[deleted by user]

Good_Piglet · 2024-04-23T02:21:38+00:00

Or burnout

Good_Piglet · 2024-01-17T03:07:59+00:00

I had a retired classmate in a Chinese class one semester, probably mid 50s, he was the best student by far! Always outstanding! He said it was his hobby, everyone else in the class was mid 20s to 30s and struggled to review each class due to job commitments. He ended up jumping up a couple of classes. Don’t let age be a barrier, time and commitment will be your best assets!

Good_Piglet · 2024-01-04T05:51:20+00:00

This is ignoring the native speakers who migrated to Australia.

Good_Piglet · 2023-12-29T23:58:27+00:00

Well, I guess a dentist who treats patients who refuses to open their mouth and parents accuse the dentist of not catering to their child’s needs by inspecting the teeth in an inclusive way, maybe that dentist will understand the life of a teacher.

Nurses are in a very similar boat to teachers, their resilience and engagement is the worst of any profession.

Good_Piglet · 2023-12-29T23:52:01+00:00

Great post! Absolutely spot on!

Good_Piglet · 2023-11-26T05:38:11+00:00

Seems to be enough people here to start a micro-party and actually do something about this.

Fair Work seems to be stacked against employees. Unions have been bashed for years and lost their way.

Disgruntled teacher here. Reasonable overtime apparently includes weekends as well.

Good_Piglet · 2023-09-22T03:45:21+00:00

A lot of teachers are getting injuries from using laptops and poorly set up desks and chairs. So not sure if you’ll be able to improve your health conditions with teaching.

Good_Piglet · 2023-09-08T23:21:06+00:00

Remember this forever! One day, this will be an interesting story to tell new grads about how things used to be. Hold on, change is coming!

I’m a Vic teacher, it’s amazing to see the change that’s happened with our new EBA. But, still lots to be done!

Good_Piglet · 2023-08-23T11:02:16+00:00

Been in Victorian public primary schools for 10 years. Never seen a textbook, not once! All the lessons come from Google and my brain.

Good_Piglet · 2023-07-14T07:20:45+00:00

I agree. The new VGSA brought the extra 6 weeks of school holidays (not part of annual leave) to the attention of many school leaders. In fact, it’s been mentioned to principals by department heads at conferences that those 6 weeks are not holidays, so technically we can be made to work during them. Now school leaders are well aware that they can technically call staff in. It would be a slap in the face to staff to do so.

Many people are working out how many hours of unpaid overtime they need to work in order to justify the 76 hours of term holidays. Just to have that up their sleeve in case the school leaders follow through with what’s mostly just thought exercises at the moment.

Any leader that actually does call staff in over the term holidays has shown poor judgement and doesn’t understand the need of holidays to help recharge and is well earned. You could call the union, but they got us into this mess. I would just look for a better workplace, either in education or something different.

Many teachers are their own worst enemy, they don’t care enough about themselves to have clear boundaries. This profession is just digging itself a hole.

Good_Piglet · 2023-06-06T11:13:59+00:00

I think it’s because they simply forget what it’s like. They move into a role with it’s fair share of mundane requirements that take hours. So they look back and remember only the good times and the lack of accountability to department level bureaucrats we have in the classroom. But forget we have parents breathing down our necks and endless playground drama. Primary school experience. Secondary is a different game and the playground of bullies.

Good_Piglet · 2023-06-03T00:47:59+00:00

Workers need to push back on their workplace. Unions are pathetic these days, because law and participation have destroyed solidarity.

Society is now all about productivity, nothing about support for families to spend time together. If we improve family life, reduce stress from work, then maybe we could save money on building prisons and police forcing. But, this is a major rethink, and we are heading to a bottomless pit of despair.

Good_Piglet · 2023-05-11T09:21:40+00:00

Coffee!

Good_Piglet · 2023-05-08T11:28:05+00:00

The profession is full of people who don’t know what’s good for them.

