So you (don't) want to be a teacher?

Yes, the teachers in this state are "going out on strike" on Thursday. Their highly (overpaid) union boss has decided that the "offer" on the table is not good enough.

The offer is already way above what the teachers I know were expecting. They are realistic enough to know the government cannot afford more. They do not even want to go out on strike. The year twelve teachers have apparently been told by the union "we will understand if you want to make yourselves available". Oh, how kind of them.

Teaching, done properly, is difficult. It is very difficult. It is far more than the time you appear in front of the class. Even when I was working in "special education" I was putting in hours of preparation at night. I was planning and making for nineteen profoundly physically and mentally disabled children. Thankfully I did not need to worry about any of the "politically correct" issues with which teachers in the mainstream classrooms now need to be concerned. I was more concerned with trying to get the children to recognise colours and the names of everyday items.

Now I wonder if I would be expected to add things like "gender diversity" to the mix.

I suspect we need to revisit the teaching profession and work out just what it is we really expect teachers to do. We surely need to be rid of the "politically correct" and "gender diversity" issues? Do we need to cease teaching the new bias in "cultural issues" and go back to basic skills? Isn't school there to teach us the skills we need to learn in order to educate ourselves?

Right up until he left us the Senior Cat was telling people "phonics does have a place in the teaching of reading" - and he knew a thing or two about the teaching of reading. We need to find time for children to read books for the sheer pleasure of reading - whether it be for entertainment or information.

I have been thinking about all this as the union boss is telling the teachers to withdraw their services for a day. He obviously believes that giving parents  a couple of days notice is sufficient. He also obviously believes they will support teachers in their bid. 

Teaching isn't a particularly well paid profession but it is much better than it once was. My parents were very poorly paid when they began teaching and teachers of my generation were not much better paid. There is still a perception that many teachers work just in school hours - and no doubt some do - but there are also many who work very long hours indeed. 

Should they go out on strike? I think it would be better if they could find other ways of protesting - perhaps by just refusing to fill out the new and apparently endless paper work? 

If the one family in this street who does not have someone they can call on then they will almost certainly call on me. I will fill in because I care about the children. I wonder if I can put in a demand for pay from the union?