Things non-teachers get wrong about teachers
Despite the pressures of the profession, most teachers would agree that teaching is an incredibly rewarding job.
Here are a few things non teachers get wrong about teachers:
1. Teachers finish work at 3:30pm. Which is obviously why you’re still marking books at midnight… Of course, you’d have done it sooner but you’ve had meetings, a school play rehearsal and detention duty already this evening.
2. Teachers get 13 weeks holiday. This might be true on paper, but so is the fact that the average teaching contract is based on a 37-hour working week, with an hour for lunch… Ha! Forget the Costa del Sol, your "holidays" are for marking, planning and putting up displays. Only after you've finished all that will there be time for sleeping.
3. A school trip is a free holiday. Absolutely! If your idea of a holiday has you up at dawn, making packed lunches and encouraging 60-plus overexcited kids not to be silly/break something/spend all their pocket money on sweets.
4. It’s the teachers fault when children misbehave. While many parents are incredibly supportive, some blame you for the fact that their children are misbehaving or doing poorly in school…
5. Teachers don’t have a life outside of school. Students think that being a teacher is the one thing that totally encompasses your whole world. Like, have you ever run into a student at the grocery store? Wearing jeans? Their minds are BLOWN that you are out in the world, buying cat food and bread like everyone else. Your role in their life is so big that they literally can’t imagine you having your own life outside of the school walls.
