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Old 09-05-2017, 10:42 PM
 
34 posts, read 36,404 times
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Ahoy, ahoy!

First post here, nice to meet you all. College student, considering a career in education.

After shadowing a teacher at a country day school last year, I fell in love with the teaching style and community. Very experiential, project-based, innovative. Great atmosphere, attentive kids. Loved everything about it.

But I worry about the work/life balance. The teachers that I got to know there seemed to live and breathe the school. Many lived at the school even, since it's rather far from the city. They all coached at least one sport and often also supervised a club. It seems that their work was their life, in most regards.

On the other hand, I have a couple friends who are currently public school teachers. They work their asses off, don't get me wrong. They bring work home with them, they think about their students far past when they clock out. But the schools they work at seem more like regular workplaces. They do leave at a certain point. They aren't expected to lead after-school activities. They leave school and go out to eat, to coffee shops, to the gym, to their own apartments. Which are pretty close to their schools but not on them.

I only can speak from those experiences though. So I'd like to hear from you guys.

In general, do you think private or public teachers have a better work/life balance?

P.S. Boarding school teachers - do you get any work/life balance at all?
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Old 09-05-2017, 10:44 PM
 
Location: Middle America
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I've done both. While the atmospheres and approaches were very, very different, the amount of work expected of me outside the classroom, and the expectation that work would come home with me was not noticeably different in either type of setting. Neither especially allowed for a healthy work/life balance, TBH.
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Old 09-05-2017, 10:56 PM
 
34 posts, read 36,404 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TabulaRasa View Post
I've done both. While the atmospheres and approaches were very, very different, the amount of work expected of me outside the classroom, and the expectation that work would come home with me was not noticeably different in either type of setting. Neither especially allowed for a healthy work/life balance, TBH.
Very interesting. I would enjoy hearing about the differences in your experiences in both settings. But not to derail the topic hear, would you mind if I private messaged you?
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Old 09-05-2017, 11:27 PM
 
Location: Middle America
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Quote:
Originally Posted by incandescence View Post
Very interesting. I would enjoy hearing about the differences in your experiences in both settings. But not to derail the topic hear, would you mind if I private messaged you?
Nah, go for it. I've taught secondary language arts and English-related topics in public settings, and reading, literacy, and special education in private school.

The differences are really a more school-by-school basis thing than they are related to public v. private, though.
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Old 09-06-2017, 05:17 AM
 
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Hard to say, but i will tell you I have been offered private school jobs twice in the last 2 years and I turned them down both times. I had many reasons, and a huge one for me was retirement, I simply have too many years in the public system to let that go.....but another was the expectations/demands of extra stuff after school, weekends, etc....
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Old 09-06-2017, 05:28 AM
 
Location: The DMV
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Wife was a teacher (became a stay at home mom once we had kids of our own) that taught in both private and public. And not sure if this is true for all areas - but our public schools paid much better than private schools.

The work didn't see to differ. I think how much work you take with you will depend on factors like your own dedication, the way the specific school is run, and the involvement of the parents. When she first started, her summers were spent creating lesson plans, etc. She was also doing probably a few hours of work every night during the school year. We also thought that relative to other careers (she switched into teaching after a few years in the private sector), your time is much less flexible. It's obviously a job that puts a huge priority on you being present on a scheduled basis. The vacations tend to also be less flexible. Yes, you have summers off and often more "off days" than the private sector. But it also seemed harder to take a week or two here and there off given the impact you may have on your kids (this is more of a personal thing rather than a school policy).

I do recall that she was able to use the union to help her with something in public school. Something to the effect of being given a task that ended up requiring her to stay a few hours later - I think the union either got her out of it, or got her additional pay for it.

Last edited by macroy; 09-06-2017 at 05:38 AM..
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Old 09-06-2017, 01:03 PM
 
34 posts, read 36,404 times
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Interesting replies. Thanks, everyone. Would love to hear from more people too, get as many viewpoints as possible.

Re: retirement though, seems like it depends on the school. A lot of the privates I've been looking into do offer retirement as well as other benefits.

I think a big one though is the room, board, meals, and facility use. That's what I'm noticing. A lot of privates, especially ones that are not in cities, offer free room and board to their faculty. As well as meals in the dining hall. Use of the gym, etc.

So I guess that might be part of the trade-off?

Private school teachers may be able to save more of their salary than public because they don't have to worry about rent, utilities, and sometimes even meals. In return, however, they're expected to give even more of their time and energy than they already do.

Thoughts?
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Old 09-06-2017, 03:52 PM
 
Location: Suburbia
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macroy touched a bit on it, but as far as work/life balance is concerned you are more likely in public schools to have regulations and school board policies that protect things like your planning time, lunch, duties outside of regular school hours, etc.
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Old 09-06-2017, 04:01 PM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
44,979 posts, read 59,968,393 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by incandescence View Post
Interesting replies. Thanks, everyone. Would love to hear from more people too, get as many viewpoints as possible.

Re: retirement though, seems like it depends on the school. A lot of the privates I've been looking into do offer retirement as well as other benefits.

I think a big one though is the room, board, meals, and facility use. That's what I'm noticing. A lot of privates, especially ones that are not in cities, offer free room and board to their faculty. As well as meals in the dining hall. Use of the gym, etc.

So I guess that might be part of the trade-off?

Private school teachers may be able to save more of their salary than public because they don't have to worry about rent, utilities, and sometimes even meals. In return, however, they're expected to give even more of their time and energy than they already do.

Thoughts?
I think you're talking mostly about boarding schools where students live in. Most private schools are not.

As well as being a retired public school teacher married to a public elementary school librarian I also know quite a few private school teachers.

Across the board the teachers I know from both types of schools all say their work life balance is eroding. Not that it was that great to begin with even 30+ years ago when I started.

In this area, private schools generally pay much less than public.
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Old 09-06-2017, 04:06 PM
 
11,563 posts, read 12,579,196 times
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I've worked in both private and public. The benefits in public by far are better than anything offered by private schools, even elite ones in my area-especially retirement and healthcare. I've never taught in a boarding school and wouldn't want to do that because I have a family of my own. In my area, Fortune 500 CEOs and celebrity parents send their children to the public schools as much as the elite private schools. I think sometimes, upper-class parents send their children to the private schools because they have children with some neurological/behavioral/learning issues and don't want to have their child classified and can avoid special ed intervention by requesting specific individualized services in the private school. In any event, behavior problems in private schools can be just as challenging for many teachers. Believing that the students are more interested in learning, will be less disruptive in class, completing assignments. etc/ is a fallacy. Sometimes, the wealthy or celebrity parents are less available and less interested in their child than lower income students. Some don't really know their children very well, allow paid employees to act as their real family, neglect their child-all while claiming a false front of a vested interest in their child's education and welfare with unrealistic expectations of their child's educational success. I have always felt just as sorry for these children as the children of incarcerated parents placed in foster care. Some of the "elite" private schools have a reputation for the latest craze of heroin addiction and of course, teenage parties and drinking.
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