More teacher strikes

[Nitefly]

Just saw this on the Beeb.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-27100733

The bit that caught my attention was this:

TEACHERS' WORKING HOURS

The Department for Education gathers an annual survey of teachers' term-time working hours

• Primary classroom teachers: 59.3 hours per week
• Secondary heads: 63.3 hours per week
• Secondary classroom teachers: 55.7 hours per week
• Much of this work was out of school, either before 8am, after 6pm or at weekends
• Primary classroom teachers worked 23.8 hours per week out of school
• Secondary heads worked 21.5 hours per week out of school

Like everyone else from the private sector universe, I can't help but be slightly skeptical over these claims... those are, relatively, pretty long hours. I assure you though, they could be a lot worse *cries*.

Three parts to this thread then:

1. Do teachers really work that hard during term time? Input from all experiences welcome!

2. Do teachers get a bad deal overall? I'd say they get a fair deal. I can imagine it being quite a tricky job at times. The pay isn't too modest and they get an astonishing amount of holiday. Even then, whilst their pension contribution does cut substantially into their paycheck, they get a much better contribution from the government than most private employers. So overall, not great, not bad. Fair. Do it if you have a passion for it.

3. Is striking the best way to go about it? I haven't put much thought into this one so I'll reserve judgement for now.

Post your thoughts!

 

[Nitefly]

Do they get a fair deal? I don't know, I haven't done the maths, but you also need to remember that to be a qualified teacher you need a degree and a post graduate qualification. That needs to be factored into the pay analysis.

What do you mean by that? I don't think going to university should necessarily give you any pay boost.

 

[Nitefly]

Yes, and the law profession rewards that time and effort in the salary they have.

It doesn't quite work that way in practice, because without the good fortune of having a training contract, you have a ceiling that you would have to bust your bum off to pass.

To undertake an LPC without sponsorship or a guaranteed job lined-up is a serious gamble in this climate IMO. The University of Law seem to be doing quite well out of it mind...

 

[Nitefly]

Cheers for all the replies and stories - it's been interesting reading. Lots of different views!

 

[Nitefly]

And is one of the major reasons the NUT want to strike they want it reinstated and any attempt to link performance to pay ended.

It's kinda hard to judge performance though. Get given crappy kids and crappy parents... good luck :/

 

[Nitefly]

Which is why you build a balanced performance management model. A pure results or pure improvement model won't work, but then they don't really work anywhere, so that doesn't make teaching a special case.

Of course, saying it is possible doesn't mean they'll actually get it right, because it requires careful design and managing pressure of vested interests from all directions (I including employees, management, unions etc), but it certainly could be done. Rates available on request

I don't see how it could work effectively without yet more administrative burdens.

The nature of the beast I suppose.

 

[Nitefly]

Some teachers do this.
A good teacher works very hard. I just found there were more bone idle ones who don't do the above.

To be fair, if I was only being paid ~£30k, I wouldn't have much incentive to work those hours (assuming those hours are working and not 'go home, cook, watch eastenders and mark whilst browsing OCUK)'.

 

[Nitefly]

Most get around 35-45 days off but they obviously have to be booked for times when holidays are at their most expensive

That is a really annoying sub-point as it assumes everyone in the private sector can afford to go abroad regardless.

 

[Nitefly]

Or, and here's and idea, become a teacher?

Haha, a fair point

 

[Nitefly]

I would say that the majority of people educated to the same level as a teacher can afford to holiday abroad. And I never said anything about going abroad.

True.

 

[Nitefly]

Some interesting comments from my housemate today, who is a cover supervisor (a.k.a. an internal supply teacher). He thought that teachers should be well reimbursed on the basis that we need good teachers to benefit the public. Nobody likes the thought of crappy teachers in school giving children a poor education. Pay more money, better teachers.

Interesting!

On the other hand... damn!!!!!!!!! That is crazy good

https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/members/the-scheme/active-teacher/how-much-do-i-pay-in.aspx

Maybe I should be a teacher.