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Why teachers need their long holidays

Waking up this morning I am reminded of that old end-of-term feeling, one that thousands of teachers will be experiencing today, the first day of the Christmas break. Yesterday was December 20th, which means that there is only a short time now for teachers to decompress before the big day arrives. However, the latest I can remember breaking up for Christmas was on the 23rd, so at least it isn't as bad as that this year.

My use of the word 'decompress' in the last paragraph is deliberate, as for me the end of term always felt like the completion of a deep sea dive. I would feel physically and mentally exhausted and I would need a couple of days to decompress whilst slowly coming up to the surface and feeling normal again. I am pretty confident that 99% of teachers would say that they experience something similar, and that they only start feeling human after around day three following the end of term.

It is for that reason that I have given todays post the title 'why teachers need their holidays', although I am sure that, should anyone who is not in the profession read this, they will scoff as is usually the case when the subject of teachers holidays come up.

The first thing that we need to do therefore is rebrand the breaks between terms from holidays to 'non contact time'. Calling them holidays conjures up images of teachers sipping pina coladas lying on sun loungers, but the reality is very different. Yes, within these breaks teachers will have much needed time to rechargetheir batteries, but they will also spend many hours preparing for the start of the next term, either in school or at home.

The usual response from civilians to any comments about how tiring it is to be a teacher is to laugh and tell you how hard their jobs are and ask why they shouldn't get as much time off too. The best way I can think of to respond to this is to try to recreate the conditions teachers have to deal with, within the context of other jobs. Here are three examples that I think serve to make the point well:

- If being an Estate Agent was more like being a teacher you would have to build the houses yourself, decorate them and then sell them. Your pay would then be related to the profit that you made.

- If running a Garden Centre was more like being a teacher you would be given lots of un-named seeds with no instructions and then be expected to not just grow them but ensure that they flourished. Your pay would be linked to one particular measurement such as the number of flowers on the plant, even if the plant was of the non-flowering variety.

- If running a Restaurant was more like being a teacher you would have the same customers every night for seven years and be expected to cook them all healthy and tasty meals without them getting bored and allowing for all their dietary needs. You would also have to deal with the customers parents calling you to complain if they had an unsatisfactory meal.

Teaching is the most demanding profession that I can think of, and in my book I have advocated for some kind of national service for all adults where they have to spend a set amount of time in a school working. I think that this would be the only way to overcome the prejudice that teachers receive and perhaps then the wider public would accept that teachers need their holidays!

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