Striking Teachers!!

OK unless you've been living under a rock you may have noticed that some teachers are going on strike tomorrow.  A lot of people seem to be very opinionated about the strikes but there seems to be a common thought among those who are not working within education.  They are

1. How can they justify having a day off when they've only been back at work for 2 weeks
2. How can they have a day off but then fine us £60 for taking a child out of school
3. Why shouldn't they contribute to their own pensions, everyone else has to.

Now I'm not in a teachers union, I never have been and to be honest I don't particularly have any desire to be.  However, I will defend teachers and the teaching profession when I feel necessary (despite not being in employment at the moment I am still a qualified teacher so it would be silly not to).

So lets get the pensions out of the way.   I have never agreed with striking over pensions.  I worked in the real world before I was a teacher.  I know there are thousands of people who don't have a pension that is paid by their employers and I also know that there are people who have never been offered a pension through work.  I remember seeing a leaflet when I worked at the college saying that some people would be expected to pay £88 a  month towards their pension and I did actually say "well boohoo some people have to pay that anyway".   Funnily enough I have read the NASUWT reasons for the strike and there is not one mention of pensions.  They mention pay and conditions but not pensions.  The joint poster with the NUT however does.  Either way I can understand people seeing that teachers only ever strike about pensions.  I  believe this is going to be an issue that will never go away. 

I read someone say today that teachers should have to work until they are 67 like everyone else.  Can you imagine a 67 year old PE teacher? Now I know some of my PE teachers were getting on a bit but I'm sure they weren't that old.  The retirement age increase in this country (and not just within teaching) is one of the contributing factors to the unemployment levels in the country.  While people are expected to work longer they are not freeing up the jobs for the younger generation.  Over the next few years you will see the unemployment figures drop slightly (I say slightly because there are no jobs being created and people are still being made redundant).  This is because 16 - 18 year olds now have to stay in education by law.  The government can fanny it up as much as they like but the sole purpose of this is to play with the unemployment figures. If people were still allowed to retire at 65 (or 60 for women) this would not happen.  They jobs would be there for them to take over and those 16-18 year olds who don't want to stay in school (and believe me there are a lot of them) would be able to earn a living.  Instead they have to stay in education and get bored and doss about because they don't want to be there.


Anyway I could get into a huge debate just about that but that's another matter.  Back to the strike.

So this thing about the £60 fine.  People need to realise that the government have introduced this.  Not the teachers.  The government.  When it was first announced many teachers were against it.  They think that it's unfair, it's hard to implement and that it is actually detrimental to a child's education.  However, the government have basically said that holidays during term time are to be treated the same as truancy.  Now, the ironic thing I have found about this one is that many of the people who have moaned about this (I'm guessing like us they have received a letter from the school regarding this) are the same people who moan when the school isn't closed when it's snowed because they can't be bothered to go out in the cold to take the child to school and give them the day off anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I think the idea of a fine is stupid.  I grew up in a family who had to have time off during term time for a holiday because it wasn't possible to get school holidays.  It never did me any harm.  Also as funding and, God forbid, health and safety is becoming an issue some children may never get to go on day trips because schools don't want to do the risk assessments and paperwork and can't get the funding, so a family holiday is actually helping their learning. 

The point is it's not the teachers who have brought it in so don't blame them. 

So onto the final point.  The holidays.  The urban myth that teachers spend  13 weeks out of 52 doing absolutely nothing whereas the rest of the country only have 4 weeks holiday.  For a start all workers by law are entitled to 28 days paid holiday (it's up to your boss if that includes bank holidays or not). But here's the thing, when an ordinary joe bloggs worker has his month off (because that's basically what you're getting) what does he do?  Does he make resources for when he goes back to work?  Does he plan what he's going to do when he returns?  Does he sort out paperwork? Does he refresh his knowledge on what his job is?  or does he sit, with his feet up, watching the telly and relaxing?

As I've said, I've worked in the real world.  I would go back to sitting in an office all day and leaving at 5 and not having to worry about work until the next morning.  Or having a a week off and not having to plan the following week.  I would, if I didn't find it so god damn degrading and boring but that's me. 

The point is a teacher doesn't go home and put their feet up.  A teacher, despite the urban myth, doesn't leave work at 3.30pm either.  A teacher will stay at school until 5.30 because of a curriculum meeting and then go home and stay up until midnight marking 30 books ready for the next day.  A teacher will spend their weekend planning the week's lessons and creating resources so that the children can learn and be inspired.  A teacher will spend two weeks of the christmas holidays writing schemes of work for the next term and marking and planning.   A teacher will spend the whole of june and most of july writing endless reports. 

Honestly, how many jobs can you name where you have to take your work home with you?  Being self employed doesn't count.  I'm embarking on going self employed at the moment but I know that I won't be up for hours marking books or writing lectures. 

This year was the first year in 5 years I had a summer holiday.  I don't mean going away for a week.  I do that every year.  I mean actually having time to myself to do what I want.  Not having to worry about planning etc.  But that brings me onto my final point....... why I support this strike!!

As I have said, I'm not in any of the unions.  I am an unemployed qualified music teacher.  I am unemployed because the government changed the funding for further education (which is what I'm trained to teach) meaning that my old employers could no longer afford to fund my position.  Now my teaching qualification according to the government means that I can teach in secondary schools.  However, I teach music.  It's not a subject that is crying out for teachers partly because it's up in limbo as to what is happening with the subject in the future (as with all the arts).  Also because I've not trained in secondary schools someone who has more experience in secondary schools is always going to be ahead of me when applying for jobs.

Now my other issue with this is, someone said earlier today about university fees and how it was my choice to go to university.  Yes it was my choice, however, I didn't expect that 5 years after graduating and 2 years after qualifying I would be out of a job.  Me being out of a job means I am not paying those fees back thus costing the government money.  But hey if the government wants to pay for my university costs then that's up to them I guess.

I won't go into the subject of paperwork etc.  It's a bit dull.  Everyone knows it and everyone likes to deny it.  What I will say is this though........ anyone who has seen or read an interview will Michael Gove should support this strike.  The bloke is inept, has made the teaching profession completely unbearable and is completely clueless of anything in the real world. 

The government are messing with your children's education.  That's why teachers are taking a stand and that's why you should support it.