It
doesn’t matter whether you are a TA, teacher or Head teacher, you work in a
school because you have a passion for education. Let’s face it, it is not to
become rich, although a Porsche and a holiday to the Bahamas would be lovely.
I
have only ever met a few individuals that work with children that do not care.
Some staff obviously use it as a form of self-punishment, regularly stating in
the staffroom that they ‘dislike children’ so what do they do? Seek a
profession in a school and surround themselves where little ones are
everywhere. Some do it to empower themselves; they revel in the control and
self-gratification of telling kids what they have to do. To have someone listen
to them and carry out the tasks that they have instructed gives them a thrill.
They get found out by children very quickly as they do not suffer fools gladly.
Some do it because the hours suit them, in respect to picking up their own
children in other schools and holiday times… these cases are rare.
When
I hear communities of people not in education pronounce ‘they have 13 weeks
holiday a year! They are a bunch workshy, lazy and overpaid bunch!’ I want to
cause a significant amount of pain to them. They have not got a clue. Teaching
Assistants are the most motivated and caring bunch of individuals you are
likely to meet. Currently, they are expected to be teachers without the pay.
Most of them have another job to top up a really disgusting wage and many of
them study outside education to improve themselves. On a basic level they are
in early every day and stay later if they need to. They are invaluable to
teachers.
What
is expected of a teacher has quadrupled during the last decade. In nearly every
case, teachers have to work most nights, pretty much at least one day of the
weekend and yes, they are in school during the holidays. Many of the teachers
also take intervention groups during their breaks due to the pressure on them
to achieve the data that is expected of their pupils. Take a look at this list…
are you ready? Creating long, medium and weekly planning (and the annotation of
them) ; constant formative, summative assessment and endless marking; the
making of resources; delivering interesting and focused lessons; pressurised subject
leadership; ever changing safeguarding issues; resolving friendship and
behaviour issues; daily planning of open and closed questioning; ticking various
tick sheets; audits for everything; daily and weekly analysing of data; worrying
about the progress of every child and wondering what accelerated progress is; organising
the classroom and creating displays; motivating the motivated and unmotivated; up
to 5 levels of challenge (differentiation) for each lesson; creating this ,that
and everything; meeting parents who both are supportive and unsupportive; organising
and attending various school events; meeting governors and showing them you
know what you are doing; celebrating achievement; updating subject knowledge in
concepts you have to revise yourself; being an ICT genius; evaluating and
improving your curriculum linking subjects together; consulting with all school
community; co-operating; judging and prioritising; problem solving; liaising;
reviewing; advising; participating in staff meetings; maintaining sanity;
nurturing and leading… and the list continues.
This
is all ok and it’s the job we have chosen to do. It is all fine and dandy and
you can cope until… something goes wrong.
The
dreaded cold, a demanding shouty parent in the playground, the computer decides
not to work, the photocopier is out of toner, there is frost on your car, there
has been a change in the day and the deputy has not told you, assembly has been
cancelled, Your TA is covering in another class, you have to cover a playground
duty, a weekly plan has gone wrong on Monday or you have forgotten your lunch.
This
list is so ridiculous but shows the fragile nature of education in the present
times. I seriously compare being in education to Nick Wallenda’s tightrope walk
over the Niagara Falls. When things go wrong, some staff are constantly walking
on a long piece of cotton wool whereas other staff have an invisible harness to
keep them sane. Some colleagues have bricks beneath them when they fall whereas
other staff have lovely cushions for a landing. It is a question of resilience,
experience, attitude and the ability to learn and adapt. All qualities that
require a growth mind-set. Everyone knows that the mists and the gusts will
occur, it is how you can cope with them.
The
amazing thing is that sometimes when you are crossing the Niagara Falls - a
pupil masters a concept, a parent says thank you, a kid playing their first
game scores a goal, a SEN child writes a sentence, a kid that surprises you, a
child makes you laugh or you have a fantastic idea for a lesson that works.
That is the addiction.
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