Wind In My Head: Teach: Do Something Worthwhile With Your Life
Wind In My Head
Friday, July 15, 2005
Teach: Do Something Worthwhile With Your Life
-Caution: Angry rant ahead-I've always had the sneaking feeling that many out there do not regard the teaching profession as a real job. And the only reason for that is that we don't work regular office hours.
And it pisses me off.
Just because my day ends officially before the sun goes down, it doesn't mean that I stop working. And any hapless fool who says that to my face will wish he could disappear into the ground before my look of sheer pissed-off-ness reduces him into a state of nothing.
It is implied we don't work hard because we have school holidays.
It is implied that our jobs are not real because we aren't at our desks in school till 9 at night (although I do know teachers who do that).
It is implied that we are very free because our hours sometimes allow for more flexibility.
So, it is implied that people should feel free to encroach on anytime after 12 because school's done and teachers get to go home and do nothing.
Think again.
I hate it when I'm the one asked to do something or be somewhere because everyone else is at work. EXCUSE ME? And I'm not?
It really gets to me. In one breath, I can be told that my job is very senang* and at the same time so siong.** Seriously, all these people out there, really ought to wake up a bit and get real.
I DO NOT have a half day job. I DO NOT get afternoons off. When I do give myself the afternoon off, that means I have to make up for it some other time. When people leave work at work, I bring work home. Just because I don't go in on weekends, does not mean, I don't work on weekends. Work follows me everywhere- just look into my bag and you'll know that. I do not have the luxury of leaving everything in school and closing my mind to it.
Ever so often, I get an SMS that pisses me off this much because it assumes that I have time. It expounds to me sacrifice and drags in previous examples of me being able to do lunch. Screw it. Maybe I should just make myself only ever available on Sundays. Perhaps that will train people to realise that teaching is not a job to be fooled around with. And by extension, teachers are not people you push around just because they seem to have time.
-Many great apologies to those who weren't too interested in reading angst. Not trying to martyr myself here. Have just had enough of all these passive aggressive insinuations-
*senang- easy going
**siong- demanding
Ondine tossed this thought in at 13:16
7 thoughts...
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At 2:49 pm
儒 said... i can feel your anger, and am reminded of all those times i got angry as well. i guess no one outside of the profession will truly understand what it is about.
hearing people say that teachers "got so much holiday what!" really infuriates me because they are making a (to me) rather condescending remark, about something which they know little about. what is worse is some of them actually believe that teachers are "lesser" people because our job is senang. as such, we can't be as important as them (the bankers, accountants, etc) who keep the economy going!
i guess we should stop calling "Teaching" a career, an occupation or even a profession. it should be a lifestyle choice.-
At 12:41 pm
SM said...
Hi, I drop by your site every day, but seldom comment. :)
My father, aunt, and sister were/are all teachers. It also annoys me when people make passive-aggressive allegations of sloth and incompetent time management, about teachers.
In fact, my father got back into teaching in the early '90s after abt 2 decades of IT planning work in CDIS (now CPPB, i think), and it was so strenuous he couldn't take it. And that was before the days of parents panicking to get their kids into schools by en masse volunteering at the chosen sch (insert other activity that seems to give parents ridiculous justification to ride roughshod over teachers).
So I sympathize. My sister stays up until 2 or 3 am -regularly- to mark, after supervising her CCA for the whole afternoon that day. Etc etc etc.-
At 12:42 pm
SM said...
I forget to add, school holidays are almost a myth. :)
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At 7:47 pm
tscd said...
Maybe people ask you to do things because they know you'll get them done? It might be that you are the only one who is dependable enough. Everyone I know thinks teachers are responsible and dependable - the job demands it.
At least people don't believe that you have superhuman powers of clairvoyance.-
At 10:29 am
Threez said...
In my opinion teachers should be paid private banker salary + perks.
You have to manage your colleagues. (fund managers!)
You have to manage your principal (company)
Your have to manage the children.(investment)
And you have to manage the parents (investors)
Plus you're governed by the MOE (stock exchange)
You work overtime marking (okay, so they entertain clients till late but still)
Teachers are managers of our REAL investments, our children. So we should have absolute respect for them and their time, and their opinions because they see our kids in a light that most of us would be terrified to.
Even though I had psycho teachers that beat me up for no reason (except she was completely mad and unfortunately only went to Woodbridge AFTER I left school) I believe that my parents had a healthy attitude towards my teachers,which was to respect them, listen to them and empower them to punish me/teach me as they see fit.
I was one kind of passive-aggressive terror in school so that worked well on me. And on my brother too, and he's still a terror. ;)
So Ondine, take heart. You are doing God's work. Teaching is a vocation, a calling, that few excel in. You do. Keep it up. And learn to delete preposterous SMS's, or template a response:
"I'm sorry, I am busy moulding the lives of our future CEOs and community leaders. Please take a queue number."-
At 2:15 pm
Gecko said...
well said. especially when this is common for every weekend.
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At 9:10 am
Jac said...
ditto that. its not an occupation - its a vocation.
*runs off to mark books*