Dear Editor:
I wish to respond to the letter published March 7, Teachers Never Had It So Good. I am a senior high school English teacher with the North Vancouver school district and have 22 years teaching experience.
Lorne Dennis's account of his own schooling experience is vastly different to that of young people today. Yes, there were no computers. He went to school in a much simpler age when students sat in rows and the teacher imparted his or her knowledge from the front of the classroom. He most likely took notes from the board, read from an often-outdated textbook and answered prescribed questions. The tests he was given evaluated his ability to memorize and provide a textbook response. Chances were that students would never have dared challenge what was taught, for students were not encouraged to be critical thinkers, to question and explore. They were expected to believe what they were told.
Mr. Dennis, I would encourage you to step inside a classroom today. You would be surprised, I assure you. You would discover a learning environment that is engaging, challenging and interactive. One where the teacher isn't pontificating from the front of the classroom in chalk-and-talk fashion, but rather working with individuals and small groups, guiding students in their learning, and co-ordinating an amazing and exciting program of exploration and study. I would bet that more students are actually learning things that are meaningful for our future world in today's classroom than we did. Teachers today, furthermore, must accommodate more specialneeds students and communicate far more with parents.
As far as teachers having it "so good" as you say, let me speak from my own experience. Essentially a teacher gets paid for a teaching week of about 35 hours that includes three to four hours a week for preparation time. Yet, an English teacher like me, cannot possibly do all the preparation and marking of essays, tests, projects, write report cards and communicate with parents - given an average teaching load of 150-180 students or more - without devoting at least another two to four hours each evening and at least part of a weekend of his or her own time. Even my husband, a senior consulting engineer, is aghast at the hours that teachers such as I put in. Maybe there are teachers who don't do this, but none that I know of.
For this our compensation is considerably below that paid in other professions. A senior teacher with 25 years experience earns on average 20 per cent less than a junior engineer with less than five years experience, even adjusting for vacation time. That junior engineer may have to put in overtime, but when she does she is compensated accordingly at time-and-a-half or double time.
Yes, the provincial government coffers are empty. However, are you forgetting the lavish spending on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, the refurbishing of BC Place stadium, the conference centre, all of which ran huge cost overruns? Are you aware of the princely increases our MLAs have given themselves or the handsome payouts to BC Ferries executives? Are you also aware that several other public employees have negotiated contracts with cost-of-living increases? I urge you to do your research.
Teachers get a bad rap because of misconceptions of what we do perpetrated by people who probably haven't stepped into a school since the middle of the last century. Our students today, regardless of what they wear by the way, are having to deal with much more complex personal, social, and learning issues and are facing an extraordinarily complex future. It's time to value education and ensure our youth get the best education possible. To achieve this you can only attract the best teachers if you treat them well, ensure that they have healthy and reasonable working conditions and reward them accordingly. Otherwise, you'll get exactly what you pay for.
Elizabeth McLenehan, North Vancouver
