Firstly, I wish to state that this article is based in large upon discussions that I have had over recent years with both English and general teachers who work primarily within the government education system in Latin America. That being said, a considerable amount of teachers employed within the private system have also commented on the increased administrative demands that are placed upon them, especially at the beginning of the school year. There are many excellent schools where the focus for teachers is still set firmly upon the educational, but unfortunately, that is not the case for all.
According to Cambridge Dictionary, a TEACHER is someone whose job it is to teach in a school or college whilst an ADMINISTRATOR is someone whose job it is to control the operation of a business, organization, or plan.
If that is true, then why is it that today, in many situations, the role and parameters of a teacher is becoming blurred, becoming more about administration, and less about teaching, a fact that risks diminishing their ability to be good educators?
What is a school teacher? What is their primary role, and has their job description and dedicated responsibilities been blurred by governmental, and institutional demands as they lump ever increasing non-teaching based responsibilities upon them? School teachers today say that they are drowning in paperwork born of governmental requirements, a fact that is costing them critical time for preparing classes and threatening their core job of educating children.
While their planning and paperwork obligations have dramatically increased, many teachers I have spoken to, primarily in schools, say that the administrative support that they receive, especially in government schools, has decreased. This has led teachers to have to do an increasing amount of work at home in order to avoid their extra administrative burden having an impact on the quality of the education that they are able to provide to the students in their classrooms.
But, the question that begs an answer is, "Are teachers able, or even willing to maintain this level of duel commitment forever, or, if their obligatory administrative responsibilities remain unchanged, will they be forced to lessen their commitment to their students in order to minimize the burden placed upon their personal lives, and the subsequent levels of stress that accompanies it. Will education levels suffer in the name of administrative responsibilities, or through a teachers search for professional, and personal balance in their lives?
Today, the job of teaching is becoming impacted by those administrative planning and statistics-collecting elements that are much bigger components of their work responsibilities than they have ever been in the past. This is a fact that is pushing their abilities, and capacity to attend to teaching and learning to its limits, and warrants the question, "Is this situation sustainable, or, will it ultimately result is a decrease in the level of Education that students receive?
What makes the debate raging about this subject so important is the fact that at no other time in history has education played such a pivotal role in the successful development of the lives of people, or in the success of a nation, facts that warrant an education system that is dedicated purely to providing excellence for students, and without any unnecessary distractions that diminish it's outcome. Today, many teachers say that they feel overworked at the expense of their students and that too much time is taken to do tasks that do not make a significant difference to the educational outcomes of students.
This is a fact that is impacting on their time to be as creative as they want to be and to be able to spend more time with their students, "Teachers are saying that they are still working hard to do all that they feel that they must do to be a good teacher, but the workload is being made much more difficult to bare."
There is no doubt that traditionally, teachers always have had, and always will have an element of administrative responsibility as a part of their core duties, but, how do we return an intelligent, logical balance to this situation, how do we resolve this debacle, and return teachers back to their primary role as educators for the good of their students so as they receive the level of Education that they deserve?
Logic and necessity dictate that both governmental and private educational providers need to return to an era of mentality where education was considered to be the essential foundation of a successful society, rather than a problematic department which is a soft target for budgetary cuts during times of financial austerity. If governments need to make cuts to financial budgets, then maybe they should skim the cream from governmental perquisites and meaningless junkets rather than burdening teachers with the weight of administrative cost cutting which takes their time away from the primary purpose of their profession, teaching the next generation who will ultimately be the future leaders of their countries. It is the time for governments, and their private counterparts, to re-invest in administration so that teachers can concentrate on their core duties of teaching.
David White
Managing Director English For You Language Institute Trujillo Peru.
Headmaster American School (Bilingual ib school) Trujillo Peru
International conference presenter
International academic consultant.
dwenglishforyou@outlook.com
According to Cambridge Dictionary, a TEACHER is someone whose job it is to teach in a school or college whilst an ADMINISTRATOR is someone whose job it is to control the operation of a business, organization, or plan.
If that is true, then why is it that today, in many situations, the role and parameters of a teacher is becoming blurred, becoming more about administration, and less about teaching, a fact that risks diminishing their ability to be good educators?
