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The preliminary "administrative" note in Issue 68 concerning the summer
and the apparent expectation that it is "time off" prompts me to return
to one aspect of the exchange on remuneration which I had raised
earlier.
Just what do we expect teachers and administrators to do during the
summer.
Is it generally a time to "refresh" or to prepare for the coming year?
Should schools have some specific requirements as to what faculty or
administrators do during the summer break?
Should the school monitor what is done?
Would we prefer a teacher to go off and do something completely
unrelated to his work or subject matter as a means of getting a broader
scope, or should he or she be rigorously confined to their subject and
field?
In the earlier exchange, the question of the summer was raised as it
related to remuneration and the possibility of making it economically
productive for teachers.
Is this the right approach and do all schools have some or no policy.
(I recognize that my son has raised questions about the summer from the
point of view of the students and educational consistency. This is from
the other side of the story.)
Larry Kobrin
[I think that it unfair to compare teachers to bookkeepers, programmers,
doctors, lawyers, or plumbers for that matter. When it comes to
"vacation", the obvious parallel is the word of academia where it is taken
for granted that for a lecturer to remain "fresh" said lecturer must be a
learner, and opportunities must be given for continued growth. The typical
day school teaching load does not allow for that during the academic year
(in contrast with the Israeli system, which offers Sabbaticals,
advancement based on continued education, etc. as pointed out by Seth
Kadish).
Most of the educators I know find productive, growth oriented projects for
the summer (if anyone wants to attend the Lookstein Center=92s Principals
conference, I will offer my "protectzia" to see if there is still a spot
open). To have "specific requirements" or "monitor" what teachers do
sounds to me like a step away from the professional status for which we
are striving. Perhaps schools should offer incentives for their faculty to
attend professional enrichment seminars, or develop curricular materials
for their schools. Shalom]</HTML>
