For a lot of teachers, the workload is the problem. I have spoken a bit about the workload in previous posts and complained about it too, but actually for me, that's not the main reason I no longer enjoy my job. Sure, the workload is excessive, and it's a serious issue that we're not being paid anywhere near what we should be for the long days where we're run off our feet and barely have time to down a cup of tea. However, I actually like being busy. I find, strangely, I am more organised when I have loads to do in a short space of time, and although I do burn out eventually, I don't mind having a full schedule. I've decided to make a list of the pros and cons of teaching, according to me. The cons are an excuse for me to outline all the things I hate about the job to vent a bit, and the pros are just because my blog is pretty negative and I'm aware it's becoming a bit of a miserable read. This blog post is going to be the cons, and I'll make another post for the pros. Here goes:
Cons
It's SO repetitive!
This year, I have 6 year 7 classes, 6 year 8 classes and 5 year 9 classes. For this reason, I have to teach the same lessons 5-6 times a week. From the same schemes of work which we teach year after year. Since the start of my career, I've taught each KS3 lesson approximately 30 times.
The teacher training is excessive.
The amount of time we waste in meetings where people share their "new" exciting ideas for getting the best results, or building relationships, or making the content engaging, which we "oooh" and "ahhh" at and promise we'll try before going back to teaching exactly how we have for our entire career, is ridiculous. If it isn't broken, why try to fix it? We do what works for us. Leave us alone, we've got stuff to do!
The behaviour of the students.
The lack of respect that young people show their teachers is next level. I know I sound about 100 years old- "back in my day children were far more respectful towards their elders..." But it's so true! Don't get me wrong, I was a pretty stroppy teenager and I look back at the way I spoke to my Mum sometimes and I wish I could go back in time and give her the respect that she deserved. I wasn't perfect, and teenagers in general weren't perfect inside or outside of school 10-20 years ago. However, I would never ever dream of speaking to my teachers the way students speak to us today. Here are some examples of things students have said to me:
"If I don't turn up to your detention, will it escalate to head of year? Good, that would be better than spending any amount of time with you"
*Throwing their report across the classroom because I graded them a C* "oh F*** off you stupid bitch"
*Laughing* "Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that? I'm sorry, I am not having you talk to me like that." (Because I told them they were being very rude for ignoring me while I called after them, lying to me and then shouting at me.)
*Smirking*, "go on then, call my Mum. She doesn't care about Drama either."
They are just some examples off the top of my head of how I am spoken to by the students. Some are worse than others, but all these comments get you down over time. Honestly, if I made a list of all the behaviour that I have to deal with every day, this would be more like a novel than a blog post. There are so many students who are entitled, rude and who don't know how to behave, and not a day goes by where I don't have to deal with this. Having to be strict and miserable all day is exhausting and it's certainly no fun for myself or the students, and it's the cause of a lot of my anxiety.
Duties
I hate being on duty so much. Your job is to interrupt students having fun to remind them that they're not allowed to cross that blue line or have to eat outside or must stay in their designated playground area. You are literally the fun police. The students ignore you, so you have to ask them over and over again. It's also normally cold and you're at risk of being hit in the face by a football. And it takes up your break.
Cover
Some rich schools have cover supervisors. Ours does not. If a teacher is absent and we have a free, we have to cover that teacher's lesson. It might be the only time you have that day to get something important done, and it's taken away from you at the last minute. The students know you don't know their seating plan, and you can't really help them because you don't know the subject, so often they don't shut up and they get no work done. It's a massive waste of everyone's time. Also, if you are unlucky enough for it to be your turn to be off ill, don't think you get to stay in bed! It's up early, open laptop, email SLT regarding absence, and then spend at least an hour setting all your cover for the day. Which you'll later have to mark on top of everything else.
The school food.
The canteen only ever provides a dry cheese baguette as the vegetarian option. It's overpriced and terrible, and I don't want a cheese baguette every day. I try to make sure I make my own lunch, but it's really hard to keep up with shopping and lunch making at home all the time when all I want to do at the end of my school day is go to bed.
