While the Department of Education is nominally in charge of all state-sponsored/controlled education in Ireland, academia in general and the Universities in particular – being at the top of the education pyramid – are very influential in setting out the norms and structures of education.
Now, in life in general, it is often the case that people with very important jobs have low pay. Sanitation and cleaning staff, for example, are vital for our health and wellbeing but yet have low pay – and status.
But as a general rule, in most factories, businesses, enterprises or even public services, the practitioners who have the most important jobs have the highest pay.
Not so, however, in education!
While it is true that people learn throughout the life course, all child development theories stress how necessary it is to attend to developmental and educational needs in early years, and the importance of early years’ education in determining the trajectory of the growing child. It is as important in the child’s growth to adulthood as the foundations are to a house or the roots are to a tree.
Now in my opinion, primary teachers have far more influence on a child’s educational prospects, and therefore a nation’s prosperity, than third level lecturers.
So, it’s amazing how those in education who have the most difficult, demanding and vital jobs – that is, teaching young children – are paid the least.
While academics have very demanding roles in doing research, writing papers, speaking at conferences etc. they have a relatively straightforward teaching role. In fact, it is so unimportant that they are allowed take a year’s break from teaching on full pay (a sabbatical) every seven years or so to do research into a subject that is of interest to them. (This, as far as I am aware, is not offered to teachers in primary or secondary schools).
Also – the World University Rankings are based on volume and quality of research, number of citations, how knowledge is transferred to industry, and how international a university is. Teaching itself constitutes a mere 20% of criteria.
And in respect of the considerable challenges inherent in teaching, the students who attend third level colleges should be motivated, autonomous, and should not require the complex, multifaceted, delicate caring and nurturing skills so important in primary – and often in secondary teaching also.
The fact that there is such a big difference in pay is more down to the power structures of academia than the difference in the level of difficulty or the importance of the job to be done.
If it was your money, to whom would you pay a higher salary?
Well I know that if it was my money, and I wanted results for my investment, that is, confident, happy, independent, critical thinking and entrepreneurial young twenty-somethings, I’d equalise the pay for all educators, primary, secondary and third level – or, perhaps, pay primary teachers a little more.
And while I’m on about it – what about crèches? The old Irish proverb states tosú maith leath na h-oibre, (which means a good start is half the work). Surely those who work in crèches, and are tasked with giving children a good start – particularly in areas that suffer disadvantage – have, arguably, an even more important role than teachers, and certainly a far more important job than university lectures. Yet they have the lowest pay – and, I suppose, status and job security too – of all educators.
So that’s my first myth that surrounds education – power masquerading as importance.