"Why we are striking" - Aotearoa's teachers
Teachers in their own words share why they’ve decided to strike…
On Thursday, teachers and principals strike across Aotearoa. Teachers I spoke to were desperate for parents to understand just how seriously they took the decision to strike. Almost all of the teachers I spoke to said it was a last resort and they felt like they had no other option.
Some teachers talked about pay but most talked about teachers and ratios, support for disabled and neurodivergent tamariki, sick leave in a post-Covid world, more available relief teachers, more non-contact time and more teacher aides.
Explainer: Why are teachers striking.
It struck me as interesting that much of what they’re asking for - particularly around more funding for disabled and neurodivergent children - is exactly what parents have been asking for.
I wanted to know what they thought in their own words - only edited for length and clarity. I asked teachers if they wanted to share with me on Friday and was overwhelmed by the response. I haven’t been able to include every person who contacted me and for that I’m sorry! But I think this selection of people shows the depth of feeling…
“For me it’s about reducing the inequity that exists within our sector: Secondary is better funded and resourced than primary and people still see ECE as non-essential and treat them like babysitters rather than educators. We need things to improve so we can attract and retain quality educators.” - Erin, Tāmaki Makaurau
“We are striking because we feel that the workload on teachers has become increasingly unmanageable. Especially now that we have expectations around hybrid, in person, and working from home learning. We need more resourcing for support for our kids who are in desperate need of more help with mental health support and guidance. Our kaiako Māori teachers also need to be properly recognised for the extra mahi that they do in our kura in the fact that they are currently expected to do all the work of any teacher but also step up into a cultural advisory role. They should be paid as a recognition of the extra workload they have. We also just want our pay to match inflation levels so we can continue to meet the needs of our families while we guide and nurture our students.” - Erin, Ōtautahi
“I turned down the offer because it did not, at all, address our most pressing issues such as support for tamariki with extra learning issues. They did not address lowering class sizes, adequate release time to plan for lessons, nor did they address providing the funding to support the ever growing needs of our tamariki.” - Natasha, Te Whanganui-a-Tara
“So many people think we are striking for the money, and to be honest I would have accepted the pay rise that was offered. But it’s so much more than that. Primary needs smaller class sizes so we can better cater for the vast range of needs in our classes. This is not about the money, I can promise you this. It is about our tamariki.” - Renée, Canterbury
The government needs to commit to a class size cap. The need in classes is so high that the only way to deliver anywhere near the amount of differentiation needed is to reduce class sizes. In my year six class last year of 28, the literacy range was from 6.5 years to 16 years and everything in between. Numeracy was 5.5 years to 14 years. Trauma was unreal. We need to: Cap classes, and retain and attract new teachers. Good ones. Young teachers can't afford to live in Auckland. We need to make teaching an attractive or at least sustainable job financially.” Jessica, Tāmaki Makaurau
“I don’t think people realise that we have accepted incredibly low offers the whole time I have been a teacher. In one bargaining round we sacrificed pay to oppose bulk funding under National which would have significantly impacted learners from lower socioeconomic areas and those with learning difficulties. We have taken a pay cut over the last ten years and with inflation, this just continues the downward trend. The work going into the NCEA changes for secondary teachers is on top of our existing workload. We deal with the consequences of growing social issues in our society like mental health and poverty, with no extra time allowance pay or training. But most importantly, we care for our most vulnerable ākonga and tamariki, and try to ensure every single child and young person in Aotearoa can reach their dreams.” - Emily, Tāmaki Makaurau
“Our contract expired in June last year, we have been on an expired contract for nine months. We renegotiate our contract every three years under employment law. Arguably our most straight forward claim was for our pay to remain in line with inflation. What the Ministry of Education have offered us is a pay cut. There are other claims that remain unaddressed by the Ministry. These include asking for more staffing investment into the sector so that the work and mental load is lightened on each individual teacher. We also asked for more investment into the space of Te Ao Māori, and more staffing for developing really strong connections with Māori and Pasifika whānau who may have had bad past experiences with the education system. These also remain unapproved. Also unaddressed were claims around sick leave when tteachers have been the hardest hit professions by Covid. An claims that would have just brought the Secondary Teachers' Collective Agreement in line with the Employment Relations Act 2000, which is currently isn't. These are around annual leave, hours of work and employment relations organizing. We can't accept a contract that doesn't clearly adhere to the law. We have also asked for the exorbitant Teaching Council registration fees to be covered by the Ministry.
