If You're Not a Teacher, You Just Don't Get It!
Friday June 5, 2009
Believe it or not, I've actually had people come up to me and say, "Teaching is such an easy job! Short hours, summers off, and lots of vacations!" Comments like this make me realize that non-teachers can never truly understand the many challenging nuances of the job. Don't you agree?
That's why I compiled this list of the Top 8 Reasons Why Non-Teachers Can Never Really Understand Our Job. Let me know if I missed anything major, or leave a comment if you just want to share some of the outrageous comments you've received over the years.
Comments
This sounds like quite a rant to me. I teach, I love my job, I love my holidays and everything that goes with the profession. I’m at an inter city school. I also tutor on the side for free to help my students reach their full potential. I say you must really dislike teaching to put such a rant in place. Time for you Beth to pursue a career elsewhere.
Hi,
I teach Music in 3 schools, and I love my job. I teach Music Lessons after school, and
I am usually told that teaching Music is so easy. People who are’t on the front lines just don’t get it. They should try subbing for a week in the inner city or anywhere else, and then they wouldn’t make a comment like that. Kathy
Wow! I read the list of 8 reasons…
I do sympathize with a few of your points. Although, to be fair, everybody knows that sick kids, scraped elbows, and potty-accidents are a very real part of being an elementary teacher. You accepted these issues when you declared your college major. Many professions provide zero opportunity for even this level of understanding when a young adult declares a related major (or fills out the job application).
But, thing is, most teachers would consider your list an embarrassment. In particular, teachers who’ve been in “the real world”. I’m not referring to the lame old argument of working part-time at McDonalds while a student or working summers in college. Very, very few haven’t been down a comparable path. I’m talking about the “real world” where you fear taking a full-week vacation because of how far behind you’ll be. For non-teachers, the only concept of multi-month vacations means the unemployment line.
It’s beyond arrogant to claim that teachers need summers off worse than other professionals (or non-professionals). None of us get “enough recovery time” until retirement.
Your explanation of “we’re not just teachers” maligns the majority of our country’s work force. Yes, there are workers who can claim, “not my job”, when asked to step outside of their job description. But the overwhelming majority of workers are responsible for, “other duties as assigned.” And, especially in small businesses, those other duties are frequently WAY outside an employee’s comfort zone (or formal training).
As for it “always” being the teacher’s “fault”… you accepted that level of responsibility when you chose to be your own boss. The world isn’t fair. Denying your responsibility isn’t an attitude that makes you a part of the solution. If you recognize that we have a “messed-up education system”, then do something about it. Don’t waste your energy whining about how the general public “doesn’t get it”. Your condescension doesn’t improve respect.
“Our job is really serious”. No kidding. But your risk doesn’t equate to that responsibility. A “glitch” on a spreadsheet might seem trivial to you. But, for many, it means unemployment. Heck, for some, that “glitch” which you treat as trivial results in the destruction of a career. The worst personal risk the typical teacher risk is moving on to a different school system at the end of the school year. Yes, this is harsh. But, short of sleeping with a student or running a meth-lab at your desk, it’s practically impossible for the typical teacher to be escorted out of the building when they make a mistake. I don’t mean to belittle your examples, but in reality, those are exceptions, not the rule. There are plenty of non-teachers who have those experiences to; you’re probably a member of the teaching crowd who think the “layman” isn’t qualified to make a difference for those exceptions; because the “layman” doesn’t have a teaching certification. The reality is that there are countless churches & civic organizations who help these children while school leaders instruct teachers to mind their own business. Again, there are schools that care about these exceptions. But, there are plenty of schools that don’t.
As for the number of hours involved, you clearly don’t understand what you agreed to when you took the job. You’re not paid by the hour. The hours you spend on lesson prep, grading, classroom prep, & continuing education are part of your paycheck. If you can get the job done in 40 hours a week; great. If it takes 50 hours a week, okay. In the “real world”, the term is “salary exempt”. You accepted the terms when you accepted the job.
As for schedule flexibility, again, you insult non-teachers by insinuating their deadlines are less important. Tell me it’s no big deal if a surgeon calls in sick, or a lawyer is late to court, or a salesman forgets the quote when meeting a client. Perhaps you should notice that there’s no common term for “substitute doctor, “substitute lawyer”, or “substitute salesperson”. Have you ever tried stepping into the hot seat for a missing receptionist?
“Teaching is physically and emotionally taxing”. That makes it sound like work. From what I’ve seen, many non-teachers are often physically and emotionally exhausted from work.
All that your rant appears to do is widen the gap between the typical, institutionalized teacher, and the non-teacher majority of workers who live in the “real world”.
Perhaps I didn’t sound empathetic to the teacher in reference to the eight points in the “just don’t get it” article. I do understand that teaching is a difficult and challenging job. I do understand that good teachers invest everything they’re able and often more. Please treat that as common ground for all professionals.
I know that a small number of parents make the rest of us look bad when they make insensitive comments (such as those which inspired your article). I understand that ignorant comments about short work days and “summers off” are a horrible way to say, “thank you”. Just as it’s unfair to criticize all teachers based on the non-effort of a few, it’s unfair to criticize all non-teachers based on the comments of a few.
Most of us “get it”. Be a good example and have a thicker skin for those who don’t.
Different subject (that was mentioned). I’m completely against the traditional summer vacation. When the majority of our work-force was in agriculture, it made sense. And in that day and age, I’d argue that children continued their education through the summer; it was simply a very different venue and it wasn’t focused on “book learnin’”.
Traditional summer vacation isn’t just antiquated, it’s counter-productive. How many school days are lost in the autumn getting back up to speed?
Thus I’m an advocate of something resembling year-round school. The typical grade school is in session for how many weeks each year? Retain the concept of four 9-week quarters per year (okay, I think we should up it to 10-week quarters). That allows four 4-week “vacations” between quarters (or four 3-week “vacations”).
That’s a healthy break. But that’s not so long that the students completely forget much of what they learned. And, that’s ample time for teachers to take continuing education classes (or even occasional single-quarter sabbaticals to continue their own education).