A Losing Battle (of words)

I thought it interesting to document (like what schools ask teachers to do - to document whatever they do) the inputs and replies to the ST forum:

The starter:

15 May 2010
A teaching life or a teacher's lot?

Work-life balance? Here's one day in the life of a teacher

I AM often told how the Ministry of Education is easing teachers' workload, but I see little evidence of it.

My husband has been teaching in a neighbourhood school for several years. Despite the mantra of work-life balance, I see little of it in the lives of teachers. Here is a typical weekday routine for my husband:

* 5am: Wake up and prepare for school.
* 6am: Leave for school.
* 7am: Arrive at school and perform morning duty (in a sense, 'guard duty').
* 7.30am to 1pm: Regular teaching duties (including extra games for students who need more exercise during recess, which is part of the Holistic Health Framework that replaced the Trim and Fit scheme).
* 1 pm to 1.30pm: Prepare for remedial lessons.
* 1.30pm to 3.30pm: Conduct remedial lessons (my husband's school believes that to improve students' results, remedial lessons must be conducted daily).
* 3.30pm to 5.30pm: Be present for the co-curricular activities he is in charge of.
* 5.30pm to 6.30pm: Administrative work like keying in remarks on students for the mid-term report book).
* 6.30pm to 6.45pm: Pack 36 books and piles of worksheets to take home and mark.
* 6.45pm to 7.45pm: Travel home.
* 7.45pm to 8.30pm: Eat dinner and rest.
* 8.30pm to 1am: Continue with administrative work, such as marking books and worksheets, reviewing examination papers, and preparing programmes for the June school camp and Youth Olympic Games activities.

Weekends are hardly restful. I often ask him if the endless work is because he is singled out. That is not so, he tells me. His colleagues face the same punishing workload.

As I am writing this letter at 10am, my husband has developed a fever. But he is unable to seek medical attention as there is an oral examination in the afternoon.

I understand there is a need to be accountable to students' parents. But in this case, who is answerable to a teacher's family if anything happens to the teacher?

Aishah Quek (Ms)

The protester:

May 21, 2010
Stressful yes, but not unusual as jobs go (In response to 'A teaching life or a teacher's lot?')

I FIND Ms Aishah Quek's diary of a teacher's day last Saturday ('Work-life balance? Here's one day in the life of a teacher') misleading in detailing the lack of a work-life balance for her husband, a teacher.

Using the same diary format as Ms Quek, I would like to explain why.

•5am to 6am: Wake up and prepare for school. A lot of people, including students, take only half an hour to prepare for school or work.

•Leave for school at 6am and arrive at 7am. If he needs to take one hour to reach school, Ms Quek's husband should ask for a transfer to a school nearer home.

•7am to 7.30am: The 'guard duty' he does is usually done by parent volunteers or rotated among teachers, so it is not a daily affair.

•7.30am to 1pm: Regular teaching. Teachers do not teach from 7.30am to 1pm at a stretch. They have one or two free periods in between each day.

•1 pm to 3.30pm: Prepare for and conduct remedial lessons. Again, this is not an everyday affair as different subject teachers will take turns to conduct remedial lessons.

•3.30pm to 5.30 pm: Take charge of co-curricular activities. Again this is usually only once a week for primary schools. For secondary schools, these are usually done by outside coaches or student leaders.

•5.30 pm to 6.30pm: Key in remarks on students for mid-term report book. This is required only twice a year, during mid-term and year-end.

•6.45 to 7.45pm: Travel home. He should request to teach in a school nearer home to cut travelling time.

•8.30pm to 1am: Marking books, worksheets and the like. Most homework is marked by students who exchange books and worksheets, with the teacher going through the answers during class time.

An exception is for examination papers and compositions, which are marked by teachers. These are usually marked in school during the teachers' free periods. The daily routine listed by the writer did not include lunch breaks.

While a teacher's job is stressful, so are other jobs. Having to work long hours is the norm for all jobs now. At least the workload of a teacher's job is seasonal and there are times when they can relax a little, for example, during the long mid-year and year-end holidays.

So teachers, cheer up, you are not alone, all other jobs are stressful and requires us to work long hours as well.

Tan Lee Hwang (Ms)

The defender:

May 21, 2010
Care for them if we truly care about education

WITH reference to Ms Aishah Quek's letter last Saturday ('Work-life balance? Here's one day in the life of a teacher'), the Ministry of Education (MOE) should take a hard look at what is happening in schools.

