What do teachers do in the school holidays? They work, plan, and rest

January 5, 2024

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The common perception of teaching as a laid-back profession characterized by short workdays and extended vacations is largely a fallacy. Incumbents of the profession contend that while teaching is undeniably rewarding, it is also riddled with stress and overworking. These challenges have been exacerbated by recent teacher shortages.

Generally, the concept of teaching as a 9-to-3 job doesn't exist. A considerable portion of preparatory "invisible" work occurs before school begins and continues well after students leave. Although school holidays provide teachers with some respite, these periods also require a substantial amount of work, specifically in preparation for the forthcoming academic term or year.

Teachers start their day well before the classrooms open around 8:30am, in order to ready themselves for the day's activities. Their breaks are often taken up by child supervision, and their work oftentimes doesn't end with the school day. Remaining hours are allocated to helping students needing extra attention, attending mandatory meetings, and other roles expected over the academic calendar including marking take-home assignments. All these roles and responsibilities result in an additional 15 hours of unpaid overtime per week.

By the end of a term, teachers are on the verge of exhaustion. Even though teachers spend nearly 40 weeks of their year in the classroom, the rest of their time is not entirely leisurely. A significant portion of this period involves working overtime and during holidays to meet the demands of students, parents, colleagues, and administration. Although teachers use this non-teaching period for recuperation, they also have to complete tasks they couldn't undertake during hectic school terms. These tasks include lesson preparations, providing feedback on student work, and procuring classroom essentials. Often, educators find themselves catching up on personal tasks, leisure activities, or perhaps taking trips with their families during school vacations.

However, teachers do not have the luxury of choosing their vacation times. With school holidays coinciding with peak travel seasons, many teachers cannot afford to plan family vacations due to heightened costs and crowds. Hence, while the amount of holidays teachers receive may appear more generous compared to other occupations, the reality paints a different picture — a blend of home-based flexible work, school meetings, preparatory work for the next term, and occasional holiday down-time.

Research underlines society's high regard for educators' commitment, yet misconceptions about their work hours and vacations persist. It's essential to correct these inaccurate assumptions that undermine and undervalue teachers' roles.

This article, initially published on The Conversation, has been reproduced under a Creative Commons license. You can find the original article here.