S08 E05: My favourite episode: The Invisible Work of Teaching (Replay)

 

Despite the jokes that teaching is 9 – 3 with 12 weeks holiday a year, we know it to be otherwise. We know that the work starts well before 9am, finishes well after 3pm and that large parts of those holidays are usually spent working too.

 

We also know that workload has been increasing over the last 10-20 years. The introduction of new improvement measures such as Professional Standards for Teachers and the national curriculum, as well as the impact of NAPLAN and the My School Website have resulted in more administrative work, much of which arguably has little to do with the actual running of a classroom day to day.

 

There is a vast invisible workload required of teachers today, much of which isn’t only invisible to the general public but it’s also going unnoticed and unacknowledged by us too. As well as the administrative requirements of the job, the mental load of running a classroom and the emotional labour inherent in the role are increasing too.

 

This episode is about that invisible work, and while there are no quick fixes, I offer some steps to take to help survive and practise self-care in the process.

 

The Teachers Thriving list of Employee Assistance Services

Mental load cartoon by French Cartoonist Emma, in the Guardian

Mental load ABC article by Leah Ruppannah

BBC Emotional labour article

Toggl App

The work hours tracking sheet on the Self-Care for Teachers Freebies Library

Books mentioned: “The Wife Drought” by Annabelle Crabb and “Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez