Melbourne, Australia

Hey, Teacher: What are you Doing with your Life?

Are you tired and overworked? Do you feel drained in January? Do you look forward one week off in March to return in March and feel exhausted? Has a 20-week term got you down? Here’s the answer: MOVE TO AUSTRALIA!

WARNING: this is not a sales pitch, this is pure enthusiasm. I used to teach in Ontario, and then I got out of there! No jobs? There’s lots of teaching jobs in Australia. Insufficient recovery time? It’s sufficient in Australia.

What’s ‘the Catch’?

The first thing on your mind is salary: yes! It’s the same (pretty much)! And, it’s not so different with the exchange rate that you will feel hard-done-by. So now that we’ve got that settled, I would
MOVE TO AUSTRALIA!

The School year starts in January—no more of that “2005-2006” split school year crap. The year starts in the same calendar year as it finishes – this makes perfect sense. And even better, the school year starts at the end of January! This means that since you finished before Christmas (and usually in the first couple of weeks of December!) that you have had at least a 6-week break over summer. (Remember the seasons are opposite to North America!)

Are you worried a 6-week break is not long enough?

I used to believe that six weeks paled in comparison to the treat of two months off from school.

Let’s be frank: we are talking about a two-week difference. Furthermore, if you still aren’t feeling rested enough—and this is not the experience of any of my colleagues—never-the-less, if you feel it is not enough: let me point out that in Victoria, you receive the students on February 1st and wave goodbye at the end of Term 1 eight weeks later.

“Terms” are far more intelligent than semesters.

Let’s face it, teaching is freaking exhausting. I worked three jobs in university, going to school full-time and that was so easy and fun in comparison to the absolute exhaustion I feel in teaching. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done!

Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching, but after leaking knowledge all day, you need time to recover so that you don’t turn into that screaming ‘educator’ who hates the world and blackens the hearts of innocent young children just from their sheer exhaustion.

School Holiday Schedule:

April holidays last two weeks, and then you will have a longer term of just twelve weeks until June. Mind you, it is a term filled with many phone calls to home as the honeymoon is over; all of our work habits are

Typical Day Trip from Noosa (Fraser Island)

starting to exude their areas of improvement! However, July’s two week holiday can see you up in Noosa relaxing on the beach or skiing up in ‘the snow’ in north-west Victoria.

The nine weeks that last until the end of term can be a challenge for sure, but you will still have a two-week break in September to recuperate once again, ensuring that you return to school with a genuine smile on your face, ready to face the year ahead.

The official school year usually winds down in November too, allowing December a time for transition and excitement for the year ahead. You have a few weeks to do some pre-planning for the new year. It all just–works.

So, seriously, MOVE TO AUSTRALIA.

Post-Script:

A final note, education research is always comparing Victorian education with Ontario curriculum like some sibling rivalry—but on this one note I happen to concur that the Aussies do it better.