I've gotten one comment and one e-mail since my post yesterday regarding teachers getting 4.5 months per year off. I'll emphasize this now and several times hereafter, the following is not directed to those who sent these to me yesterday!
Both the comment and the e-mail were from people with jobs in the academic community at differing levels. Both the comment and the e-mail made the point that "teachers don't really get as much time off as I implied yesterday."
OK, let's get something straight. This is a hot-button issue with me b/c, even though I am a teacher, I get sick of teachers moaning and groaning.
(note: the comment and e-mail were NOT "moaning and groaning"...the above just references teachers in general)
As the old saying goes, the reason why academic disputes are so fierce is because so little is at stake. There is no whinier (sic) group in the world than the academic community (again, not referencing the persons who commented on my post yesterday). This includes all levels of teachers from pre-k to university.
I say this b/c I "is" one. I am exposed to these folks on a daily basis. Those who have not yet come to the realization that having the ability to sit on the beach (or wherever you may choose to be) in the summer time and do research DOES NOT CONSTITUTE WORK are convinced that they are abused b/c they have to work in the summer.
Different disciplines and schools have different ways of doing things. In business, we don't have to report back to anyone about what we did with our summers. If you do research, you report what you submitted/got published that year at the end of the academic year. It doesn't matter if you did it during the summer or not. One would be strongly advised to do it during the summer b/c that's when you have the most "long blocks of time". However, let's assume for the sake of argument that you have to report back to a tenure/promotion committee about what you did that summer. So what?
"Dear Committee, despite the fact that you cannot fire me b/c I have tenure, therefore if I do not sleep with a co-ed or poop on the dean's desk I cannot get fired, or will not fire me b/c it makes work for you, I am taking (read: wasting) my time reporting back to you on what I did this summer. I attended a few meetings this summer that I really didn't want to attend b/c they impinged on my time. I exchanged e-mails and phone calls with students that were not happy about their grades last spring. I taught one 8 week class b/c you pay me a crapload of money to do so. I sat around and sipped on fruit smoothies while "working" on research. Here's a list of the publications I worked on:
1. Professor, I'm a Doofus (2007), "I Put a Lot of Work Into Writing this Title Despite the Fact That Nobody is Ever Going to Read this Article," Journal of Dust Gathering, 4(1), p. 3444-4332.
2. Buttscratcher, Sally (2007), "I Call Doing Research Work Because The Hardest Work I've Ever Done is Untangling Butt Hair in the Shower," Journal of Nobody's Going to Cite this Article, 1(2), p. 999-1234.
3. Shrunkenutts, Don (2007), "Reasons I Haven't Broken a Sweat in 10 Years: My Life Growing up Upper Middle Class and Sacking Groceries as a Teenager," Journal of Unreproduceable Results, 44(8), p. 1-33.
4. Fatheiney, Garth (2007), "The Unfathomable Congnitive Reasoning of an Academic Malcontent: You Know I'm Complaining When My Mouth is Moving," Journal of Teachers Who Need to Dig Ditches for a Summer So They Realize What Real Work Is, 1(1), p. 44-222.
In summary, I probably could have done nothing this summer b/c all you would do is send me a hateful letter that will amount to nothing as long as I publish in accordance with the quantity and quality of journal articles (that nobody will read) as generally accepted by the department. Best, Whiny Teacher"
OK, so let's assume that teachers don't really get that much time off in the summer/spring break/fall break. Do you get some time off during these times? Yes. Could you/do you take at least 8 weeks off every year? The answer is most likely "Yes" you could, even if you don't. Are you paid a 9 month salary that most folks would be happy receiving in 12 months? Yes, and you can supplement this with summer work. Do you get better benefits that 99% of the working population? Yes, especially if you work for the public school system.
So, all of us teachers should do the following: 1) get a grip on reality, 2) if you think you're working too hard, go install HVAC equipment in 150 degree attics for a summer and then come back and tell me that your "work" is really work, 3) come to terms with the fact that you are paid well for what you do, 4) quit complaining: aferall, life is GOOD!, 5) realize that simply b/c you don't "like" grading papers, don't "like" responding to students, don't "like" doing anything that impinges on you doing what you like doing DOESN'T MEAN THESE THINGS ARE "WORK!", 6) realize that the reason you vehemently hate things that impinge on your time is because you've gotten so used to having so much time.
I could go on and on...
TEACHERS OF THE WORLD (including Pappa): HERE YEE!! HEAR YEE!!! WE HAVE IT GOOD!!! QUIT YOUR DAMNED COMPLAINING!!!!
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1 comment:
Yeah, this is a whiny lot. Having been a teacher at both the high-school level and a teacher of graduate students, I can say with full authority that the higher one goes in academia, the whinier the lot gets. And yet the higher one goes, the less true work one has to do.
I remember back when I taught 140 students 5 days a week, and each day was teaching four different courses. Each semester was 18 weeks in length. Besides assigning daily homework that needed grading, I gave weekly tests, and every six weeks, we had a major test. That was high school of course.
Now I teach between 45-60 students a semester (which is 14 weeks in length). While I do have my students submit multiple graded assignments over the course of that semester, the norm in my field is for students to take just one test, an all-or-nothing exam at the end of the semester. And boy, is there a lot of whining.
Your points are all well taken. My earlier comment merely wanted to remind you, Grasshopper, that as one who is about to step into the assistant-professor-being-reviewed-for-tenure-one-day hole, that you will have to do these other things in your "time off." And I have no doubt, especially given your long experience with real work (and aren't the crawlspaces equally horrible to the attics?), you will have no trouble being successful.
Oh by the way, as you have sworn off the DOG, you may be interested to learn that the so-called sports columnist did apologize to the freshman today.
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