In particular, MOE should examine how overzealous principals and management are in exerting undue pressure on the average teacher.

The typical workday routine as related by Ms Aishah is sadly true although individual cases may differ.

Teachers who are likely to deny this problem exists belong to two categories.

The first are young and ambitious teachers or heads of department who are being fast-tracked for promotion to principal.

The second group comprises the middle-aged or senior teachers who are hoping to bite the bullet and just make it to the next grade so that they can increase their income and pay for their children's education and clear their mortgage before retiring.

Those who can quit are usually young and mobile without any financial commitments.

Teachers who leave commonly cite the sheer volume of paper work, including marking, and additional non-teaching responsibilities. Typical responses from principals and school management include 'learn to work smart' or 'make time for family'.

But they do not apply to the average teacher who must cope with the volume of marking for which there is no 'work smart' solution - unless the teacher resorts to unethical methods like making students mark each other's work or marking in class instead of supervising the students.

I once raised the issue of an overworked young teacher to a principal only to be told that he was not working smart.

If we really believe in helping teachers achieve a balance, we must acknowledge their unrealistic workload.

We must reduce the obsession with continual assessments and trying to complete the syllabus far ahead of schedule.

Most teachers, like most civil servants, do not discuss their problems for fear of punishment or negative consequences to their career prospects.

If we truly value our children's education, we should start by taking good care of our teachers and their needs.

James Suresh

The clarifier:

May 22, 2010
Teacher's job not as simple as it looks
WITH reference to Ms Tan Lee Hwang's letter ("Stressful yes, but not unusual as jobs go") and Mr James Suresh's letter ("Care for them if we truly care about education") yesterday, I believe some current teachers would find Ms Tan's suggestions easier said than done.

Sometimes, leaving early for work is not enough to prepare against unforeseen circumstances like traffic jams or slow traffic on rainy days. Ms Tan's suggestion to request for a school nearer home is definitely what teachers can do. However, the approval for such requests is based on the vacancies available and the teacher's subjects combination (for secondary schools and junior colleges).

She suggested allowing students to mark one another's homework while the teacher goes through the answers in class. This may not be very effective in assessing students' progress or mistakes in their daily homework. Considering the short duration of each lesson for every subject, if the teacher asks the students to mark most of their homework in class, I wonder how much time is left for the actual teaching in class.

This method may also lead to another problem where students put less effort in their homework since it will be marked by their classmates and no comments on mistakes will be given, unless the teacher does another round of checking after the classroom marking.

Therefore, I strongly agree with Mr Suresh that there are no work-smart solutions unless the teacher resorts to questionable methods like making students mark one another's work.

The suggestion to leave the duties of co-curricular activities (CCAs) to outside coaches or student leaders in secondary schools may be feasible to a certain extent. But the teacher-in-charge will still have to be present and the use of outside coaches may require more than once a week of the teacher's time.

Indeed, a teacher can find ways to relieve his heavy workload, but how many of these ways are at the expense of the students' learning and curriculum time?

Seah Josee (Mdm)

The ultimate, holding up the fort:

May 22, 2010
Duties eased but MOE will keep an eye on teachers' workload

WE REFER to yesterday's letters by Ms Tan Lee Hwang, Mr James Suresh and Mr Wee Hien Seng ('A teaching life or a teacher's lot?') as well as several in Forum Online yesterday which responded to Ms Aishah Quek's letter last Saturday ('Work-life balance? Here's one day in the life of a teacher') on the challenges faced by teachers in maintaining a work-life balance.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) values the hard work and contributions of our teachers. Many teachers are highly committed to their profession and go beyond their call of duty every day for their students. We thank them for their dedication and the critical role they play in helping every child reach his potential.

Teachers should have manageable workloads. Over the years, we have taken steps to ease their administrative duties and support them in various functions.

Teachers are encouraged to discuss their workload with their supervisors. MOE will continue to closely monitor and review the workload of teachers.

To better address their needs, we encourage our teachers to make use of the different platforms that are available to the teaching fraternity to provide feedback to MOE.

We will continue to find ways to better support our teachers and ensure a fulfilling career for the teaching fraternity.

Wong Siew Hoong
Director, Schools
Ministry of Education

Lu Cheng Yang
Director, Personnel
Ministry of Education