.60 an hour.

I actually know a burnt out vet who became a teacher. Harder than she thought. She's not sure she's going to make it to the end of her nqt year.

@littlecloudling depends really if you're a partner / director in your own business or remain an employee. Also if you're a female vet after 10 years it's on average 18% less than male vets.
Average 10-20 year qualified vet who isn't a partner would be looking at £45000 on average. The maximum average employee ceiling would probably be £50000 for a woman £55,000 for a man (based on the SPVS salary survey for the profession last year)

happygardening that was in response to a pp saying it was family friendly. Full time teaching isn't particularly family friendly.

Almost every other profession has the flexibility to book annual leave to attend their children’s events. They may not be able to attend everything and might have to say well I went to the nativity play so I’ll have to give class assembly a miss but imagine never being able to attend anything at your child’s school.

@CuckooCuckooClock that's interesting - I definitely don't think it's an easy job and I'm sorry if that's the way I have come across (well, except primary school teaching)

• joking before I get lynched 🙃 made that mistake before with my friend who is a primary teacher

It’s also a profession where part time in senior roles is possible

I have worked in 5 primaries over 20 years and there has NEVER been a part time senior role. Going part time puts a pretty rapid ceiling on your career progression. Maybe it’s different in secondary, but I doubt it. I know of two secondary friends who had to give up their HOD roles when they went part time.
Time after M/L.

I can’t believe a post about the public perception of teaching hours has got sidetracked into what vets earn and how hard they work!

The thing with teaching, and I think it's something that could be addressed, is that the first few years are absolute killers.
You walk straight onto a job with no settling in period. You have to be on it all immediately.
That's tough. And can be soul destroying. In your first term you will teach 20 rubbish lessons most weeks and your line manager/SLT will scrutinise your mistakes with very little sympathy for the fact that you haven't got a clue what's going on half the time.