Tomorrow is back to school for me as a teacher and my mind is in overdrive.  I can’t seem to squander away the tension I am feeling as I consider all the things that I have to do in such short time, the anxiety of meeting a new batch of students and the lingering fear as my profession seems to be heading into a catastrophic time.  For this evening though, I am going to try to set aside the government’s preposterous proposals and address some other deep rooted issues that are concerning.

It’s not uncommon for me these days to be at a social gathering and hear other adults passing remarks about their child’s teacher and how they think the work should have been done.  It’s also not uncommon for me these days, to overhear statements that revolve around the theme of telling the teacher off, countering the teacher’s decisions and my favourite statement beginning with “If I was the teacher, I would…”.  For the sake of maintaining friendships and not appearing overly dramatic, I have learned to bite my tongue many times, but it is getting more and more difficult as these statements become more and more frequent.

It seems as though everyone down to the family pet seems to know how to do our jobs better than we do, yet if you ask most people what we do in a given day, they genuinely have no clue and think we do nothing but babysit.  I’m not here to criticize parents, but rather to shed some light to everyone.  As a teacher and a parent here are some things I think you should be aware of as your children head back to school:

A disrespected and unvalued profession

I’m not sure how or why it came to be that teachers became disrespected and in all honesty, I don’t think any reason is a good reason, nor does it really matter.  What matters is that we make an effort to try to change this for future generations.

Meaning no disrespect at all to those I care about, I have to say that some of my closest friends and family members still don’t understand what I do and I am partially to blame for that.  I got tired of explaining and just don’t bother anymore and so my conversations about work are very limited and infrequent.  I chose to talk about the things that I have common ground with them instead to alleviate any headaches and broken friendships.

I can likely compile a book on all the rude statements I have heard over time.  Any of the following are just examples of course:  “Ah come on, you’re a teacher, you have all summer off” “So like what do you do with the kids?” “She teaches grade (blank). It must be easy to teach the younger ones”, “At least you don’t have to go back to work into a managerial position” and more.

Interestingly, if we were to make statements of other professions, we likely wouldn’t make it through a social gathering without getting our teeth knocked out in a brawl.  Many of the same people like to put themselves on pedestals and not realize that condescending statements that are made of teachers, as harmless as they may seem in the moment, accumulate and create a culture of disrespect and lend the message to society that the teaching profession is not valuable.

The job takes longer than we are clocked in for

The hours we get paid are simply not enough to actually perform and complete the task. Not even close to it.  Contrary to what many will believe, we truly do not have 9 to 5 type hours, in the sense that we do not clock in and out.  Many of us may appear to scramble out the door but there is a lot that is not visible to the eye that we do.  Perhaps we may leave at the bell but work from home, or some prefer to stay much later and work until dinner and then head home.  All those extra hours regardless of where they take place are unaccounted for, not paid, no compensation time, no bonus, nada.  As much as I would like more, I know I will never get it, therefore, I am simply asking that you understand and realize that many of you if you were to do the same within your employment, you would be compensated with some extra time, extra pay, a bonus or so, or at minimum, some form of recognition.  This is not our reality and likely never will be. The teachers that cannot afford to put in the extra time sometimes suffer in the classroom trying to manage and keep up with the day to day responsibilities that they incur.

There is no script

Many of you believe that we walk in to a script.  There is no script. There are curriculum guidelines set on us that differ provincially and regionally and we build a curriculum based on those guidelines with minimal resources.  Which brings me to the next point…

Bureaucracy

We should have resources but we don’t have enough.  We are not given freedom to decide what to do with education funds.  The government distributes the funds as they believe fit to school boards who then distribute it how they see it fit and so it continues to the very bottom of the food chain where we are.  It may not matter that one school may need more than another or that Johnny’s illness is much more severe than Samantha’s.  So please the next time you would like to comment on the way we do things, please don’t, because it’s not your expertise, but ours and we have a unbelievable amount of bureaucracy to tolerate.

“That teacher doesn’t know what they are doing”

Many of you actually believe this statement.  Many of you actually believe you could do the job better, or believe that we should listen to your set of guidelines and expectations as to how the job should be completed.  I find this quite bold of society.  After all, do you walk around saying you can perform an open heart surgery to a doctor? I think not, yet it seems to be normative behaviour to patronize a teacher.  Many teachers do not come around to your offices and tell you how you should be doing your jobs, therefore it would be appreciated if you would not do the same with us.  A simple comment such as, “I’m not sure what to do, what can you suggest” will go a very long way in demonstrating to your child’s teacher that you acknowledge that they have the knowledge and you appreciate, value and respect their expertise.

