Substitutes Need to be Recognized and Supported

Substitute Teaching is necessary because school teachers and assistants will always need their schedules covered when they are away from the schools. Despite being needed by schools, substitutes are not always respected by school staff. By and large, substitute teaching is a tough and unappreciated job. Why accept substituting work? People accept the work because they need the income - some are retired, work part-time elsewhere, are unemployed, or want to find regular work in schools and see it as a way to make connections.

I substituted in a couple of states and can bear witness to the true work which requires a number of skillsets such as classroom management, presentation, teaching, and flexibility. The work can be challenging at times, so substitutes need a supportive system which does not always exist. Teaching students should be a collaborative effort. However, substitute teaching is often solitary work because you are sometimes barely given information and told to control and teach a class. Some school staff are friendly, while others avoid substitutes.

A wonderful article came out about Texas schools which can represent any state’s situation during Cobid-19. It seems that some schools in Texas are having trouble filling Substitute positions especially during Covid-19. Substitute Teaching is a ‘tough’ job and Texas Can’t Find Enough of The During the Pandemic by Emily Donaldson, Talia Richman, Corbett Smith, and Nicolette White is spot on in its assessment of substitute work being tough.

I am sure there are good situations, but there are also challenging situations.

Substitutes work a partial day, a full day as per diem, or accept a longer-term assignment. Unless the substitute has a long-term relationship with the school, then the substitute comes into the schools and different classrooms cold. The substitutes do not know the students by name and do not always have the support of nearby teachers or administrators.

When I worked at schools, I often heard the phrase that a per diem, school worker was “just the substitute.” Where’s the professional dignity? When substitutes enter schools, they are not always: given the lay of the land, or offered information on the: schedule, school rules, phone numbers, or names and/or titles of people to reach out to for questions. Sometimes asking questions of staff are seen as a nuisance when staff rushes the substitutes to cover a class right away.

Substitutes follow their selected teacher’s/assistant’s work schedules. Teachers will have one to two free periods for planning each day. Many schools will decide that since substitutes do not prepare lessons that they can be used in whatever fashion they decide which includes covering a difficult teacher’s class (that had no substitute), giving a staff member a break by covering them, assisting in the office or another section of the school. Sometimes substitutes are sent to the library to help shelve or organize books during their free periods. Sometimes, schools will not even allow the substitute to fill a schedule for the teacher they selected, and will completely move substitutes to another teacher’s class which may be a subject they are not familiar with. Sometimes substitutes could even be sent to the gym to help students play games and exercise.

Sometimes the office secretary or administrator would decide a “challenging” or “wild” class needed substitute coverage. Why would an unknown substitute handle a challenging class better than a known teacher? There is little recourse for the substitutes to do that day even if they are shuffled around because leaving a school would mean a school would write them off. Schools have a lot of power and can utilize the substitutes where they see fit.

What is the answer to substitutes having challenges? Perhaps substitutes should all be able to get benefits and have similar rights as school staff.

Substitute teaching is a ‘tough’ job and Texas can’t find enough of them during the pandemic (dallasnews.com)