Something I have been thinking about for a long time: [https://sendaiben.org/2023/03/08/four-day-teaching-week/](https://sendaiben.org/2023/03/08/four-day-teaching-week/)
This is common sense. No one can prep lessons in just a few minutes every day, and there also needs to be time set aside for overall curriculum development. And, as he says, if someone is late, sick, or on vacation, no classes will need to be cancelled.
It seems obvious that time spent on preparation and development are just as valuable, if not more so, than time spent in the classroom. Without proper preparation or a curriculum that is designed to meet the aims of the course, classes are just not very effective. And once you get things up and running, you will be able to focus on other things as well, such as training and professional development.
Imagine: an eikaiwa where the teachers are relaxed, fully prepped, have great lesson plans that help learners meet the course goals, and where teachers are given opportunity to improve their overall teaching skills.
It seems like common sense, but apparently this is a pipe dream for the vast majority of teachers.
I know schools which have a prep day in the five but none which do 4 day weeks. Teaching prep also falls into something unquantifiable like graphic design. Sadly Japan deals with stuff like this by expecting long hours. Basically comes down to if you look really busy for long hours a day and do a bad job they can’t blame laziness. This ends up making long hours the default.
[deleted]
I would love this. I don’t know anywhere it’s happening.
Your idea sounds good, if financially feasible.
I worked somewhere with a 4-day-work-week once. A bit different than your idea because there was no 5th day for planning. The entire work week was 4 days. It sounds good in theory, but each work day was 10 hours + 1 hour break. It was far more exhausting, imo.
Your idea would be great if it kept the daily work hours to 8 (and, again, was financially feasible).
Some university teachers I know have a 4 day work week. Some have 5 or even 6. I have even met a few profs who teach 3 days a week at a full time salary but spend more time on research. It just depends on the university and how they are allocated funds to run their program.
One of the schools I was at (JHS & HS) does the opposite instead – they have a 5.5 day week. I think it has to do with the number of “contact hours” they need to clock; with a 5.5 day week, that school starts their spring break around the 3rd week of Feb each year; or about 20 working days ahead of most other schools.
If schools switched to a 4 day week, to keep the same contact hours and semester duration, the school day would have to be 25% longer than what is is right now… so, if you currently have six 50 minute periods in one day (5 hours of class time, excluding breaks in between classes), it’d have to go up to 7.5 periods instead (6h 15m of class time each day).
On the other end, a 4 day week with the same class hours per day, we would have to increase the school year by 25% instead. So, a school with 40 school weeks/year would need to increase it to 50 school weeks/year.
Of course, it’s also possible to mix and match from the above… For example, 7 periods a day, and ~43.3 school weeks/year
I work at a kindergarten, can’t see a 4-day week ever happening. We’re already way too busy as is most weeks. I can’t even imagine my workload on a 4-day week.
I would of course LOVE a 4-day work week, who wouldn’t? But my biggest issue would be “I have 1 day less to get shit done”
4 days a week is somewhat common for full time university teachers but getting a full time contract is difficult. Also usually this comes with the expectation you’ll be turning out research papers every year, you’ll attend meetings that part timers don’t, you’ll help part timers with any issues they have, and of course you need to put together your class materials. All and all it’s still a very busy week during term time with the upshot being more free time between semesters but even then you’ll need to show your face around the office to keep up appearances. I still think full time K-12 teachers work way more and they all have my respect.
Japan will literally be the last country in the world to get a 4 day teaching week
But it’s not actually a 4-day work week since they’re still working on their day off🤷🏽♀️
There’s a difference between working remotely and not working.
My school has 4-day teaching weeks for all teachers
Won’t happen in your lifetime.
I work at a private high school and have a 4 day teaching schedule. On my non-teaching day I can choose to work remote or at the school depending on what needs to get done. Usually the day is reserved for meetings and lesson prep. Compared to your proposed situation, I teach fewer classes and don’t work weekends but have no coverage for days off.
I think it’s a great idea that you’re looking into this. With the current cost of living it is vital to maintain the 5 day salary while having a non-teaching day to get other things done instead of squeezing it in before/at the end of a busy day.
It also seems a good way to prevent potential burn out that can occur in a job that requires the employee to be ‘on’ a lot if teaching kids/high energy classes. Way too many people with physically/mentally demanding jobs forgo fun leisure activities on their official days off cos they spend the whole time sleeping/recharging their batteries ahead of another Monday morning.
The only potential things that stood out (sorry if I’ve overlooked something) is once a person has proved themselves able to work independently at home, would they still also be on call for cover? I mean, if someone calls in sick last minute, and the person working from home lives quite far away, could you potentially have to cancel a class(es) till they arrive at work?
