Who cares for those who care about everybody else? Support secondary teachers improved working conditions.
New Zealand secondary school teachers experience some pretty shocking health and safety issues as an everyday occurrence.
Teachers want free flu vaccinations as part of their recent claim to the Ministry of Education because they are more susceptible to catching bugs from close contact in a confined space with up to 120 students a day. In a recent health survey, schools have been identified as the most unhygenic bacteria ridden environments of all workplaces.
Teaching can be an unhealthy activity and sometimes it leads to real workplace stress. Students who cannot or will not see teachers as human beings feel it is their right to say whatever impulsive, vitriolic statement of abuse they want. Isolated in a classroom with up to 30 adolescents, the classroom can also be a dangerous place- when students get angry and react impulsively by stabbing, punching, poking, shoulder barging, throwing chairs at teachers. ACC claims for New Zealand secondary teachers injured in their workplace are rising.
Teenagers are getting angrier and some see school as a place to try out anti-authority behaviours . This is a reason why guidance counselors are essential in school yet this National government is talking about reducing the number of counselors in schools when we actually need more- not less.
The New Zealand secondary classroom can be an unhealthy place for teachers because of the real exhaustion caused by workload. Teachers are guinea-pigs for every latest I.T fad, professional development idea, educational jargon and new programmes. Change has been constant and relentless in the last few years yet the same problems remain.
Yet few are concerned enough about the people who care for and educate the students. Who cares for the teachers? Some expect teachers to do superhuman jobs without pay rises and to be happy with their lot. Well, we are not happy with the exhaustion of the workload that few can imagine or with the government spin that claims we get enough money. I know of teachers who cannot afford to buy new clothes because they are supporting a family.
Work overload is a huge issue and as a result 10% of teachers leave for better conditions overseas every year. One way the government can show their appreciation of secondary teachers is to address safety in the school ground for students and staff by employing trained staff for duties and giving teachers more time to plan quality lessons. From my experience, teachers are not greedy, we rarely get an opportunity to go shopping because we are at school till late and spend the weekends with sport, catching up and planning and recuperating from the contact with over 120 students every day of the working week. (abridged)
Rachel Ryan, Te Puke.