Character versus competence

You might not like hearing this but in any profession there are different kinds of people and characters. That means, that like in every other profession there are some teachers that are just not very competent, or perhaps they are very good at what they do but are not the most socially likeable person.  Perhaps, your child’s teacher has excellent skills at teaching Math and classroom management but is a total bitch.  There are many traits that are common amongst individuals who teach, but there is still character and individuality.  This also applies to the students.  As a teacher it is our responsibility to find a way to teach a child despite their limitations and or character.  Yes, character.  We seem to forget that children, although young, are developing their characters and as human beings, some personalities clash with others.  I have not loved every student that I have encountered.  Some personalities are harder to deal with, so when I encounter that I make it a point to try to not judge that student or dislike that student, but just see it as a personality clash.  This is socialization.  Do you get along with everyone in your workplace? No, so in a given classroom, it will be possible that one student may clash with the personality of the teacher.  All different personalities are important as they teach adults and youth combined the important skills about socialization and how to get along with others.  That being said, understand that the teacher you dislike may have some valuable lesson that they will extend to your child and vice versa.

Age has nothing to do with it, so please be more respectful towards older teachers

There seems to be misconceptions among society that the older teachers are burnt out, tired, boring and should head for the hills.  After working with many teachers, I can tell you I have encountered so many older teachers that have been inspiring and whom have provided a wealth of knowledge and I have also encountered my fair share of newly graduates that have left me wondering in awe how and why they were given their degree.  Age has nothing to do with it. Bottom line, it comes down to the individual teacher.  Many are constantly in professional development programs and soaking up as much knowledge as they can while others act like they know it all.  The twenty five year old that acts as though she knows it all will still behave that way at 50 years old.  Their attitude might stink and it has nothing to do with their age.  I believe we can all learn from each other and have something to contribute to the workplace.

Stop chastising us for having the summer off

Enough already! It really is not our say as to schools being closed during summer, however we really would wish for you to stop tormenting us about it. This is time that we have already worked for and are given and believe me when I say that if you really understood and experienced what we do in a given day, you wouldn’t even question this downtime.  But I’d happily work through the summer, if it meant getting paid twenty thousand or more in a year, because when you actually break down what we do, we are working far below minimum wage.  You do not understand our pay, nor would you want to have it.  Many of you in your fields would never tolerate being told in an interview that you would get paid 10 dollars an hour, but only get to take 7 right away which would be taxed and then the other 3 you would collect during the summer and get taxed again.  We understand it is an inconvenience to your work schedules to have to look for sitters and day camps, but we do not take the decision so please let it go.  This is the only “perk” that we have. Even with our “government” jobs, we still make less and have less than you.  My retirement plan may sound fantastic to you but chances are you’ve already accumulated more in RESP and investments than I have.  Many of you in the corporate world have extra incentives like investment matching that we are not even given a choice.  I would be so happy to put away a few thousand dollars a year, knowing that my company would be willing to match that amount for me.  As for insurance plan, it is basic and simple and for many does not even include dental, so please remember that the next time you get cozy for your monthly massage.

Let’s work together

Take a step back and you will realize that we actually want the same thing.  We want your child to succeed as much as you do, if not more, as it makes us feel proud, accomplished and successful.  As teachers we do not get any bonuses, as I have mentioned, therefore your child’s success becomes the SINGLE method of accomplishment that we can have.  When a teacher has students that are not doing well, it affects them personally even when we are told we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves.  None of us are happy when the students are not performing well.

The teacher and parent really do have an important relationship.  We are responsible for your children for a great bulk of the day, but you are still the parents.  That means that when you get home from work, you still have to carry on in the day to day grind of talking to your child, helping your child and disciplining your child.  Remember, you have the one on one ratio, we do not ,so if there is an area where the students are lacking you may need to step in and contribute towards the students success. Your child will reach the best results and never fail when we work together.  If nothing else, at least be cautious of how you speak of your child’s teacher.  The disrespect you show to your child’s teacher will be mimicked by your child and brought into the classroom and only perpetuate this problem further.  When the students do poorly, we are quick to point the finger at the teacher but when the student does well we quickly assume it’s all the parents hard work.

In the short term, we hope you will rally with us and understand that the challenge we will face against the government propositions, are really for the benefit of our future society, your daughter, your son.

Years from now should you be lucky to witness your child graduating and take a step towards their own personal careers, whether that be a university degree, collegial level or from a trade, I hope that you can find it in yourself to silently not only thank your child for their perseverance and hard work , along with your own patience, guidance, financial assistance or however you may have supported your child, I hope you can also take the time to thank the many teachers that contributed to that successful path.

by Diana Antonacci