By Colin Jun

Missing a school day is never the best situation. Skipping one school day requires catching up on a huge amount of school materials, homework and possibly some tests. Similar to the consequences students face, missing a school day is not a good idea for teachers either.

As Mrs. Ma explained, “We have to first tell the administration team, prepare the lesson plan for a substitute teacher and ask the school to find a substitute teacher.”

Although teachers missing one or two days of school may seem insignificant for underclassmen, for the students who have upcoming exams – especially IB/AP seniors – missing a teacher for one day can be a loss.

Jiwon Shin in 12th grade said, “There is no huge impact on my studies, but if I have a question or I have to hand in a task, it becomes difficult to do so without a teacher.”

Are there any guidelines for how many days teachers can miss the school day? According to Dr. Lee, there is a rough guideline: teachers should not miss more than ten school days in a year. SASPD teachers usually are under this limit, but due to the external circumstances such as APAC coaching or chaperoning other trips, there are cases which the teachers have to go over the limit.

The most common for teachers missing the school is traveling as chaperone or coach for APAC activities and other trips. If the activity occurs in Shanghai, teachers are guided to miss two school days at most, and if the activity occurs abroad, teachers are guided to miss three school days at most. Other than traveling, where both students and teachers are out of school, the biggest reasons why teachers miss school is training.

Dr. Lee explained, “We recognize the primary role of the teacher is to do their job in the classroom, but our teachers can become the best experts [as well].”

The school requires the teachers to participate in teacher workshops if there is new course starting next year (like IB Computer Science) or there is a revision in the courses (such as changes in IB Math program next year). The number of days where teachers miss school varies every year. This year, the Math department needed more training as the IB Math syllabus changes significantly next year. Other than these training or travels, teachers also miss the school day if they are participating in ongoing school projects, creating the school syllabus that adheres the external standard or preparing for the school accreditation process.

According to Dr. Lee, there is a rough guideline for the number of days teachers can miss – teachers should not miss more than ten school days in a year. In most cases, SASPD teachers are under this limit, but due to the external circumstances such as APAC coaching or chaperoning other trips, there are some cases which the teachers have to go over the limit. The most common for teachers missing the school is traveling to serve as chaperone or coach for APAC activities and other trips. If the activity occurs in Shanghai, teachers are guided to miss two school days at most, and if the activity occurs abroad, teachers are guided to miss three school days at most.

Other than traveling, in which students and teachers are both missing schools, the biggest reasons for teachers to miss school is training.

“We recognize the primary role of the teacher is to do their job in the classroom, but our teachers can become the best experts [as well],” said Dr. Lee. 

The school requires the teachers to participate in teacher workshops if there is new course starting next year (like IB Computer Science) or there is a revision in the courses (such as changes in IB Math program next year). Accordingly, the number of days which teachers are missing the school day varies every year – this year, the Math department needed more training as new IB Math syllabus changes significantly next year. Else than these training or travels, teachers also have to miss the school days if they are participating in ongoing school projects, creating the school syllabus that adheres the external standard or preparing for the school accreditation process.

When the teachers are missing the school for these reasons, students have to take the class with substitute teachers. Although our SASPD substitute teachers make their best effort to carry out the class, there are cases where the substitute’s class does not entirely satisfy student’s need. How do substitute teachers get chosen? Our school HR department first receives the resume and letters from the candidates, review all the materials, interview each candidate, and then the school administration team chooses the substitute teacher.

Dr. Lee said “it is difficult for us to go through the same quality of determination process as the full-time teachers. It is difficult to have the quality control for substitute teachers perfectly.”

The biggest reason is the tiny pool of candidates for substitute teachers. It is a temporary job, so it is difficult to make a living out of this job. Furthermore, as our school requires a four-year degree (regardless of their major or country received) and English speaking skills, the pool becomes much smaller.

With the limited number of substitute teachers at our school, it is difficult for the school to always provide a teacher who knows the class material and can effectively teach the materials to the students. If a teacher has to miss school suddenly, the availability of substitute teachers determines which teachers are coming – rather than the teacher’s ability to teach the materials. Of course, Dr. Lee explained in the interview “If we have time, we plan ahead, and we take time to take a look at disciplinary background [of substitute teachers].”

For these reasons, it is difficult for students to have a perfect substitute teacher for every class.

Still, Dr. Lee said, “We do want to be responsive, and therefore we need more feedback for substitute teachers.”