Extremely longer sigh...I debated all day as to whether or not to respond
to this posting, but this message really got to me.  First of all,
regardless of what one does for a living, from homemaker to cafeteria
cook to
CEO of the Chrysler Corporation, every one works hard, everyone deserves to be
paid enough to live on, support their families and enjoy life.  Now
that that is established, my grandstanding:

There's a great misconception out there on the job of teachers/educators,
a phenomena that I feel in the end works against all of us in the museum
world.

Comparing the teaching profession to other professions is like comparing
apples to oranges.  If the value of a job/worker is measured in terms of
hours and days does this mean that a "simple" computer operator who sits in fron
t of a terminal doing data entry 60 hours a
weeks, 50 weeks a year works harder and is thus more "valuable" in society
than a teacher who works nine months out of the year?

From my observations of friends and my colleagues last semester at Wilson
High School, yes the average teacher does not work 60 or 70 hours a
week...they work more.  You figure the average teacher has a load of
four classes at 25-30 students each plus the requirements of school
committees, proctoring extracurricular activities, lesson planning, grading
papers...the most organized teachers could easily put in 85 hours a week.

Those not in the teaching profession can also take solace in the fact that
when s/he goes to work in the mornings s/he most likely doesn't have to worry
about weapons sweeps, drugs and alcohol, suicidal students, homicidal students,
suicidal-homicidal administrators and indifferent parents.

Two Weeks off at Christmas? Summer Vacation?

I'll give you the two weeks off in winter, but summer break is not back
packing through Bali, or wading through the surf at Rehoboth.  Summer
break for most teachers is two months of prep for the NEXT year: reading
books, preparing lesson plans, research, not to mention all those lovely
school committees whose need for attention doesn't end with final exams.

Education is so under valued in this country because people fail to
recognize just how difficult teaching really is: The profession is in a
sense judged by quantity and not quality.  Teachers and schools shouldn't
be judged by the same expectations as automobile assembly lines.  By
the same token, student's performance shouldn't be judged in the same
manner as one judges a Honda Civic.  In fact, it's this attitude that has
contributed to the crisis that is today the American Educational system.

So how does this connect with museums?  Museums are very closely tied to
the nations educational system: It's upon the principle of collecting and
preserving for the education of the public that museums are founded.  As
long as education is undervalued in this society, so will the institutions
that help in supporting their efforts.  Teachers and schools play a major
role in keeping museums alive in this country, this is an
important relationship that should be nurtured.  All of
us in the museums field are in one way or another educators, and it doesn't
make any sense rate
and/or pit ourselves against people who are, in a sense, our colleagues.



Mia Llarena
MAT Candidate
Museum Education
The George Washington University

***************************************************************************

On Fri, 12 Jan 1996, Frank E. Thomson, III wrote:

> Extremely long sigh.... I have a limited amount of sympathy for public school
teachers.
> They work long hours, but the average professional is now working sixty to sev
enty hours a week.
> How many people get more time off: Christmas holidays, Thanksgiving holidays,
Easter holidays and a couple months off every summer.
> They have to keep up to date in their field, but there are a lot of grants ava
ilable to underwrite this.
> School teachers work hard, but do they work harder than anyone else? Do they w
orker harder than firefighters? nurses? police? garbage disposal? or lowly curat
ors?  I have worked thirty hour days.  I have walked through darkened galleries
at two in the morning after the alarm company has called.  I have hung off scaff
olding forty feet in the air rigging sculpture.
> Teachers are undervalued.  This much is true, but I wish my job were equally u
ndervalued ; -)
>
> ----------
> From:   Cathlene Brady[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:   Friday, January 12, 1996 12:41 PM
> To:     Multiple recipients of list MUSEUM-L
> Subject:        Re: Volunteer Coordinator
>
> Doug Lantry ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
> : On Thu, 11 Jan 1996, lisa falk wrote:
> : > I'm sorry, but I think we need to do something about museum
> : > salaries....$15,000. for a FULL_TIME professional position?!  Who can
>
> : Museums pay poorly because they don't generate profit.  Museum people get
> : paid very little for the same reasons other educators get paid very
> : little.
>
> I'm not trolling here, but public school educators get paid nicely. Not
> lavishly, but there's nothing to complain about. They also work harder
> than anybody.
>
> : To change this?  Hmm.  Come up with a plan to persuade more people to value
> : knowledge as much as profit.
>
> There is such a plan. It's called public education. *sigh* I wish it
> worked better.
>
> Cathy Brady
> - formerly the Math Specialist at the Maryland Science Center until the
> money ran out and who is currently looking for a teaching job
>