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 know we are not the only profession working these sorts of hours, but do others have to justify themselves as much? I have complete admiration for all members of the public sector who are working flat out. But I’m almost jealous that they don’t have to face accusations that their job is easy, that anyone could do it or that their breaks are undeserved.
So, a question: at what point do I actually deserve a holiday? When I worked a solid month without a day off? When I stayed up for two nights straight at school on a “sleepover” to get children prepared for a residential? Or only when I was so ill that I ended up in hospital?
As it happens, I am not spending the six weeks away from school sunning myself in Ibiza with endless cocktails (although it would be OK if I was, because I deserve it). Instead I took a couple of weeks off to let my body recuperate and feel human again, and then I started working.
For the uninitiated, this time is when a lot of teachers move classrooms, make our learning environments look enticing and plan what we’re going to teach next year. I’ve spent lots of time this week working on my room and resources for September. Some people will argue that I shouldn’t be working this many hours during the holidays, but this is what I need to do to feel like I’m hitting the ground running. I don’t mind doing it – in fact, I actually quite enjoy it. That still doesn’t stop my jaw dropping in disbelief when I hear what people have to say about our holidays.
But teachers can be just as bad when it comes to judgment. I keep seeing Tweets and Facebook statuses from others in the profession saying that they are feeling guilty about how little work they are doing over the summer. Why? It’s your holiday!
I’ve also seen teachers criticising fellow staff for working. Again, why? Lots of people find it incredibly hard to turn off their “teacher brain” and I’m definitely one of them. During term-time, I am constantly thinking about school, the children I teach and what I can do to make education even better for them. So, it’s no great surprise that I can’t just switch off for the summer break.
I know there are some teachers who do manage to disconnect completely during the holidays – some because they have to, rather than because they want to – and I completely support that. I have made the choice to do some work during the holidays, and that’s OK, too.
We need to stop making teachers feel guilty. To the naysayers: you should trust that if I say I’ve worked hard and deserve some time off, I do. To my peers getting angry about my summer preparation: this is my choice, as a professional, and I refuse to be made to feel bad about it.
In the words of the great PERSON, if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
This is one of the lessons we try to teach children and it’s one we would all do well to follow.
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 know we are not the only profession working these sorts of hours, but do others have to justify themselves as much? I have complete admiration for all members of the public sector who are working flat out. But I’m almost jealous that they don’t have to face accusations that their job is easy, that anyone could do it or that their breaks are undeserved.
So, a question: at what point do I actually deserve a holiday? When I worked a solid month without a day off? When I stayed up for two nights straight at school on a “sleepover” to get children prepared for a residential? Or only when I was so ill that I ended up in hospital?
As it happens, I am not spending the six weeks away from school sunning myself in Ibiza with endless cocktails (although it would be OK if I was, because I deserve it). Instead I took a couple of weeks off to let my body recuperate and feel human again, and then I started working.
For the uninitiated, this time is when a lot of teachers move classrooms, make our learning environments look enticing and plan what we’re going to teach next year. I’ve spent lots of time this week working on my room and resources for September. Some people will argue that I shouldn’t be working this many hours during the holidays, but this is what I need to do to feel like I’m hitting the ground running. I don’t mind doing it – in fact, I actually quite enjoy it. That still doesn’t stop my jaw dropping in disbelief when I hear what people have to say about our holidays.
But teachers can be just as bad when it comes to judgment. I keep seeing Tweets and Facebook statuses from others in the profession saying that they are feeling guilty about how little work they are doing over the summer. Why? It’s your holiday!
I’ve also seen teachers criticising fellow staff for working. Again, why? Lots of people find it incredibly hard to turn off their “teacher brain” and I’m definitely one of them. During term-time, I am constantly thinking about school, the children I teach and what I can do to make education even better for them. So, it’s no great surprise that I can’t just switch off for the summer break.
I know there are some teachers who do manage to disconnect completely during the holidays – some because they have to, rather than because they want to – and I completely support that. I have made the choice to do some work during the holidays, and that’s OK, too.
We need to stop making teachers feel guilty. To the naysayers: you should trust that if I say I’ve worked hard and deserve some time off, I do. To my peers getting angry about my summer preparation: this is my choice, as a professional, and I refuse to be made to feel bad about it.
In the words of the great PERSON, if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
This is one of the lessons we try to teach children and it’s one we would all do well to follow.
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