What is a school teacher? What is their primary role, and has their job description and dedicated responsibilities been blurred by governmental, and institutional demands as they lump ever increasing non-teaching based responsibilities upon them? School teachers today say that they are drowning in paperwork born of governmental requirements, a fact that is costing them critical time for preparing classes and threatening their core job of educating children.
While their planning and paperwork obligations have dramatically increased, many teachers I have spoken to, primarily in schools, say that the administrative support that they receive, especially in government schools, has decreased. This has led teachers to have to do an increasing amount of work at home in order to avoid their extra administrative burden having an impact on the quality of the education that they are able to provide to the students in their classrooms.
But, the question that begs an answer is, "Are teachers able, or even willing to maintain this level of duel commitment forever, or, if their obligatory administrative responsibilities remain unchanged, will they be forced to lessen their commitment to their students in order to minimize the burden placed upon their personal lives, and the subsequent levels of stress that accompanies it. Will education levels suffer in the name of administrative responsibilities, or through a teachers search for professional, and personal balance in their lives?
Today, the job of teaching is becoming impacted by those administrative planning and statistics-collecting elements that are much bigger components of their work responsibilities than they have ever been in the past. This is a fact that is pushing their abilities, and capacity to attend to teaching and learning to its limits, and warrants the question, "Is this situation sustainable, or, will it ultimately result is a decrease in the level of Education that students receive?
What makes the debate raging about this subject so important is the fact that at no other time in history has education played such a pivotal role in the successful development of the lives of people, or in the success of a nation, facts that warrant an education system that is dedicated purely to providing excellence for students, and without any unnecessary distractions that diminish it's outcome. Today, many teachers say that they feel overworked at the expense of their students and that too much time is taken to do tasks that do not make a significant difference to the educational outcomes of students.
This is a fact that is impacting on their time to be as creative as they want to be and to be able to spend more time with their students, "Teachers are saying that they are still working hard to do all that they feel that they must do to be a good teacher, but the workload is being made much more difficult to bare."
There is no doubt that traditionally, teachers always have had, and always will have an element of administrative responsibility as a part of their core duties, but, how do we return an intelligent, logical balance to this situation, how do we resolve this debacle, and return teachers back to their primary role as educators for the good of their students so as they receive the level of Education that they deserve?
Logic and necessity dictate that both governmental and private educational providers need to return to an era of mentality where education was considered to be the essential foundation of a successful society, rather than a problematic department which is a soft target for budgetary cuts during times of financial austerity. If governments need to make cuts to financial budgets, then maybe they should skim the cream from governmental perquisites and meaningless junkets rather than burdening teachers with the weight of administrative cost cutting which takes their time away from the primary purpose of their profession, teaching the next generation who will ultimately be the future leaders of their countries. It is the time for governments, and their private counterparts, to re-invest in administration so that teachers can concentrate on their core duties of teaching.
David White
Managing Director English For You Language Institute Trujillo Peru.
Headmaster American School (Bilingual ib school) Trujillo Peru
International conference presenter
International academic consultant.
dwenglishforyou@outlook.com
Sadly, in the center of all this we have our politicians who usually lack the necessary vision to build structures or policies that can truly stand the test of time or adapt to the changes of a world that does not let up. It's not the teachers or the students or the parents, it is them , our politicians and their provebial shortsightedness. Perhaps, the answer lies also there. Perhaps, our politicians should be educated so they may understand how destructive they can be or we could as well limit them to do what they do best: give speeches.
ReplyDeleteI agree my friend. Over the years, education has changed to such a degree that it has become a business more than an essentail foundation of society. Whilst it is true that education needs to be more professional and accountable for it's actions, and results, governments, in their never ending endeavor to justify their existance, have placed new rules and policies upon schools, and their teachers which now buries everybody under a mountain of red tape and often unnecessary administrative proceedures. The worst part of this is the fact that whilst governments increase the administrative aspects of education, they fail to adaquately fund the administrative staff necessary to maintain their new requirements, ultimately requiring teachers to multi-task to a degree that affects the quality of the education that they are able to give to their students. Governments needs to realize that teachers teach, and administrators adminster, and when both are correctly supported, and funded, then education, in general, will be in a better place.
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