The job of a teacher isn't actually different from other professions. Not really. More mental pressures, perhaps. A more rigorous workload and no time for downtime, maybe. These are just a few points which set teachers apart.
A teacher's job is difficult and includes a variety of duties. As a result, a teacher will often multi-task, a situation that sometimes prevents them from focusing on such higher-order activities as planning, engaging in professional development and reflecting on their practice, activities that would almost certainly improve their effectiveness in the long term.
Without being facetious, it makes you wonder whether compared to other professions, 'teachers are surviving but far from thriving'.
But amid all the pressures that come with the profession, teachers endure all that because teaching becomes great through its greatest moments, and of the teaching outcomes it produces when students pass exams. Many teachers enter the field because they want to support students' learning, but as market forces affect educational policy, their idealistic impulses deteriorate and work satisfaction declines.
As such, teachers' conditions of professional practice impact students' learning environments and vice versa. This consideration should be included in all discussions as teachers' associations such as the Kenya Women Teachers Association (Kewota), unions, policy makers, parents and the public ask; "How can education be improved for our children?"
Outside of the work environment, most teachers have reported job stagnation as a key demotivation. This has implications for attracting and retaining teachers as well as their physical and mental health.
That said, news of 36,000 teachers in line for promotion from the Teachers Service Commission is a boon. This will boost the Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) rollout.
According to TSC, qualification for deployment to JSS include a diploma in Education, degree in Education, at least a C+ mean grade in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam.
The emphasis on C+ as a promotion metric has an ominous ring to it. There must be concern for those teachers who achieved grade C plain at KCSE, but went on to join the university and graduated with a degree, masters and even PhD.
Is an undergraduate degree of less importance than KCSE mean grade requirement? Is there status being undervalued? These are great questions to explore.
So while some teachers devote long hours to their work (fearing for their jobs and working in intensely competitive work environments), the rewards system must not be rigged against them. The employing authority should be flexible to ensure all qualified teachers have equal opportunities for promotion.
Qualification criterion should be understood and interpreted within the context of broad employment policies and trends. Any teacher who has attained a higher degree must not be left behind. We call for empathy to our teachers. It is possible that the complexity of teachers' role in our society has not been fully appreciated. To date, teacher time for example has been viewed through a narrow lens resulting in a limited understanding of the political, social and professional environments within which teachers work.
In recent years, there has been a deterioration of conditions for teaching worldwide: reduced decision making authority for teachers; greater constraints on curriculum and pedagogy; increased surveillance; work intensification; and the diversion of educational resources from the public to the private sector. Austerity measures decrease the resources available for carrying out educational policies and for educational practice, especially for children who are disadvantaged.
Teachers are at the centre of most educational reform efforts, either because they focus on teachers, or because the proposals directly impact on their work, and Kewota is at high alert to respond to teachers' concerns.
The writer is CEO at Kenya Women Teachers Association
