Teachers are being judged for their holiday!
It’s the summer holidays – which means six weeks of teachers having to defend the fact that they have six weeks off. But it’s not just the holidays; I find I’m frequently required to justify my job and the way I do it. There can’t be many other professions that are forced into this position so often. People can be incredibly narrow-minded when it comes to what is difficult about working in a school. I have spoken to those who can’t understand why standing up in front of a class might be difficult; other jobs involve giving presentations, after all. Some people simply refuse to believe that the new curriculum is as challenging as the one they studied, because they read an article about education being dumbed down. And then there’s the infuriating – not to mention incorrect and insulting – misconception that this is a 8.am to 5pm job. In fact, I often put in about 70 hours a week. I take my work home with me, physically and mentally. I kn...