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Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos
Let me get this straight -- people other than teachers have difficult jobs? I had no idea!
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Tell that to all the people who post in these threads remarking that teachers have a uniquely difficult job.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos
As for the eight week break, that's just sort of how we run the world. It's not so teachers can go on vacation. It's so everyone can.
On the other hand, sending kids to school for ~49 weeks a year so teachers only get three weeks like the rest of us would really show them who's boss, but I think there might be other consequences of that.
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It's sort of how we run education in North America. The rest of the world does not take an 8 week break from school in the summer, and students are typically in school many more days than North American students. And studies are clear that the 8-week break (and the low number of instructional days) is detrimental to the academic progress of students.
The Underworked American (student)
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...American children have it easier than most other children in the world, including the supposedly lazy Europeans. They have one of the shortest school years anywhere, a mere 180 days compared with an average of 195 for OECD countries and more than 200 for East Asian countries. German children spend 20 more days in school than American ones, and South Koreans over a month more. Over 12 years, a 15-day deficit means American children lose out on 180 days of school, equivalent to an entire year.
American children also have one of the shortest school days, six-and-a-half hours, adding up to 32 hours a week. By contrast, the school week is 37 hours in Luxembourg, 44 in Belgium, 53 in Denmark and 60 in Sweden.
- The Economist
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No doubt part of that is just a cultural expectation in North America about kids having the whole summer off. But it's naive to think the fact Canada and the USA have the strongest teachers' unions in the world doesn't play a part. It would be interesting to have a public debate on the merits of year-round schooling, or increasing the length of the school day. Of course, the stance of teachers unions ensure we wouldn't even get to square one.
Anyone who informs themselves about the hours teachers work and how they're compensated in the rest of the world, and persists in the belief that the way things are done in Canada are in the interests of anyone but the teachers, is delusional.