Our teachers are working harder than ever before.
Why don't we value them more?
Jane Mueller
The stress often outweighs the fulfilment that
comes from the job. It’s not surprising teachers are exhausted
@jane_n_mueller | Thu 10 Oct 2019 18.00 BST
‘Australian teachers are feeling downtrodden. We
can do our small part to change the trajectory by actioning one word:
appreciation.’ Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA
I vividly recall a TV advertisement in the 1980s.
The tune was so catchy that, even now, I occasionally find myself humming: “be
the first to say, do you need a hand.”
Thirty years on, I wonder if we’re more inclined
to offer criticism than a hand. Just ask our teachers.
Parents are having trouble finding the time and
energy to offer a hand in the classroom, yet many do find the time to engage in
unsolicited teacher condemnation. A recent study shows that 80% of teachers in
Australian schools have experienced bullying or harassment from students and
parents. (Quite ironically, when a parent advocates for their child by
bullying, harassing or intimidating a teacher, the result will often be poorer
student outcomes.) Sadly, our nation’s teachers are not respected or held in
the same high esteem as their counterparts in some other countries.
Our teachers are working harder than ever before.
Studies indicate the rate of anxiety, stress and burnout for teachers is higher
than the national average. Concerningly, nearly 50% of graduate teachers leave
the profession within five years.
We’ve evolved into a society that focuses more on
our rights than our responsibilities. When future generations do not perform as
we think they should, it’s easiest to lay blame on teachers. When we decide
children need additional skills in a non-academic field, it’s easiest to
handball it to teachers. Teachers are expected to do much more than their
vocation originally called for. I recall a time a parent said to me: “My child
has been enrolled in your school for a whole term now, and he still doesn’t say
please and thank you. Why aren’t your teachers doing their job properly?” Throw
into the mix heightened accountability and administration, and it’s not
surprising our teachers are exhausted.
Most Australian teachers:
put as much time into preparing, marking,
assessing and reporting out-of-school-hours as they do implementing lessons
during school hours (despite some public opinion that teachers work 9am – 3pm,
5 days a week, 40 weeks per year);
grow within the Australian Institute for Teaching
and School Leadership (AITSL) Standards by engaging in ongoing professional
learning projects;
fulfil, out of hours, the growing number of
regulatory and administrative tasks that are required of the teaching
profession, including collecting and annotating evidence, publishing and
archiving work samples, analysing data, managing events and writing risk
assessments;
increasingly communicate with parents via
meetings, email, apps, portals and other such means;
spend their weeknights and weekends seeking
inspiration from teaching colleagues, educational websites and social media to
create learning environments and experiences that are engaging and meaningful;
endeavour to cater not for one class but for 28
individual learners;
lie awake at night contemplating the best strategy
to meet specific students’ needs and juggle behavioural dynamics;
have served as a refuge and safe haven for
children who have been the victims of more trauma than most adult Australians
could ever imagine;
conduct yard duties during their morning tea and
lunch breaks; and
sacrifice attending their own family’s
extra-curricular events in order to facilitate such events for their students.
The role of teaching is demanding. It’s relentless.
The stress often outweighs the fulfilment that comes from the job. Why we do
not honour these people with crowns and tiaras, I do not know.
Teachers don’t always get it right – they have bad
days just as you and I have bad days – nevertheless they make every effort to
positively influence and make a sincere difference in the lives of their
students.
Australian teachers are feeling downtrodden. We
can do our small part to change the trajectory by actioning one word:
appreciation.
We don’t need to shower our teachers with lavish
and expensive public gifts to show they are appreciated. But quiet recognition
does go a long way. Small acts of unadorned kindness do not take much time and
energy, but they do say a lot. A simple email or note of thanks speaks volumes.
When photos of your child on school camp appear on the school’s social media, a
comment with words of gratitude in relation to the teachers’ willingness to
give up their own family time to work 24/7 for the duration of the camp,
reminds the entire school community of the sacrifices teachers make for their
students. It’s these small and uncomplicated gestures that can mean the world.
Let’s recognise the colossal responsibility our
teachers undertake, as they continue in their quest to nurture and develop our
nation’s future leaders. Let’s work alongside them, value them and respect them
for the professionals they are. Let’s thank them for accepting this high
calling amid the growing demands of their profession.
And let’s not make it a tokenistic gesture on one
day; let’s commit to the long-term appreciation of our cherished quiet
achievers. This is the best way we can offer them a hand.
• Jane Mueller is the principal of Living Faith
Lutheran primary school, Brisbane
Source : www.theguardian.com
