Dealing with the pressure of supply teaching Supply Teaching Life as a supply teacher can be both demanding and rewarding. The demand for supply teachers does go up within a specific season and then returns to an all-time low in other seasons. Many permanent teachers envy the life of supply teachers, envying their seemingly many job opportunities. However, there are times when the supply teachers desire permanent job opportunities. As they indicate often, with a permanent teaching job, you are able to plan your days well, and budget for your income however limited. On the other hand, it is rare for teachers to find permanent employment opportunities. However, with the demand for permanent teachers decreasing, supply teachers have to find creative ways to deal with the challenges that face them Low demand
One of the major challenges for supply teaching is prolonged seasons of low demand. There are times when schools have no demand for replacement teachers, otherwise known as supply teachers. During this time, teachers can spend a large amount of their time sitting by the phone or constantly checking their emails to see if they have gotten an opportunity for work. The main concern with low demand is the decreased income. To deal with this challenge many supply teachers take up other jobs such as private tutoring so that they are not relying on one income.
A supply teacher can also spread their income, making it last much longer rather than blowing all the money they make during the seasons of high demand. There are various saving schemes open to the supply teacher that ensure the income they earn lasts during the school year. Curriculum knowledge
The call for replacement in supply teaching comes late in the evening or early in the morning, giving little time for the teacher to prepare for the lessons and the class. The teacher must take as minimum time as possible to familiarise themselves with the subject matter and present the same professionally. A supply teacher is skills in one subject, which they should try as much possible to learn all subject matter included. This minimises the time that they indeed require to master the required subject matter. Demanding clients
There are schools and principals who can be quite demanding on the supply teaching staff. Such clients can be difficult to deal with and could indeed damage the reputation upon which the supply teacher relies to earn income. Dealing with difficult clients is a skill that supply teachers have to learn early in their career. Demands of the clients must be met as far as the teacher can to ensure that they maintain a good relationship with the clients and earn other chances to be called in as a replacement. Where criticism is given, it should be taken positively, and complaints should be kept at a minimum. A supply teacher has to formulate new relationships each time they are called to work. They must develop a new set of skills that sets them apart and makes them exceptional in their work. Unlike permanent teachers, their work operates in much the same way as a business.
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