Term 4 = 10 weeks, 70 days, 1680 hours

Image: Clmcdk Fejcn
“Cheers to a new year and another chance to get it right.”
Oprah Winfrey
How many hours of the day do you spend thinking about school? Planning, mulling over something from the day to the exclusion of anything else. This is not peculiar to teachers, in fact most workers and managers in other industries would do the same. It could be argued that the main difference is that teachers and school leaders are working with children through to young people, and this work is the most important, complex and challenging work of any in our society.
Teachers are paid a salary i.e. no overtime, double time, triple time or remuneration that other jobs attract. It is commonly accepted that teaching is not a regular ‘9 to 5’ job.
Yes, teachers have paid sick leave and long-service leave, and the school holidays.
How many hours during the holidays do you think about school?
Holidays or Break i.e. Autumn Break, Winter Break.
Semantics?
The language used to demarcate school weeks and holidays does not define the time teachers and school leaders spend thinking about their work during these breaks. While it is up to the individual to find their balance there are an increasing number of factors that are contributing to teachers losing a healthy work-life balance.
Teacher workload and teacher shortages are two such factors and there are no easy answers or solutions to these. Perhaps one of the myriad of self-help books might help, but finding the time to search for and read highlights the issue of finding a work-life balance. Principals must manage a different set of responsibilities and should be recognised for that.
It is easy to talk about all the things that make teaching hard, but there are so many other factors that make teaching the best job!
Perhaps one of these is like what Oprah said in that teachers have the start of a new term to start again to find a healthy work/life balance!