Basically the job is immense, I've only been a secondary teacher for five years, but in that time I've seen several amazing teachers and dear friends leave the profession who started at the same time or after me. Essentially because what is being demanded of them is just too much. I have seen people have mental health breakdowns. At the same time, the numbers coming into Teacher Training are significantly lower than in the past, because new grads know how tough it is.
“Get another job if you don't like it” is what commentators say every three years when we inevitably get to this really, despondent, disilusioning position. But what happens if we all do just that? Who will do the mahi of educating our precious rangatahi? Our rangatahi who deserve teachers who are specialist, well, and not at their wits end with stress all the time? When we get to this place where the ministry just aren't listening to our very reasonable concerns, we have little recourse left but to strike. If anything, the uproar it causes illustrates how the functioning of society really does rely upon our labour.” - Clare, Te Whanganui-a-Tara
“I am striking because the offer for secondary teachers doesn't do enough to address the poor starting salary for beginning teachers. As a senior teachers, we are bogged down in admin, NCEA changes with little to no support while still trying to raise the standard of literacy and numeracy. I was working in pastoral care up until this year, but I had to resign from it because we didn't get enough time to manage our already heaving teaching loads. Teaching is only 50% of the job. I drove a student out to a trip today because she'd missed the bus, a lot of us go out of our own way to make kids have a good time at school.” Erica, Waikato
“I’m striking because my job is to make sure my students are equipped for the world and I cant do that becuase I’m over worked and under resourced. It’s not just about the pūtea, it’s class sizes, support for high needs, teacher aides, 60 hour work weeks and avoiding burnout.” - Molly Pōneke
“I'm striking on Thursday because primary Teachers deserve the same pay and class size ratios as Secondary Teachers. I need release time. Two days a term is not enough to carry out my one-on-one assessments, let alone any planning. We have very few Beginning Teachers coming through, and I have seen several leave in their first year once they realise that they aren't getting paid as much as the office job they left to follow their dreams and the dream was too much work. This is why pay is important.
“But my two big ‘whys’? The ‘whys’ that make me cry are that I do not want to go to another students funeral or hear of yet another suicide in our province. We need counsellors and mentors in all schools, mental health doesn't just start in Year 9.”
“And I need time to connect with my baby so he can have some great skills under his belt before an overworked Teacher gets him. He has learned to shut my laptop lid and he cries when I don't let him. It breaks my heart.”- Carly, Marlborough
“I spend all day looking after teenagers who need so much more care and love than most people realise. But I can't afford to have kids of my own and biologically speaking, time is running out. I don't want to be forced to leave for better pay as my partner and I are science and maths teachers. I feel guilty for even considering it because I know just how hard it will be to find replacements, but no one cares. It's just so dire and exhausting.”- Charlotte, Te Whanganui-a-Tara
“Deciding to strike is such a tough one. When I ran the numbers on my budget for the fortnight, taking a days unpaid leave means that after my bills are paid and food is on the table then that’s it. And I am more than aware that lots of people are in that position, or worse, across lots of different jobs, but this is our only way of negotiating a salary increase that is at least in line with inflation. If we don’t “suck it up” now and take the hit of a day unpaid to try and improve teacher salaries then the issue of shortages will just get worse.”
“I work in a school that has a culture I love, with colleagues who are like whānau, and students who have amazing opportunities and are proud and happy to be with us so why should I or anyone else have to go find a different job? I have a Masters Degree in a profession that I love and I am good at it.”
