Work is generally associated with the work place. We usually think that as soon as a worker leaves company premises, working also ends. This is what most parents and pupils or students see with teachers. Classes end as early as 3:00pm and that is the time most people know that the work of the teacher ends. That is the time when we see they end their teaching work. But what do they do afterwards when they are not teaching? How do they spend their time when they are not teaching?
The Amount of Time Not Teaching
The work of a teacher is usually equated to teaching. Many people think that the life of a teacher is like that of a pupil. That means that teachers also have the time “working” time and free time as that of pupils. In other words, many people think that when pupils are off from school or on long vacations, teachers are also. Workers and employees in other sectors usually envy teachers because of these long holidays and “guaranteed free” weekends because we think “no classes, no work.”
Not Teaching But Still Working
On the average, employees and workers in the UK work 37 hours every week. That is close to a conclusive estimate of the work they do because almost all of them do tasks in and for their jobs only during office hours or working time. But this does not apply to teachers. The nature of their work requires them to do some more work after classes. That is what we do not usually see. And if we add the time being consumed in doing these, it will total 48 hours because they need to prepare lessons before teaching in classes. During the school term, teachers work for as long as 56 hours in a week.
Working When Others Are Not
Further, our idea is that teachers do not have work when there are no classes. That means we think that they are also on vacation when students have no classes, on vacation and school is closed. This, added to the holidays that all working people have, totals to 65 days for the whole year. Other employees or workers only have around 28. However, teachers still do work during student vacations and holidays.
Credit and Compensation
As mentioned, most of us do not know that teachers still do tasks for their job after teaching in the classroom. And they agree. They believe, think or know that many people do not know or even just notice that they put in more hours and effort than can be seen in the classroom and the school. Eight in every 10 teachers who were respondents of a survey paid for by TES Connect say that they think the tasks they need to do outside the classroom and beyond class time are not noticed by employers, parents and pupils. Moreover, performing these incidental tasks during night time and weekends affects the health and personal lives of teachers as human beings. Again, they need to rest and enjoy too just like other human beings. When these are not met, the body and mind will suffer.
Comparison
To give us a better and larger view of how teachers fare among other professionals with regards to logging in official and unofficial time for their work, here is a list of the Top 10 Hard-Working Professions derived by TES Connect in its studies.
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Production Managers and Directors of Mining and Energy Firms – 49.6 (hours per week)
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Teache
rs – 48.3 -
Advertising and PR Directors – 42.2
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Financial Institution Managers and Directors – 40.9
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IT Engineers – 39.0
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Chief Executive Officers and Solicitors – 38.5
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Medical Practitioners – 38.4
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HR Managers and Directors – 38
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Barristers and Judges – 36
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Accountants – 35.6
Time and Effort
The extension of the working time of the teachers cannot be disregarded. As human beings, they are also entitled to rest or relaxation and recreation. If the employees and workers in other sectors do not need to work after daily working time and in the weekends, teachers should also be afforded the same right. They are not only deprived of time to rest and relax. In the process, they are also being subjected to more health hazards.
The Time Spent When Not Teaching
So how do teachers spend their time when they are not teaching? They prepare to teach. They prepare lesson materials and process the output that they and their students produce. It is not only getting ready for the next school day or week. It is also about assessing the performance of their students and their own. They need to check papers, record scores and compute grades. These are what teachers do during the time when they are not teaching.
Solutions
Yes, the government should highly considering raising the salaries of teachers. Better yet, adjusting the total working time of the teachers must be done. Teachers should be given time to do the “non-teaching” aspect of their job during school working time. For example, they should be given a teaching load of half of a day so that they will still have time during working days to prepare for lessons, check papers and other tasks and do not need to do it during the night and weekends when they should be resting, relaxing, enjoying or do their other roles like being parents to their own children.
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