Reduce Teacher Workload by Setting yourself Boundaries
Want to know how some teachers stay perfectly chilled, despite the pressure of the profession? It’s about boundaries, says Rob Ward…
- by Rob Ward
I was recently asked by a colleague far more experienced than myself how I manage to remain impervious to the stresses and pressures of this highly stressful and pressured profession.
I struggled to formulate anything other than a trite answer, so went away to consider more carefully how I have managed to avoid the despair which afflicts many at the start of term, the panic which accompanies the build up to exam season or the sleepless nights fretting about results.
This is what I came up with:
First, I am absolutely confident that I do a good job. I am not the best teacher in the world. I’m probably not the best teacher in my department. But I have worked very hard in my career to ensure I am a highly competent practitioner – and that belief is unshakeable.
There are always kids in my classes who achieve highly. And when they do, I look at those kids with pride: pride at their work ethic and achievement, but also pride that I have taught them what they need to know.
And if I taught the high achievers well, I taught everyone else well too: they were all in the same lessons, with the same resources and the same access to the same teacher.
A clear divide
Maybe I have an unusual perspective on education: I became a teacher in my thirties and I think this helps me to take a step back when required.
I’ve worked in various industries with various levels of responsibility, but one thing they all had in common was this: the working day was finite.
It had a beginning and an end. And I brought this with me to teaching; there are only so many working hours in the day, so I either do it in the time I allow myself, or I don’t do it.
I don’t work at home. My laptop died long ago and was never fixed. I don’t access emails on my phone. Taking marking home is anathema to me.
For many, the barrier between work and home is porous – the insidious creep of education seeps into everything. Not me. If I’m not at school, I’m not working or worrying about working.
Perhaps key is my happiness with being a classroom teacher. I don’t want to move into a pastoral or leadership role, so I don’t need to do anything extra, make myself visible, impress the leadership team or anything else that might lead to my promotion.
Do I want to mentor the ITT student? Sounds extremely time consuming; I’ll give it a miss, thanks.
Use the power
I have no compunction about saying ‘no’. If I don’t want to do something ‘extra’, I simply don’t do it. Extra lessons after school? I don’t think so.
Is that unfair of me? I don’t think so. For one thing, I’m not getting paid for these things.
More importantly, the kids I teach are told this from the outset. They’re informed from the start that if they work hard in lessons they won’t need to attend Saturday schools or twilight sessions.
And if they don’t work hard… so be it. I am not responsible for their results: they are.
I suppose a lot of these ‘solutions’ aren’t very practical. Sorry about that. There are obviously systemic problems to be overcome if we want a happier, healthier workforce.
But I strongly believe that many teachers have it within their own power to make their job (I use that word deliberately) easier.
They do not have to be perfectionists, do not have to sacrifice their Sunday mornings, are not responsible for their pupils’ results.
I reconciled myself to all of this long ago, and have been infinitely more happy, productive and effective since.
Rob Ward is a cyclist and occasional teacher of English in Yorkshire.
