Work Hard

"Working hard is very important. You're not going to get anywhere without working extremely hard."

George Lucas

It wasn't until I started teaching that I learnt the real value of hard work. I spent my days at school and university doing what I needed to in order to get by, but tried not to work any harder than I thought I had to. These days I am more likely to chastise myself for working too hard rather than for not working hard enough. My default setting is to work hard, even if it can on occasion lead to total exhaustion. This may seem at odds with what I discussed previously about "playing the game", but actually they can and should exist in parallel. It is the is a combination of working hard and working smart that brings success.  

This TED ED talk suggests that you don't have to be smart to succeed, and that the most successful people are actually not A-Grade students. I would take this with a pinch of salt, because I think you have to have a little bit about you to achieve great things, but I would have appreciated some of this advice when I was younger...

Let me give you an idea of what hard work looks like to me - I get to work at least an hour before school starts and leave about two hours after the final bell has gone. On top of that I will work most evenings, at least one day at the weekend, and a portion of each holiday. I have simply accepted this as par for the course, and to succeed in teaching you will have to accept it as well. It is not ideal, and I am sure there will be repercussions in the future (for individuals and the sector as a whole), but for the time being this is the state of things. Work hard or fail. Our very own Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary, has suggested that the answer to the workload problem is to stop sending emails after 5pm. This is a noble suggestion, but doesn't actually deal with the main issues at hand which is, most importantly, that to be a successful teacher you will need to work the vast majority of hours that God (or whoever is actually in charge of time) sends.

So, if this is an undeniable truth of teaching, then how can we sustain a 50+ hour work week without going a little bit insane? The simple answer is to make any task meaningful and, as far as possible, enjoyable:

• Lesson planning should bring out the most creative elements of your character and you should look forward to teaching those lessons. If you find yourself becoming disinterested in a lesson or a series of lessons it is better to put it to one side and come back to it later.
• Marking and feedback needs to have real purpose - don't just make it an exercise in "ticking and flicking". Set questions which challenge your students and encourage some independent thought; this way you can, hopefully, take some enjoyment from their answers.
• Ensure that you approach "busy work", all that paper work and bureaucratic rubbish, only when you are feeling entirely up to it. This doesn't mean put it off indefinitely, but be aware that staring a task half-heartedly will never end well.

There are also a hundred other ways to cope with the unavoidable stresses brought on by hard work. Most of these suggestions I try to follow, albeit in a piecemeal fashion. Meditate: from time to time. Sleep well: when I can. Breathe properly: when I remember. Say no: when it's right to. 

There will always be those who actively question the value of hard work, or consider the "misappropriation of energy", but in the end it is difficult to deny that "handwork is the single greatest competitive advantage". All I know is that I would not be where I am today without hard work, or perhaps more interestingly I could be even further forward if I'd started working harder sooner. I'll leave you with another quote which links nicely to the theme of this whole blog: success in teaching is not possible without hard work.