My sentiments exactly Sandy. I am dismayed by the factually incorrect statements from some people here.

As a sessional tutor in the adult education sector I mostly only get paid for the hours I stand up and teach. I start early, finish late and my holidays and lunchtimes are unpaid although I work through lunch anyway. Along with many others like me in this sector I get part time wages for full time work. I work every evening and most of every weekend preparing lessons, finding, making and adapting resources, marking, editing audio, filling in endless assessment records and jumping through all the bureaucratic hoops expected of teachers these days due to a growing demands of internal and external moderation.

Just because my pay and conditions are particularly poor doesn't mean to say I resent others trying to hold on to what little they have, because frankly if the government got their way, all teachers would be in my position. This nonsense of teachers being underworked - I don't think I've ever worked so hard in my life and I've tried a wide variety of jobs in my time. Why do I do it? I enjoy helping people I suppose - but teachers' goodwill is already exploited to a huge degree.

I usually just get on with things but it's only when I'm faced with the gross ignorance of some people that I feel moved to say something. As for not being a proper profession - well I've been training hard for the last two years, in which time I have undertaken some massively demanding academic assignments at level 7 along with 8 formal observations and will now undergo a further few months preparing for professional formation leading to QTLS status. To say this doesn't constitute a profession is nonsense.