Megan: Parents are the worst at this. They email after school hours often expecting a response before the next day. Or they email during the school day and expect a reply before the end of the day, not understanding that we might have been in front of class most of that time.
Jessica: I've deleted my email app off my phone because I was checking all the time and it was causing so much stress. Being contactable 24/7 hours really affects your personal life and ability to have time outside of work.
Marie-Therese: There is an expectation from students and the hierarchy that we are on our emails continuously!
Kerrie: Never stops – if you don't answer somebody's email at night they want to know why. I work part time and if I don't answer emails on my day off response is the same.
Merilyn: All you government organisers of teachers’ lives, how dare you intrude on family life when you expect teachers to fulfil duties which already intrude on quality time with your partner and children. Unless the email concerns a life threatening issue then back off, otherwise teachers will have to scrimp on their emotional input into their duties, which is of course their students’ education.
Stephen: It is only one way the technology has exponentially increased our work loads to ridiculous levels, to breaking point to be honest. It is of course a poor way of communicating. The message is not always received nor is it understood. But technology has done much more than increase emails as an addition to workloads. The best use of the technology is that it simply adds another tool for teaching and learning. It could make us better teachers. It puts a window to the world on your desk and everyone’s desk. Email is mostly junk mail. But teachers adapt. They just press delete.
Con: Over 5000 unread emails deleted at last year’s end.
Lyn Best: As a preschool director I receive a ridiculous amount of emails that I simply cannot keep up with. After working all day and then organising my observations and child profiles I look at my emails. There are often too many to process. Burn out from email is real. I wish we could go back to snail mail.
Margaret: I don't read work emails after 6pm because I'm too busy marking, programing and preparing for the next day. If you don't read emails you don't have to respond to them!
Sally-Anne:Lunch and morning tea breaks are spent responding to emails not having a much needed rest break.
Chris: I disabled email on my phone and haven't looked back
Leanne: Yes and if you don't answer, read, or do what was instructed on the email, you are pulled over the coals, even though it was sent late at night, early morning, weekends, holidays.