Give teachers a ‘mark from home’ day, says NEU boss Daniel Kebede

keepingquiet

Where are you reading this? If you are abroad why should it be an issue- do you have GC in the UK?

I haven't heard a squeek about it here...

Seems news travels even when abroad!! Also in the Times I believe.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/teachers-four-day-week-daniel-kebede-b2826711.html
The NEU in my title refers to the National Education Union, in case anyone thought I meant new boss, in German!
It's of interest to me for several reasons.

Oreo

Am sure that marking and lesson prep takes up a lot of time, but surely teachers can do this as school ends at around 3.15 so they could either stay in class and do it when the children have gone or go home to do it.

I used to reckon that an hour lesson required another hour in prep and marking.
As for doing it at 3.15, after a full teaching day, being in school an hour before the pupils and working through lunch (and being on duty one day a week), it's probably time for a break, or a meeting.

If teachers have a day off for marking - never going to happen - how about a day off for preparing for Ofsted, which doesn’t just occur a few weeks before Ofsted btw but is pretty much most of the teaching year.
Having to prepare the kind of evidence that lawyers lug along to courts.
Or how about a full week of good old teaching and the minimum of paperwork.

I don’t know where this idea came from but it isn’t workable.

Latterly I taught in an independent school, but the pressures were just as great as in the state sector. The bonus was that the pupils were for the most part well behaved and motivated, but some of the parents were incredibly pushy. Expectations were extremely high.
I worked at school until 5.45, went home and cooked tea then worked all evening, sometimes until 11pm. More hours at weekends. Probably at least three weeks in the holidays. As HoD, there were lots of extra responsibilities as well as planning and marking.
Actually I loved the job, but wouldn’t do it again now and certainly would not have wanted to work until 67.

I feel for teachers ....there's a lot to fit in....I'm NHS community ....we all flexi work ( start early or finish late) all the full timers compress their hours , so do a 4 day week or 9 day fortnight. Many of the part timers compress as well....and we all work from home at least one day a week....teaching just doesn't lend itself to any of this I guess

My daughter-in-law is a teacher.
She keeps up to date but no longer teaches in the state sector.
Now she has some home-life!

I'm a retired teacher and I think it is a debate to be had.
The drop - out rate in teaching is very high, which is such a waste of the individual's time and money, and of the taxpayer's time and money, also.
My children are the product of two teachers, and nieces and nephew of teachers .
None of mine considered it as a career.
One SIL teaches, and a second SIL tried it, but left swiftly .

I think one or two shorter/half days (maybe late starts on these days) would be a start towards easing the pressure.

Look after your staff better and they will work well without burn-out!

We take them for granted I fear.

I think the "conversation" around this is not new, escaped but maybe the idea resurfaced recently and I just missed it.

As others have said, marking after school is only the tip of the iceberg. I have 120/150 books to mark per day. At one school even if we had a lesson that didn't produce marking we still had to take photos of every child and stick it in their books to prove learning had happened. Then there's the meetings, the planning, the assessments, the after school clubs you are made to do and threatened you won't get your pay increment if you don't. And the joy of recent years, SLT who have only taught for a couple of years yet know it all and tell you, you are doing it wrong and demand more paperwork. Then there's the appalling behaviour of children in recent years and their entitled parents. Never have I known a profession treated so badly and shown so little respect by the general public who just tell us we have long holidays and leave at 3.30pm.

I taught secondary school pupils in Scotland. One class of thirty higher pupils meant hours of marking. I always did preparation before school started and was in by seven thirty for a quarter to nine start. Lunch was thirty minutes. Often we were expected to attend welfare meetings during that time for specific pupils. After school I would mark until six. Go home, walk the dog and feed my children then go back to marking until I went to bed. Saturday I did housework and marked most of Sunday.

The government is responsible for the extra load put on teachers, police and others. My DD and her DH have left teaching now along with many others. They have both found much easier alternative work.

Paperwork seems to be a curse, getting more and more to take over the time given to the actual job.The police say much the same and even nursery teachers and helpers have more hoops to jump through.

Sorry, you asked while I was grumbling 😬

I wouldn’t have wanted a whole day away. It would have made me feel out of touch. Just leaving early at the end of the day would have suited me better.

But then I wouldn’t have been there for the meetings🙄

Actually it just needs for teachers to be trusted to know their students and to do the job and not have to produce reams and reams of paperwork.

It was like that when I first taught. Just st a weekly plan f what I was going to do handed in to my Head on Monday.

The children seemed to learn justas well or actually even better, because my time was devoted to thinkng about them and what they needed.

DaisyAnneReturns

escaped

Am I reading this right from abroad?

Surely it's not a day a week?
What about the children then!

"What about the children?" escaped

While this country sees teachers as child-minders, and child-minders often with poor facilities and challenging pupils, state education will suffer.

I am increasingly inclined to agree DaisyAnneReturns

Lathyrus3

Saturday I kept free. Sunday was planning and prep for the week.

Same!

I always kept Saturday free - except, of course, when you got the Ofsted phone call on Friday saying the inspectors would arrive at school at 8am on Monday morning🙈

You have to hand in detailed plans on Monday, learning intentions, activities, expected outcomes, provision for additional needs. It used to take ages to write it all out. Very frustrating when I had it n my head anyway,but you have to provide the evidence.

And then afterwards you have to write out an evaluation and detail any changes and progression.

Honestly spent hours and hours writing out stuff for other people! Heads of dept, Headteachers, and of course Ofsted.

It didn’t improve the quality of my teaching🤔

Do you think a day off for marking is a viable concept for teachers Lathyrus3 ?Could schools cope?

Saturday I kept free. Sunday was planning and prep for the week.

Lathyrus3

There’s an awful lot of work meetings after the students have gone Oreo. At least three a week and often four. Fridays was the only day free of them.

Correct, not to mention the extra curricular activities teachers are expected to run.

I taught for over 30 years. I spent most evenings and Sundays preparing lessons and assessing children’s work.

To think that a teacher’s working day ends as soon as the children go home is shortsighted beyond belief.

Evenings for me.

I couldn’t have slept 🛌 if the next day wasnt all ready to go! 😊

Possibly all done at the weekend?

I take note of what you say, when did you do marking and prep?
Lunch time or early morning or later in the evening?

There’s an awful lot of work meetings after the students have gone Oreo. At least three a week and often four. Fridays was the only day free of them.

Where, in a private company, would your day be chairing and giving a presentation to meeting after meeting, with no work time to prepare or follow up?

Yet this is exactly what teachers are expected to do.

Oreo

Am sure that marking and lesson prep takes up a lot of time, but surely teachers can do this as school ends at around 3.15 so they could either stay in class and do it when the children have gone or go home to do it.

My DD taught what should have been 30 but was actually 60 students from 9 till 4. At 4pm there was often a meeting or a student asked for some help so she rarely got home till before 6pm.
She was always exhausted and needed a meal and short rest before carrying on with work.