Jo Raphael: School leaders burning candles at both ends

Teachers and principals report feeling stressed and frustrated over their workloads. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

A colleague told me he had two very different experiences with teachers while at school.

One wrote the lesson on the blackboard. He pointed at it for them to copy it down and then gave out detentions to anyone who dared to speak. The teacher sat at his desk and did crossword puzzles.

Another would take him and his class on field trips and even did a module on the Treaty of Waitangi and the NZ Wars even though it wasn't part of their course work because he thought it was important that they knew it.

It seems that teaching, like any other profession, has people who are willing to put in the maximum effort and others who just clock in and go through the motions.

And while neither of these extremes are ideal, a happy medium must be found in the current teaching environment to preserve work-life balance.

We reported this week that Bay of Plenty principals are experiencing fatigue and frustration due to their heavy workloads.

Our story said more than 45 per cent of school leaders who answered a national survey of teachers, reported they were working more than 55 hours a week.

One principal we spoke to says it's not unusual for school leaders to be clocking up more than 70 hours a week.

NZEI Rotorua branch president Jo Collyer says Rotorua teachers are feeling "absolute frustration" about working under difficult conditions.

She says teachers are dealing with children with behavioural problems leading to sleepless nights worrying about their students.

There is no doubt that systemic social issues such as the housing crisis, poverty and family violence are having an impact on teachers and how they deal with their students.

School rolls must be under huge amounts of pressure - especially in Tauranga where the population is projected to increase by 71,000 over the next 27 years.

And while all these problems are piling up, it's the school leaders who are buckling under the weight.

Western Bay of Plenty Principals' Association president and principal of Tauriko School Suzanne Billington echoes Collyer saying there was huge frustration around not having enough resources.

"We are just totally under-resourced in education. We have got a large number of students who need support, and the resourcing is just not there."

While this may sound like an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff solution, it's clear that the need is there and perhaps a solution can be found in funding for more teacher aides.

Because while the systemic social issues can't be solved overnight, we can do something now to support those who are supporting our tamariki.