Australian school teachers spend a fifth of their holidays at work or working from home, a new survey has found.
The survey of 1014 school teachers by First Point Research and Consulting – and commissioned by multinational education publisher Pearson – also highlighted that during a regular working week high school teachers spend, on average, nine hours a week working outside standard school hours.
Education Review reported that primary school teachers spend an average of seven hours of their week working outside of school hours.
“That said, most [teachers say] they’re pretty satisfied with the support they have at their school, so that seems to have become the norm now, or accepted practice,” Jane Briggs, First Point research director told the publication.
“[Teachers say that] teaching is no longer just about the set text and teaching from that. There is an expectation that educators will find other resources and be able to supplement those across different platforms.”
Education Review reported that the federal Department of Education’s Staff in Australia’s Schools 2013 survey showed that teachers spend, on average, 48 hours a week working on school-related activities.
They noted the OECD 2015 Education at a Glance report, which showed that Australia’s teachers are among the best paid in the world, at an average yearly salary of $78,305, but this is offset by working longer hours.
The First Point survey indicated that 58 per cent of teachers are happy with their job, but 18 per cent want to leave the profession.