by Marily Sasota Gayeta
At about sunset, they start coming out of their enclaves. They walk with heavy steps, sometimes dragging their feet. Their faces look blank or disoriented. They are pale and trembling. They look at you with blood shot eyes. No, they are not zombies from “The Walking Dead”. They are teachers. Exhausted, sleep-deprived teachers.
P.S. To the teachers whose pictures appear here, I found them on Google. Sorry , I could not find a way to contact you for your permission.
References
At about sunset, they start coming out of their enclaves. They walk with heavy steps, sometimes dragging their feet. Their faces look blank or disoriented. They are pale and trembling. They look at you with blood shot eyes. No, they are not zombies from “The Walking Dead”. They are teachers. Exhausted, sleep-deprived teachers.
Pardon the hyperbolic comparison. But what I’m about to discuss is not exaggerated.
Filipino teachers are just exhausted on all fronts: physically ,emotionally and mentally. A day on the job is a test of endurance, self-control and mental toughness.
A typical teacher, whether in the government or private sector,renders six hours of actual teaching, and two hours of paper work.
What happens during those six teaching hours ? In those six hours ,teachers have to rein in 35 to 50 students ( or more ) who are bursting with juvenile and impish energy. If a boy pokes another boy in the eye with a pencil, the poor teacher may get sued by parents.Thus, teachers have to be on the lookout all the time. Then, they teach. They teach pupils how to read . They help students interpret Shakespeare’s sonnets. They teach them mathematical operations and scientific theories . They demonstrate how to create an art project, how to sing and how to kick a soccer ball.
In those six hours, teachers do grueling, back-breaking work. They always move around: from the blackboard, to the students’ seats, to all sides of their rooms. They wipe snotty noses of Grade 1 pupils. They monitor what students are doing. Are the kids copying the right thing ? Are they solving the math problem correctly? Are they mixing the right chemicals, or are they inadvertently creating a bomb? Because of this constant shuffling, pacing and sprinting, teachers’ backs, legs and feet hurt all the time. And of course, they use their voice a lot. They explain something. Then, they explain it again. And again . Until the students get it. Then, they call out kids who are playing hide and seek in the classroom.Or they warn sneaky, rebellious teens who are flirting on their phones . Yes, teachers talk all the time. Thus, their poor throats take a beating.
In those six hours, it’s heaven and hell. They are ecstatic when students finally get the answer. They are calm and happy when pupils pay attention and behave like angels. But then, there’s the other end of the pendulum. There’s anger, hopelessness and frustration. They have to exercise utmost self- control in dealing with unruly kids. Teachers have to have endless patience in teaching and re-teaching lessons to academically-challenged students. They have to try hard to motivate students who show too little interest in school.
In those six hours, a teacher is an expert, a parent , a preacher , a police officer , an entertainer, a handyman , a nurse ,a referee , a baby sitter. All of those people, in one body.
Aside from those six hours of actual teaching, Filipino teachers are expected to render another two hours for paper work, class preparation and school-related activities. Reading up the chapters to be discussed the next day , writing lesson plans and making instructional materials, checking exams and projects, making props for a school program , practicing students for a song or a dance number , training students for competitions , decorating classrooms and entering data on the Learner Information System ( LIS )or other systems being used in the private sector.
Wait, there’s more : planting tomatoes and okra under that “ Gulayan sa Paaralan” thing ( with the help of a few parents ) , doing action research , preparing students’ lists for government-sponsored vaccination, sending letters to parents , running errands for the principal, answering complaints from annoying,grade-conscious parents .The list is endless.
Where in God’s hand will teachers get the time and energy to do all of these things in the school? Thus, in those two hours , teachers only do the tasks that inevitably need to be done in school or those that require the presence of other people—-like classroom beautification and training students for a press conference. The other tasks —— they do at home, at night or weekends . Thus, their job does not end in school. It never does.
That eight-hour day as a teacher is exhausting, stressful and nerve-wracking.
At about 5:00 PM, teachers leave school. They take on another persona. Mother or father to a bunch of kids, a caregiver to an aging parent, a community leader or a part-time entrepreneur trying to make both ends meet. The other part of their life begins. Let’s take a look at the mother persona, which is the most common. She takes a quick trip to the grocery or talipapa , and then cooks dinner. This is followed by a string of other house chores like tidying up the house a bit, and doing some laundry. Housework, just to remind everyone, is tiring and time-consuming . In between housework, the kids have to be helped with their assignments and school projects.
A teacher’s night does not end when the kids are tucked in bed. Remember— there’s the school work that she had to take home. She has to prepare for her lessons for the next day. If she is lucky , she prepares for just one or two subjects . If she is not , three or more ( especially if she has MAPE ).She has to make additional practice activities and put them on Power point slides. And because her school most likely does not have internet connection, she does the LIS transactions at home. And if her home internet is slow ( and it is slow in the whole Philippines ) , she has to wait for the unholy hours for it to speed up. Only then can she do her transactions on the system.