“And that’s just pay, I could talk for hours about how funding for students with educational needs feels non existent these days, how every teacher needs to be fully first aid trained but there just isn’t the funding so I had to rely on out of date training when a kid had a medical emergency in my classroom. We need to talk about how much bigger my classes have got on average over the last six years. How schools like mine are doing their absolute best to be pillars of strength and stability and care and support in communities that are facing massive hardships.” - Emma Bay of Plenty
“We struggle to find enough staff. In the past we would have to work hard to decide which three to four candidates to interview. Now we’re lucky to get CVs from any suitable candidates. Our salaries have to keep up with the cost of living. It’s not OK to have teachers struggling to afford to live, that stress comes into the classroom with them. Students deserve teachers who are adequately resourced to do their jobs.” - Anna, Tāmaki Makaurau
“Why am I striking? I absolutely love my job but I am not always sure it is a sustainable career. It takes heart, soul and a whole lot of support both from within my kura and my whānau. My boys and husband spend multiple hours with me after hours and at school functions. They give up our time to ensure I am doing the best I can for my students. We are dealing with increasing needs with decreasing resources. At any one time I could be juggling up to five different curriculum levels within one subject. Times that by all the different curriculum areas. Let’s not enough mention the many high needs I have in my classroom. Because if you are waiting for funding you’ll be sitting there a long time.”
“I know times are tough for all of us, I know schools closing is an inconvenience. But if we place no value on our education system, then we are not placing any value on our children. We will be failing our future if we do not ensure that the people who educate our children are well resourced and treated like the dedicated and skilled professionals they are.” - Emily, Kirikiriroa
“For me it’s just about the mental health and stress of it. If you have children it’s not really tenable. It’s just all the preparation, marking, admin and professional side of it on top of the social work, emotional support, aroha in class side of it. With two free paid hours a week I’m supposed to do all my planning and marking for four classes. So obviously I work all weekend when I should be parenting better. You can’t win, you’re either a shit parent or a shit teacher or a bit of both… so I’m keen for better conditions, more release time, much smaller classes, way more teacher aides, and more resources.” - Amelia, Te Awa Kairangi
“I’m striking for better work conditions so I can have an actual work life balance. So I don’t have to choose between time with my family or getting my work done that cannot be completed when I’m at school due to being utterly time poor.” Melissa - Tāmaki Makaurau
“I'm a first year teacher. I'm at school from 8am to 5pm, five days a week. Then I go home, spend two hours with my own small children and put them to bed, and I get my laptop out and do a couple of hours more work. Plus a few hours over the weekend - it adds up to close to 60 hours a week. All for the take home pay that works out to about $12.50 an hour for those hours. I already have a long list of things to do in my classroom over the holidays, so I'll be at school for at least one week. I took a paycut to go into teaching this year, and I can definitely see why so many teachers are leaving the field with the current workload” - Jessica, Manawatu-Whanganui
“I’m striking for the future, who sit in front of us every day. The kids we teach are going to live in a world where they will be dealing with climate change, pandemics, and wars. They need to learn things like resilience, creativity, and problem solving. They need good teachers turning up for them every day. If pay and conditions stay the way they are, good teachers will leave, and good people won’t even consider become teachers. Why would they when teaching is being so undervalued?” - Hayley, Whangārei
“It is so frustrating that the media make it all about pay. Of course, we want more pay, who wouldn’t? But I would absolutely accept an offer without a pay-rise if it meant improved class sizes and funding models so that we could respond to the emotional, social, cultural and academic needs of each child.” Teresa, Te Whanganui-a-Tara
“For me personally it's about class sizes and support within the class for the ever growing number of children who just need more support. We don't want to do this. We hate the thought of a strike. We are fighting to keep our kids coming to school after a hideously disruptive three years. We don't want to lose momentum and piss families off. I would love for this to resolve before the strike day.” - Rachel, Waikato
Some names have been changed to protect teachers who are afraid of pushback from their schools or school boards.
Thanks for this Emily. More than anything, it has helped me to understand what school is actually like for staff these days. And as a parent of a neurodivergent child, it concerns me greatly that teachers are not properly resourced to support him and other children with additional learning needs.
This is all so true. I'm in the HB and my kid's school has decided not to strike purely because of the disruption the kids (and parents) have all been through in the last month.
While we are all thankful to them for this, I truly believe that they should get everything they ask for.
These people guide, teach, mentor and care for our kids in ways that continue to astound me. Teaching is a weird thing in that everyone expects so much from teachers and yet it is somehow classed as 'beneath' a vocation in business or commerce etc... but how did all those business people get there? Somebody TAUGHT them.
Sending all the aroha to the teachers.