It’s July 1st. Yes it’s Canada Day. It’s also definite at this point that the school year is well and truly over. A time or the kids to strike out and play, camp, fish, game, do all the things they want to do they can’t normally do so frequently during their time at school. Many work, garnering wages to help them through their post-secondary journeys, or just to have some fun-money. And who among us would begrudge them this great two months of opportunity, like we all experienced in our own youths, and long for today as adults?
I am married to a teacher. An awesome teacher. One who cares deeply about the kids she tends. One who pours her heart and soul into the career she chose. It has been a convoluted path for her: once teaching piano privately, then teaching music, French, English, Special Education, amongst many other subjects, and now runs a center that caters to the needs of those on the ASD spectrum. I have seen her work very late, very early, seen her take countless emails and phone calls for kids in crisis. Countless activities that are not really part of her job but done nonetheless.
So as a society, why is it that, on one hand, we celebrate the fact that the students get this vital time to recharge and move on, while on the other castigate an entire profession for having the time to recharge as well? I have heard so many people cast down educators for having ‘two months off’ when everyone else is lucky to have two weeks in a year. I for one am fed up trying to explain to people just why this is the way it is.
Teaching is seasonal. You can’t teach someone who isn’t there. This is a cycle which has been going on for decades. For those who are not familiar with how a teacher becomes one, here it is in a nutshell. Go to school for 3 to 4 years. Go to Teacher’s College for 2 more years. Now wait. Wait a lot. Wait for placements, contracts, phone calls. Then hopefully some day you get a permanent contract. All this time work hard and do your best. Then, when you finally do get a job, prepare yourself to do preps and wipe noses and deal with situations you never knew existed. Oh, and prepare yourself to be criticized by everyone who didn’t go through all you have but know what you should do and will tell you at every opportunity.
At this time of year my wife is a wreck. She gets up and puts on her face and goes and does an awesome job anyways. And now, comes her vacation. As well earned a vacation as any I can think of. She can breathe but for a while. She can dream and read and sit and visit and travel and drink coffee during the day and have a bathroom break and worry less. And after her battery charges she will go back and take care of the kids. YOUR kids. And she will let those who like to think that she has such an easy lifestyle say what they say and ignore them.
We all have tough times and good times. Teachers also do. And teacher’s aids. And all the other people who work jobs dependent upon the cycle of school. Please respect the effort they provide to keep our kids safe. And please let the have a guilt-free time to renew and recharge.
Let them have the rest they so truly deserve!
Bill's Musings 