The American Federation of Teachers conducted a survey of about 30,000 teachers nation-wide. Survey results, which were recently published, indicate many teachers feel that teaching sucks:
- 86% do not trust their administrator or supervisor
- Only 1 in 5 feel respected by government and media
- 78% feel physically and/or emotionally exhausted by the end of the work day
- 87% say job demands interfere with family life
- Greatest workplace stressors: new initiatives without training, mandated curricula, standardized tests
The NYT recently published an article highlighting the nation-wide teacher shortage. In California, for example, the amount of people entering the profession has dropped more than 55 percent from 2008 to 2012.
However, the NYT bungles the reason for the teacher shortage, describing it as "a result of the layoffs of the recession years combined with an improving economy in which fewer people are training to be teachers." So there's a teacher shortage because fewer people are training to be teachers? Wow. Insightful.
If the NYT had talked to any teachers or to any unions that represent teachers, they might have realized that many teachers think that their current jobs suck. We don't know any current teacher, at least in CPS, who would recommend entering the profession to their kids, their nieces and nephews, their younger siblings, their younger cousins or their friends' kids. Correct us if we're wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment