Teaching is planning, grading, caring & everything in between | Deep Dive (ft Jason Tan, Heidi Tan)

Key Concepts

Teacher Workload: The extensive hours and diverse responsibilities beyond direct instruction that teachers undertake.
Invisible Workload: Tasks and duties not immediately apparent to outsiders but contributing significantly to a teacher's workload.
Holistic Development: The Ministry of Education's emphasis on nurturing students' character, social-emotional well-being, and life skills, in addition to academic achievement.
Experiential Learning: Educational activities outside the traditional classroom setting, such as learning journeys, designed to provide practical and engaging experiences.
Teacher Autonomy: The degree of freedom teachers have in making professional decisions regarding their teaching practices and classroom management.
Teacher Burnout: The state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress from work.
Class Size: The number of students assigned to a single teacher in a classroom.
Teacher Assistants: Support staff who assist teachers with administrative tasks, resource preparation, and other non-instructional duties.
Emotional Labor: The effort teachers expend in managing their own emotions and the emotions of their students, which is often unseen and unacknowledged.

Teacher Workload and Responsibilities

The discussion highlights the significant workload faced by teachers in Singapore, with the OECD reporting over 47 hours per week, exceeding the global average of 41 hours. This extensive commitment stems from duties extending far beyond direct classroom teaching.

The "30% Teaching, 70% Other Things" Phenomenon

Heidi Tan's Perspective: A former teacher, Heidi Tan, describes a common sentiment among educators: their job scope is approximately 30% teaching and 70% other tasks. While acknowledging this might be an exaggeration, she emphasizes the substantial "invisible workload."
Examples of Invisible Workload:
- Classroom Incident Management: Following up on minor student conflicts, which can involve speaking to students, investigating incidents, and documenting them, often encroaching on preparation time.
- Event Planning and Decorations: Teachers are involved in tasks like creating decorations for school events (e.g., cutting patterns for Chinese New Year celebrations, blowing balloons for stage decor).
- Learning Journey Logistics: Planning learning journeys involves extensive administrative work, including:
  - Chasing consent forms from parents.
  - Completing risk assessment forms.
  - Booking transportation (e.g., school charter buses).
  - Obtaining quotations and clearing payments with school finance.
  - Coordinating with various stakeholders (e.g., zoo, bus companies).
  - Confirming student attendance and dietary requirements.
Impact on Core Teaching: This diversion of time means teachers often lack the luxury of dedicating sufficient time to planning engaging and interactive lessons, which might involve creating tactile resources.

The Ministry of Education's Vision and Holistic Development

Jason Tan's Explanation: Associate Professor Jason Tan from the National Institute of Education (NIE) explains that the Ministry of Education's vision for teachers emphasizes the human aspect of education, focusing on inspiring students, fostering self-belief, and providing care.
Deliberate Inclusion of Non-Academic Components: The ministry deliberately highlights these non-academic components to signal the importance of holistic development beyond academic outcomes and national exams.
Reinterpreting "Teaching": Professor Tan suggests that the definition of "teaching" can be expanded to include character development and guiding students in making life choices, thus justifying the time spent on activities like learning journeys.
The Challenge of "Care": While "care" is a central and noble aspect of teaching, its practical implementation presents a challenge in defining its limits and the extent of action required to demonstrate it.

Parent-Teacher Communication and Boundaries

The discussion addresses the complexities of parent-teacher communication and the blurring of boundaries.

Expectations and Service Provider Model

Former Minister's Call for Respect: The former Education Minister urged parents to respect teachers and avoid treating them as service providers who can be ordered around.
Official Working Hours vs. Reality: While schools communicate official working hours, parents sometimes contact teachers outside these hours for non-emergency queries (e.g., what time a child should arrive at school, what to wear for PE).
Teachers Going the Extra Mile: Many teachers, driven by a desire to help and care for students, respond to these queries, which can inadvertently lead to a cycle of repeated out-of-hours contact.
Impact on Personal Time: This "going the extra mile" can come at the expense of teachers' family time, often realized only when it becomes a burden.
Personal Experience: Heidi Tan shared that she initially gave out her mobile number to parents but stopped because it was unsustainable.

Teacher Responsibility for Underage Students

Acting in Loco Parentis: Teachers often have to act in place of parents for underage students, taking responsibility for their welfare, physical safety, emotional well-being, and interpersonal relationships.
Trust and Responsibility: Parents entrust their children's welfare to teachers during school hours, a responsibility that carries significant weight.
Need for Clear Boundaries: The lack of clearly drawn lines between what teachers can and cannot do contributes to the challenges.

Teacher Training and Support

The adequacy of teacher training and the effectiveness of support systems are also examined.

NIE Training and Practicum

Practicum Component: NIE training programs include a practicum where trainees gain real-life experience in schools.
Limitations of Practicum: Professor Tan acknowledges that a few weeks of practicum do not fully convey the weight of responsibilities of a full-time teacher. Trainees primarily learn through shadowing, asking questions, and observing, focusing on practicalities like using equipment and accessing lesson plans.
Soft Issues: The practicum often doesn't adequately address the "soft issues" like managing parent expectations and emotional labor, which are difficult to teach directly.
Mentoring and Support: The effectiveness of training relies heavily on trainees working closely with mentoring teachers and asking pertinent questions about their expected roles and responsibilities.

Mentoring Programs for Beginning Teachers

Structured Mentoring: Schools implement structured mentoring programs to ease beginning teachers into their careers.
Challenges with Mentoring: Heidi Tan points out that even these programs can become a burden when mentors and mentees struggle to find time to meet due to their own heavy workloads.

Proposed Solutions and Recommendations

The discussion offers several potential solutions to alleviate teacher workload and prevent burnout.

Class Size Reduction

Heidi Tan's Experience: Teaching in an international school with smaller class sizes (up to 15 for students needing higher support, and up to 25 for normal classes) was significantly better.
Benefits of Smaller Classes:
- More time for individual student interaction and deeper understanding of students.
- Easier management of student behavior and fewer incidents requiring follow-up.
- Proactive identification and support for students needing help.
Professor Tan's Support: Professor Tan agrees that smaller class sizes align with the ministry's direction towards individualized learning and fostering positive teacher-student relationships.

Hiring Teacher Assistants

International School Model: In international schools, teacher assistants support teachers with resource planning and administrative tasks, allowing teachers to focus on lesson design.
Role of Teacher Assistants: These assistants would handle administrative aspects of a teacher's workload, similar to the experience Heidi Tan had.
Distinction from Allied Educators: The proposed teacher assistants are distinct from allied educators who focus on in-classroom teaching support.

Re-evaluating Teaching Load

Energy Expenditure: Heidi Tan argues that one hour of teaching is not equivalent to one hour of office work due to the significant mental, emotional, and energy expenditure involved in delivering a class.
Reducing Full Teaching Load: She suggests re-evaluating the required number of teaching hours to allow teachers more "white space" for lesson planning during curriculum hours, rather than having to take work home.

Addressing Emotional Labor

Invisible Emotional Work: Professor Tan emphasizes that teaching is emotionally taxing, with significant invisible emotional work contributing to burnout.
Difficulty in Drawing Lines: The central concept of "care" makes it difficult for teachers to draw firm boundaries, especially when students reach out with personal problems after hours.

Curriculum Review

Policy Maker's Challenge: Professor Tan acknowledges that policymakers work in the dark to some extent, trying to predict future trends for curriculum development, and by the time a new curriculum is rolled out, things may have already changed.
Focus on Core Elements: Despite the uncertainty, certain key elements of teaching and teacher well-being remain constant and require attention.

Conclusion and Call to Action

The discussion concludes by emphasizing the multifaceted nature of the teaching profession, where teachers not only impart knowledge but also ignite minds, steady hearts, and shape the world. It calls for a mindful approach from parents and educators alike to find a balance that supports teachers and ensures the well-being of students. The audience is encouraged to share their thoughts on how to address these issues.