At midnight or 1:00 AM, she goes to bed. Worn out.Drained to the last drop.
After five hours of sleep, her alarm clock rouses her again from her inadequate slumber . Groggy , she cooks breakfast , bathes the kids , gets them dressed for school and packs their “ baons”. Then off she hurries to work again.
On Friday nights , she frantically prepares her report for her MA or Ph.D. class. Her sleep is reduced to a wink or two. On Saturdays, she attends her graduate or post-graduate classes, and that’s after a coastal clean-up or a required marathon. And finally, on Sundays ,yes—- she is free …to clean the house.
Filipino teachers need rest and sleep.It’s basic but often over-looked. It sounds so simplistic, but it’s actually complicated. Most medical doctors would agree .
Physical exhaustion and sleep deprivation are a dangerous combination. They wreak havoc on the body and mind , as medical research have proven. People who are constantly deprived of rest and sleep have a weaker immune system and are susceptible to different illnesses like cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases.
The American Sleep Association or ASA ( Yes, sleep is so important that there is even a medical association for it . ) says that sleep deprivation disrupts the body’s ability to regulate glucose.This makes the person likely to develop Type 2 diabetes . Lack of sleep also takes its toll on mental health. Sleep has been identified as a key factor in happiness and those who are constantly deprived of it are more likely to commit suicide, even if they don't have any previous psychiatric issues.
As the European newspaper The Mirror aptly put it : Lack of sleep leads to a wake.
Studies also reveal that exhaustion leads to a low level of serotonin , and this causes depression , anxiety and insomnia. Teaching is a combination of physical and mental exertion. Prolonged exertion without much-needed respite leads to frequent bouts of sickness, decreased cognitive functioning , emotional outbursts and reduced motivation —-all of which are detrimental to their students.
DEP-ED and CHED officials , and school administrators ( in both the public and private sectors) are constantly finding ways to improve classroom teaching through training and facilities upgrade. But the harsh truth is this. No amount of seminar and training, and modern teaching equipment can improve the performance of over-worked and sleep -deprived teachers. Rest and sleep are fundamental biological needs, and teachers need them to deliver the goods. They may listen or pretend to listen during a seminar on “ 21st century teaching “, but that will not translate to improved classroom performance if they are too burned out , too tired , too sleepy or too sick. It won’t sink in. On the other hand , the benefits of computers and smart boards are offset by a lack of initiative to find ways to maximize their use.
Teachers need rest. They need eight to ten hours of sleep per day on those ten months that they are teaching. You can not just postpone rest and sleep for summer—-because the mental and physical energy is needed the very next day. Teachers need time to breathe, heal and recover from the daily challenges of their work. They need peace and quiet .
Teachers need time to reconnect with their families. They need more time to play with their own children who feel neglected. They need more romantic moments with their partners. They need more time to care for senile parents or young grandchildren. Being able to spend time with loved ones is essential for well-being and happiness.
The benefits of personal happiness go beyond the home. That happiness translates into more positive attitude in the workplace. Happy and well-rested teachers will find the motivation and energy to improve themselves. Healthy teachers are more likely to pursue and benefit from professional development activities.
DEP-ED and CHED officials, school administrators —-all these decision makers—- should find a way to streamline work-related requirements. They should list down all the things they ask teachers to do. They should go over each item and ask themselves a few questions. Which of these are indispensable , and which are not ? Which of these forms are redundant? Which reports can be consolidated ? Which school programs can be fused to lessen hours spent on theatrical rehearsals ? If something is not absolutely necessary, that should be crossed out of the list.That would save both teachers and students a lot of time and energy, and money too.
Teachers who say “ no” to extra work should not be penalized, nor should they be ostracized and made to feel guilty.
And is it possible to reduce maximum teaching hours to four , instead of six ? That way, teachers will have sufficient time to prepare for their lessons. Teachers in Finland render only four teaching hours a day , and their students study less hours compared to their counterparts in other wealthy countries. Yet, Finland consistently clinches top spots in national education rankings.Finland has proven that “ less is more ”.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, more and more work is being shoved into the teachers’ throats. Most teachers don’t complain. They are told — and they believe — that everything is a part of the job they swore to do to the best of their abilities. What are they called “ heroes” for anyway?
Yes, teachers are heroes. But unlike your Marvel heroes, teachers are not unbreakable and invincible. They need to be saved too.
P.S. To the teachers whose pictures appear here, I found them on Google. Sorry , I could not find a way to contact you for your permission.
References
https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/effects-of-mental-fatigue-on-brain-activity-and-cognitive-performance-am
chttp://www.oecd.org/edu/Finland-EAG2014-Country-Note.pdf
http://taughtbyfinland.com/first-grade-in-finland-every-day-is-a-half-day/
