Nickbits

In a previous post, I said "Before anyone says teaching is easy, believe me it is anything but easy."  Since then I have had a few comments, mainly from non-teachers, that I would like to clear up.  These include:

• You get lots of holidays
  • No we do not.  Half term, study week, summer holiday's, we do not get off.  Most of my half terms are spent marking, preparing class materials, meetings, etc.
  • The summer holiday includes all of the admin and prep for the coming academic year.
  • In reality, we get no more holiday than anyone else.
• You get bonus for passing students

  • No we do not.  Our pay is not performance related.  We get the same pay irrespective of the number of students that pass or do not achieve.

  • Even if this were true, I would not pass a student if they have not done the work.  It something called integrity!
• You get paid well
  • No.  College teachers are not paid that well.  In-fact some of the students I teach are better paid!

The above notes are answers to general comments that have been made in passing, and all of which have been said more than once.  To anyone who thinks that teaching is a laugh, remember that if you teach an hour lesson, then you have at least 30minuites preperation time before that lesson and then marking of any assignments on to of that.  Then you have meetings, parents evenings, open days, etc.  For teaching 22hours a week, you can easily add another 20 to 30 hours per week on to that for all of the extra work behind the scenes.

So why keep doing it if it is that bad?  Simple, the students.  There is a buzz in seeing students come in and then leave a year or two later after achieving a qualification.