Why some teachers in public schools cannot focus on teaching?
Teachers are expected to teach and teach alone since that is only the reason why they are hired. Way back in the 1990s, teachers as I have remembered were more focused on their students and even the values are very evident as they inculcated more of that values to their students before.
I am a product of the teachers in the 1990’s and I am too is a teacher now and I can really see the differences between the teachers before and the teachers today.
Even if I am a teacher myself, I really can say the many reasons why almost all teachers nowadays can’t focus on teaching alone. There are many pertaining reasons why we are always on the verge of dillydallies in our hectic schedules.
Below are the reasons why we cannot focus on mere teaching alone in our classrooms:
● Paper works ( a lot of it)
This is the main culprit why a lot of teachers (though not all since some others can easily cope up with all the activities, like me, lol) were not able to focus on their functions which is only teaching.
Aside from the traditional class record, and teaching log (lesson plan), teachers are also now given too much paperwork to comply which is then said to be needed by the higher offices.
Most of the time was being given the allotted time or deadline to submit so instead of the time allotted for the lesson, some teachers will comply first with the needed paper works before going back to their lessons in order to comply with the deadline.
● Ancillary Designations
Aside from the teaching load given to the teachers, there are other additional loads intended for the designations such as becoming the coordinators in different areas of the school which can also eat up some of the time allotted for the discussions.
If there are activities that need supervision from the coordinators, then it’s the time when a lesson will be left behind (good for schools who have enough teachers who can have a substitute for those who have minimal teachers, it is impossible to have a sub so the lessons will be leftover).
● Coaching
During the sports fest of any activities that are linked with sports, the assigned coach of the winning team will be pulled out, creating a line-up of back-logs in the lessons of that certain teacher.
That is why more teachers are declining the offer of being a coach. Aside from the fact that it’s tiresome, it also can add to the problem of delays in the delivery of the lessons for those teachers.
● Functions
This is very true with teachers assigned in the kitchen (TLE teachers) because if there are functions, the teachers will then be the ones to prepare everything or supervise the students. If a teachers’ classroom will be used in that function, then all her classes will be suspended for the whole day. Imagine the backlog of lessons that will be leftover.
In some schools, they have their own function halls so that classes won’t be disturbed in case of activities that are not planned.
Conclusion
So, this is the reality that the new teachers are dealing with today. It’s different before and now because teachers before having limited access to functions and so they can focus on teaching alone, unlike today’s teachers who are expected to go with the flow of the 21st-century picture of education.
Well, as for the young teachers, problems like this are just easy to cope with since we are more versatile and tech. – Clea | Helpline PH
