Teachers do many things. Teach full loads of classes. Do language camps, make tests, go on school visits and attend staff meetings. But wait, there’s more. Teachers make materials and plan curriculums, write papers and attend conferences, serve on committees and, when asked, interview new teachers. Teachers advise students, help them apply to study abroad programmes or to transfer to another school…teachers prepare letters of recommendation to support. Teachers lead busy, sometimes stress-filled lives. And so it is normal that teachers complain from time to time – about teaching schedules that do not make sense, meetings that are scheduled with short notice, late in the day, or that run too long….being asked to take on extra assignments that sometimes have them working 10-15 + days straight. And teachers lament students’ falling proficiency and how texts seem to have gotten more difficult over the last few years, and how vacation time seems to have shrunk… Ah, if only we could change things, if only we were in charge. This presentation will examine, in the best of all possible worlds, what is possible, if anything, to effect change and create a humane functional workplace if all of a sudden you do find yourself in charge.
