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> I know n=1 but, my girlfriend is a teacher and I see her working about 40 hours a week, for a 24h job. She has a 0.6 FTE contracted position (and an according

by arkh 7y ago

> I know n=1 but, my girlfriend is a teacher and I see her working about 40 hours a week, for a 24h job. She has a 0.6 FTE contracted position (and an according 60% monthly salary), she's at the school about 4 days a week. On her off-day, every single evening before work and after work, and at least one, sometimes two days of the weekend, she's grading papers, designing exams, preparing lessons, calling up parents, responding to students on their education platform (some saas application on laptop & phone) etc etc. Why does she accept this? You get a salary, you have hours to do shit then go home and forget about work. You need to prepare things? Do it at school during work hours. Stop gifting unpaid time to a corporation which does not care.

bakuninsbart 7y ago
She shouldn't accept it, but generally teachers aren't just working for a company and serving a customer. - They are responsible for the future of the kids they are teaching, and most of them are taking that responsibility very seriously.
IkmoIkmo 7y ago
A few reasons. One, it's not a corporation, virtually every single school in the country is a public school. She's essentially a gov employee. Teachers have been striking and protesting against low wages for years, gov doesn't budge. If you studied to become a teacher for half a decade, love your job, see the impact on kids who need you, and essentially work at a non-profit, there's very little recourse but leave teaching behind entirely and do something else in the private sector. You can cut corners and stick to contracted hours but your classes will suck, your kids will know you don't care and won't care either. Both your job becomes boring, soulless, without impact or connection as the relationship with your students goes down the drain. You'll burn out for different reasons. I'm exaggerating some points slightly but that's the gist of it. Netherlands btw.
ajross 7y ago
Maybe because the gift is to the students, not a "corporation". They're the ones being harmed if their teacher cuts hours worked. Is that fair? No, but it's the moral calculus regardless. And it's at least one reason why teachers are, indeed, "underpaid".

by arkh 7y ago

bakuninsbart 7y ago

She shouldn't accept it, but generally teachers aren't just working for a company and serving a customer. - They are responsible for the future of the kids they are teaching, and most of them are taking that responsibility very seriously.

IkmoIkmo 7y ago

A few reasons. One, it's not a corporation, virtually every single school in the country is a public school. She's essentially a gov employee. Teachers have been striking and protesting against low wages for years, gov doesn't budge. If you studied to become a teacher for half a decade, love your job, see the impact on kids who need you, and essentially work at a non-profit, there's very little recourse but leave teaching behind entirely and do something else in the private sector. You can cut corners and stick to contracted hours but your classes will suck, your kids will know you don't care and won't care either. Both your job becomes boring, soulless, without impact or connection as the relationship with your students goes down the drain. You'll burn out for different reasons. I'm exaggerating some points slightly but that's the gist of it. Netherlands btw.

ajross 7y ago

Maybe because the gift is to the students, not a "corporation". They're the ones being harmed if their teacher cuts hours worked. Is that fair? No, but it's the moral calculus regardless. And it's at least one reason why teachers are, indeed, "underpaid".