What type of secondary teachers work the most hours?

Question

On the secondary level, I think that English teachers work the most hours (due to all of the essays and papers that they have to grade) versus any other type of public secondary school teacher. Who agrees? What type of teacher works the least amount of hours? Why don't they pay English teachers more than say, a P.E. teacher?

I am talking about hours outside of contract hours that are NOT paid. I am not talking about teachers who take up extracurricular activities like coaching or clubs because most of those activities provide the teacher a stipend.

Answer 1

I'm a high school math teacher and I know that I get to school earlier than most of the other teachers in the building and I stay later than all of them as well. I also usually take home papers to grade.

I don't think the question is what subject does the teacher teach, I think it's more about the teacher. The teachers who work with me that work the hardest are of all subjects and grade levels. It depends on the teacher's commitment to their job and to the students, not the subject.

Some districts actually do pay with a weighted scale according to subject. Many districts have a shortage of teachers in a certain subject and will offer to pay teachers that can teach those subjects more money. It really just depends on the district.

Answer 2

Actually fine arts/performing arts teachers work the most hours. Unlike those who teach English, PE, Math, or History, most Music and Theatre Arts teachers especially put in long hours after school in rehearsals and on weekends. If they are not preparing for a major production or concert then they are taking students to city, state, and regional competitions or on tours which no other teacher is required to do. This eats up a lot of personal and family time during the school year. Most people never consider the amount of practice, research, and preparation time that goes into teaching fine arts because they don't see it as an academic endeavor. But the truth of the matter is these teachers not only teach but often support other teachers and programs at their school (like marching bands for games or entertainment for fundraisers) which makes their schedules extremely taxing.

Answer 3

I don't think any one subject area works the most hours. Teachers can put whatever they want into teaching. If I wanted, I could easily work 12 hour days, or more. I have to draw the line somewhere, so I usually don't. This sometimes means the students don't get a test or assignment back quite as quickly as they should. There's always something more I could do as a teacher, whether it be taking more classes or reworking some activities that could be improved. Am I a bad teacher for not working as much as others? No, but I have priorities in my life that are more important than my job (family, etc.)

Answer 4

I teach English at an alternative High School. To be honest, there are two types of teachers, those who care and those who wait for the breaks. Fortunately I belong to the first classification. Yes, it is difficult to meet the needs of family and work (I don't like the work work as teaching is a passion to me). Any teacher who is honest will tell you that the profession takes time and effort to be successful. The key is finding the balance. There are those times when grades are due that, that balance is way out of line. In order to be effectively prepared, you have to spend the time to research, write and copy. It's all in the timing and many late nights! A teacher can have the best laid lesson plans, but the tide can change on a dime and you have to make the necessary accommodations. There are times for relaxing during weekdays when all is right with the world, but those times are few. I am constantly reworking my plans to best meet the needs of my students. My family will always come first. We do spend time together. We eat together and go out together, but they also know about the quiet time I need to get some work done. I love my family and I would not do anything to interfere with that. However, teaching is taxing on time and again it's all about balance. In the years I have taught I have finally figured out what it means to work smarter, not harder. I still believe teaching is the best job in the world! I have seen many of my students become successful and I am honored and blessed to be part of that positive growth process. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

My husband is an English teacher, and research paper season is a crappy one. To actually grade them properly and give students the constructive feedback they need to improve, it takes quite a bit of time. However, it's all done in the comfort of our home. Theatre teachers who put on plays with their students have to put in a bunch of hours after school with their students there- students with good intentions but goofy attitudes. It takes half an hour to accomplish what could be done in ten minutes if they just quit laughing at their weird inside jokes. A PE teacher is usually thrown into coaching, so if that's the case, I'd say the coach has to put in more hours than everyone else. Practice every day, along with a full season of games. Coaches get an additional salary though. I'd say keyboarding teachers probably work the least- their job consists of teaching repetitive motions to students when the students are there. I wouldn't imagine it would take much planning to cover the letters d and f the next day, ya know? I wouldn't know for sure though. :)

Answer 6

I don't want to repeat what's already been said, but to add to this discussion you also have to consider the number of students in the teacher's classes. At my school, since Math & English are our lowest testing areas, there is a classroom cap of 25 students per class. P.E. teachers will teach 5 or 6 periods with 50+ students per period!! That's more than double the amount of students an English teacher has--meaning, double the grading, double the classroom management, double the parent phone calls, etc. And as far as I know, P.E. teachers give homework and assignments just like any other classroom teacher (plus, they tend to coach sports as well).

I'm a history teacher, so I give writing assignments just like English teachers, but don't benefit from these enrollment caps. I think it depends on the teacher (not the subject matter). I know English teachers that show movies all day and history teachers that have students "peer grade". Lazy teachers work less hours.

Answer 7

The teachers that work more hours than anyone else are the ones that are involved in the Administration of a School (Principal) or the ones who are also coaching a group after school (Football, Soccer, etc.) As a general rule, young teachers work longer and harder than those already in the job for a few years, you have to get all your classes planned out, see what works and what doesn't, and then make corrections as you go. Once you get the teaching plan down, there is less work involved. Also, teachers that over-use passive tools for teaching (movies, videos, other visual methods) do less work, and the students learn less as well.

Answer 8

First of all, I disagree with you that English teachers spend the most amount of hours. I know several teachers who (with approval of the district) have college students grading the essays etc. Even if a teacher didn't use a student to help grade, the special ed teachers log more hours in that they have to not only grade the papers, they have to develop specialized curriculum and they have hours upon hours of writing IEP's (Individual Education Plans). I am an English teacher who went back to school to get an additional endorsement in special ed. After doing it for one semester I decided they have way too much work.

Answer 9

Teachers who are involved with many activities are those who spend most hours. Yes, English teachers grade many long essays, but a P.E. teacher who coaches 3 different sports and works from 7:30 a.m.-7:00 pm plus longer days during games also spend a lot of hours away from home. I teach and coach baseball/football and will work on average 60-80 hours away from home. I think that averages out to be 45-55 cents an hour for coaching.
Yiipeee!

Answer 10

It doesn't matter what you teach....we all put many extra hours in. I teach Business Law, so I have essays to grade, too. I teach computers, so I proofread hundreds of business letters, spreadsheets, databases....math teachers have it tough with correcting problems, looking through poor writing to discover where the answer is.....it really doesn't matter what subject.
PE teachers have to lesson plan their classes. They don't just send the kids out to play kickball. And almost all of them coach, so they spend their spare time scouting, practicing or coaching at games.