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This is common sense. No one can prep lessons in just a few minutes every day, and there also needs to be time set aside for overall curriculum development. And, as he says, if someone is late, sick, or on vacation, no classes will need to be cancelled.
It seems obvious that time spent on preparation and development are just as valuable, if not more so, than time spent in the classroom. Without proper preparation or a curriculum that is designed to meet the aims of the course, classes are just not very effective. And once you get things up and running, you will be able to focus on other things as well, such as training and professional development.
Imagine: an eikaiwa where the teachers are relaxed, fully prepped, have great lesson plans that help learners meet the course goals, and where teachers are given opportunity to improve their overall teaching skills.
It seems like common sense, but apparently this is a pipe dream for the vast majority of teachers.
I know schools which have a prep day in the five but none which do 4 day weeks. Teaching prep also falls into something unquantifiable like graphic design. Sadly Japan deals with stuff like this by expecting long hours. Basically comes down to if you look really busy for long hours a day and do a bad job they can’t blame laziness. This ends up making long hours the default.
[deleted]
I would love this. I don’t know anywhere it’s happening.
Your idea sounds good, if financially feasible.
I worked somewhere with a 4-day-work-week once. A bit different than your idea because there was no 5th day for planning. The entire work week was 4 days. It sounds good in theory, but each work day was 10 hours + 1 hour break. It was far more exhausting, imo.
Your idea would be great if it kept the daily work hours to 8 (and, again, was financially feasible).
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Some university teachers I know have a 4 day work week. Some have 5 or even 6. I have even met a few profs who teach 3 days a week at a full time salary but spend more time on research. It just depends on the university and how they are allocated funds to run their program.
One of the schools I was at (JHS & HS) does the opposite instead – they have a 5.5 day week. I think it has to do with the number of “contact hours” they need to clock; with a 5.5 day week, that school starts their spring break around the 3rd week of Feb each year; or about 20 working days ahead of most other schools.
If schools switched to a 4 day week, to keep the same contact hours and semester duration, the school day would have to be 25% longer than what is is right now… so, if you currently have six 50 minute periods in one day (5 hours of class time, excluding breaks in between classes), it’d have to go up to 7.5 periods instead (6h 15m of class time each day).
On the other end, a 4 day week with the same class hours per day, we would have to increase the school year by 25% instead. So, a school with 40 school weeks/year would need to increase it to 50 school weeks/year.
Of course, it’s also possible to mix and match from the above… For example, 7 periods a day, and ~43.3 school weeks/year
I work at a kindergarten, can’t see a 4-day week ever happening. We’re already way too busy as is most weeks. I can’t even imagine my workload on a 4-day week.
I would of course LOVE a 4-day work week, who wouldn’t? But my biggest issue would be “I have 1 day less to get shit done”
4 days a week is somewhat common for full time university teachers but getting a full time contract is difficult. Also usually this comes with the expectation you’ll be turning out research papers every year, you’ll attend meetings that part timers don’t, you’ll help part timers with any issues they have, and of course you need to put together your class materials. All and all it’s still a very busy week during term time with the upshot being more free time between semesters but even then you’ll need to show your face around the office to keep up appearances. I still think full time K-12 teachers work way more and they all have my respect.
Japan will literally be the last country in the world to get a 4 day teaching week
But it’s not actually a 4-day work week since they’re still working on their day off🤷🏽♀️
There’s a difference between working remotely and not working.
My school has 4-day teaching weeks for all teachers
Won’t happen in your lifetime.
I work at a private high school and have a 4 day teaching schedule. On my non-teaching day I can choose to work remote or at the school depending on what needs to get done. Usually the day is reserved for meetings and lesson prep. Compared to your proposed situation, I teach fewer classes and don’t work weekends but have no coverage for days off.
I think it’s a great idea that you’re looking into this. With the current cost of living it is vital to maintain the 5 day salary while having a non-teaching day to get other things done instead of squeezing it in before/at the end of a busy day.
It also seems a good way to prevent potential burn out that can occur in a job that requires the employee to be ‘on’ a lot if teaching kids/high energy classes. Way too many people with physically/mentally demanding jobs forgo fun leisure activities on their official days off cos they spend the whole time sleeping/recharging their batteries ahead of another Monday morning.
The only potential things that stood out (sorry if I’ve overlooked something) is once a person has proved themselves able to work independently at home, would they still also be on call for cover? I mean, if someone calls in sick last minute, and the person working from home lives quite far away, could you potentially have to cancel a class(es) till they arrive at work?