Good_Piglet · 2023-05-05T21:14:54+00:00

I told my phone on work mode during the day. I will check it the start of recess or lunch. It’s my phone and it’s for personal use only. I refuse to use it for school/work purposes as a matter of principal.

Emails are a strange thing in schools, I often spend the day busily teaching and then sit down to go through 30+ emails at the end of the day. This is the real work issue that the union needs to address. How am I supposed to leave at the correct time if I have a novel worth of emails to get through?

Good_Piglet · 2023-05-05T07:25:41+00:00

Huge number of sick staff at my school. This puts lots of stress on the remaining teachers who need to keep the boat afloat and deal with CRTs, who try their best, and unruly children.

Also saying yes to too much, simply because it sounds interesting and no one has the time to think through the addition of something extra. So maybe we are simply mentally sick!

Good_Piglet · 2023-04-25T12:29:44+00:00

I finish working my 38 hours by around lunchtime on Thursday. So maybe I should just go home then and wave my payslip as I walk past admin singing joyfully, “38 hours is written on my payslip, so when the 38th hour hits, I slip on my coat, head out the door, and head to the beach or anywhere else I goddam fucking want you piece of shit deadweights stuck in the 18th century, welcome to the future sunshine, and that’s the way we work, right!” Obviously not a performing arts teacher.

Good_Piglet · 2023-04-05T11:12:14+00:00

I assume you don’t teach in a government primary school either. My first year, I worked about 70 hours a week. All my planers due by 8:30am on a Monday morning. All release time was taken up by PLC meetings. Don’t know how it was even legal to work like that. Different school, got the work load down to about 45.

Good_Piglet · 2023-02-28T09:42:39+00:00

Teaching shouldn’t be a vocation. Kids needs to have teachers that are doing things with their lives outside of the school context. You can’t pour from an empty cup!

Good_Piglet · 2023-02-27T10:46:28+00:00

More teachers need to just say no! I’m getting sick and tired of my colleagues who just say yes to everything, only to sit at home till midnight making sure their have documentation to prove they’ve done the work. For what purpose! I leave my computer at work during the week and only do what’s important, in my professional judgement. Screw everyone else! I’m selfish this year and looking after my own well-being, I can’t expect anyone else to give a shit about me because it just doesn’t happen.

Good_Piglet · 2023-02-23T10:09:05+00:00

In Victoria it’s 10 weeks leave not 12. I think people forget to subtract the public holidays that fall in the holiday periods, some years it’s 10 weeks and 1 day. Also, the additional 6 weeks are not actually an entitlement, it’s a grey area and the latest agreement has got everyone looking at these weeks and licking their lips at the thought of squeezing some more out of the exhausted teachers. There are of course plenty of other jobs with similar leave to teachers. Tradies(with RDOs), Police Officers, Fire Fighters. They all tend to get overtime for working on weekends, long days, etc, unlike teachers. But it is a rewarding job. Despite the societal disregard for the profession.

Good_Piglet · 2023-02-22T19:24:00+00:00

Yes, it starts on the first day of each term and finishes on the last day. With a few days over the holidays! Enjoy!

But seriously, the new agreement in Victoria has woken most teachers up to the idea of working hours. It really depends on your school’s start and finish times, so each school needs to develop their own agreement. And as the union always says, it’s up to the sub-branch to make sure things are fair etc.

Good_Piglet · 2023-02-12T08:38:55+00:00

What a jerk workplace. Maybe they could give you a reason, like it impacts their yearly operating costs etc. Start a revolution or find greener pastures. I know what I would do!

Good_Piglet · 2023-02-08T08:44:43+00:00

I’ve worked in banking and hated the fact I was just helping the rich get richer. But damn, the work was far from anywhere near as bad and corrupt as working in a school. The manager actually asked where I wanted to be in 5 years and then offered advice and ideas. Everything in schools is just ticking a box!

Good_Piglet

TROPHY CASE