It's so tiring.
Being on your feet all day, trying to stay enthusiastic, keeping the students engaged, putting in extra time to get results when students are being lazy, directing a school show, spending my break and lunch with students who have detentions or out on duty, it's all so exhausting. I don't stop. All day, every day. When I get home I can't find the energy to go to the gym, to read my book, to write my blog, to do anything at all. My boyfriend makes dinner for us because I don't even have it in me to do that most days. I get home and I collapse on the sofa until I've recharged enough to get into my pyjamas. I want to get into shape. I want to read more. I want to learn the ukulele. I want to learn to sing. I want to write. I want to learn to speak French. I want to learn BSL. Sometimes I force myself to try and do these things, but it rarely lasts more than a week. Most days, I barely have the energy to take off my coat. I went to the doctor about it when I first started teaching, because my energy levels were so low, I thought something was seriously wrong. After an ECG, numerous blood tests, a urine test, and various other examinations, the doctor asked me what I did for a living. When I said I was a teacher, she smiled sympathetically. "Ah. There's your answer."
The way we are perceived by non-teachers.
Some people think teachers are the enemy. Some people think teachers complain too much because they have a "cushy life". Some people appreciate that teaching isn't easy, but they don't really know much about the job, and they don't really understand why it's hard, or to what extent. I try not to look at social media, because an overwhelming number of people make comments that make me angry. Though, it's not just people on social media who don't get it. You can only truly appreciate how hard it is if you've done it. My family and loved ones are supportive, and they understand that I have a tough job, but they don't really have any idea. They often say things like, "yeah it must be a lot of work, all the lesson planning and marking and stuff..." and I usually reply with "mmmm" because I don't have the energy to go into it, but that's not the problem at all. Not for me, anyway. It's also a bit of a downer to say, "actually it's just hard because one of my year 7s was on the Samaritans website in my lesson today, and when I asked him about it he cried and said he was thinking of killing himself", or, "it's more just that my self esteem was really knocked this week because I have a class that I thought responded really well to me, but when their old teacher walked in they squealed and shouted how much they missed her and wished they could have her back, and you're not supposed to take that stuff personally but it's impossible not to." It's easier to just agree, than to give the long list of reasons why it's difficult, which they still won't really appreciate because they have never lived it.
You can't switch off.
I don't get home and stop worrying about the boy who has gone home to his family who I know don't look after him properly. I don't forget about the girl who came to me sobbing because she got trolled by strangers on social media because of the way she looks. I don't switch off from caring about the students just because work hours are over. Some of them are dealing with some pretty deep stuff, and I carry that with me.
The high pressure and high expectations.
"Well done on getting 6 students a grade 9 in their GCSEs, that's great! However, what can we do to get more next year? What can we do to turn those 6s into 7s and 7s into 8s?" My answer? NOTHING! Every year, we do the best we can. We can't revise for the students. We can't go and physically pick them up and drag them to intervention and force them to listen and learn. They have to meet us half-way. We encourage them, we put the time in to help them where we can, we provide the resources, we lead the horse to the water. The students who got a 9 were successful because they did their bit. They showed up to the extra sessions we provided, they used the resources we'd made, they revised at home. But that's not a good enough answer. It's our job to get the students' their grades, and if they don't do well then it's on us. We could run more interventions after school if we didn't have to find the time to put on a school show, run inter-house competitions, KS3 Drama club and run school trips. Not to mention we have to attend all those pointless meetings. Of course, giving up any of those things isn't an option. It's never enough, and we have to do everything perfectly without complaint, and without appreciation.
There are more cons to be honest, but the other day in assembly the head of year spoke about how thinking positively can have a positive affect on our lives and our well being, so I think maybe I should leave the negativity there for now and give that a go. With that in mind, I'm going to start writing my post on the pros. See you there!
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