The work of teachers and school leaders often reminds me of an iceberg. An iceberg reveals only 10% of its mass. The other 90% is hidden beneath the water, visible only to marine creatures. In the same way what is seen of the work done by teachers and school leaders is 10% seen and 90% unseen.

Perception

The all too frequent public perception of teachers and school support staff is that they work for six hours each day five days a week. This 30 hour working week is complimented by 12 weeks “holiday” each year. Those working in schools are deemed to be people on Easy Street when it comes to occupational comparison.

There are of course some who appreciate the job of teaching and education as being in depth; however the idea that the job is rather superficial appears to be held by many people.

One of the criticisms heaped on teachers, support staff and school leadership teams is that teaching is an easy job, generating far too many rewards. I have heard people say that teachers should go and get themselves a “real job”. Letters to newspapers regularly decry teachers as being too well rewarded for the tasks they undertake.

What is entailed

Teaching is far more than what is depicted by the professions percentage of public visibility. In fact, teaching is but one small part of the educational equation. Detailed planning, preparation and programming, taking many hours of time, preceding the act of classroom teaching and direct engagement with students. Beyond teaching there is the recording of outcomes, (testing, measurement and assessment), review and then the considerations of revision and extension. These educational elements go well beyond teacher and pupil interaction in the class room.

After hours commitment

A drive past most schools before and after hours, on weekends and during holiday periods will reveal a growing number of parked teacher’s cars.

Staff members are inside working on the huge number of tasks that embrace the teaching profession. Salary recognises teachers for around 37 hours per week, yet many in real terms many are working upwards of 60 hours during the same period.

These days, there are more and more meetings in which teachers and staff members are required to participate. Staff and unit meetings, moderation meetings, performance management meetings and a plethora of other gatherings have proliferated. Most are held outside the scope of the normal working day and week. Teachers organise extended excursions. They coach and manage teams and groups involved in sporting and cultural exchanges of several days duration. Preparation for their normal classes before going is part of the deal. They are part of fundraising activities, school council committees and school improvement planning groups. The list goes on.

A ‘giving’ profession

Unlike many occupations, teaching does not pay overtime. The incalculable number of unpaid hours devoted to their task by educators makes ‘giving’ one of the key characteristics of those engaged in the profession.

I abhor the fact that teachers and school staff members are so often knocked. Ours (and I say ‘ours’ after being retired for a number of years) is a selfless, giving and caring profession . Most of us are there for others and without the work we do, our society would be the poorer. Ours is one of society’s linchpin professions.