Hammering Out Sabbatical Details
I have vaguely alluded on this blog to the possibility of my taking a sabbatical next year. Slightly over a week ago, the plan became official. I will not be teaching next year, but plan to return the following year.
As a preliminary step, and with Hiromi and I planning together, I asked the school board to clarify (formulate and articulate might have been more proper terms) its sabbatical policy. While it was surely obvious where this inquiry might be heading, I was still surprised when I was told I had been granted the sabbatical.
Despite the awkwardness, I tried to back-pedal and said to the board representative who contacted me that I felt I needed answers to several specific questions before I decided for sure whether I wanted to ask for a sabbatical. He kindly invited me to submit those questions.
Feeling a little crass and materialistic for doing so, I asked these questions:
1. Can I be assured of a job in the year after my sabbatical?
2. When/if I return, will I be paid at least the same wage as I'm getting now, assuming the job requirements are the same?
3. When/if I return, will I be offered a contract that I can accept or reject?
Yes, yes, and yes.
The school board members are working on drafting a policy which I hope will streamline this process if any future teacher wants to take a sabbatical.
I am not so naive as to believe this is the beginning of a radical shift in the way Mennonite schools do business, or even the way our school does it. But I think beginning to think in terms of six-year teaching blocks could have a markedly improved effect on the quality of instruction in our schools, generally. If the practice ever gains traction, maybe some insightful person will even figure out a way to set in store funds during each of the first six years of a teacher's service so that year seven could be a year of drawing at least partial wages out of the accumulated funds.
If I take regular sabbaticals, maybe I'll live long enough to find out what happens if groups of godly individuals apply their collective insights to figuring out how the Biblical principle can best be applied in our time.
As a preliminary step, and with Hiromi and I planning together, I asked the school board to clarify (formulate and articulate might have been more proper terms) its sabbatical policy. While it was surely obvious where this inquiry might be heading, I was still surprised when I was told I had been granted the sabbatical.
Despite the awkwardness, I tried to back-pedal and said to the board representative who contacted me that I felt I needed answers to several specific questions before I decided for sure whether I wanted to ask for a sabbatical. He kindly invited me to submit those questions.
Feeling a little crass and materialistic for doing so, I asked these questions:
1. Can I be assured of a job in the year after my sabbatical?
2. When/if I return, will I be paid at least the same wage as I'm getting now, assuming the job requirements are the same?
3. When/if I return, will I be offered a contract that I can accept or reject?
Yes, yes, and yes.
The school board members are working on drafting a policy which I hope will streamline this process if any future teacher wants to take a sabbatical.
I am not so naive as to believe this is the beginning of a radical shift in the way Mennonite schools do business, or even the way our school does it. But I think beginning to think in terms of six-year teaching blocks could have a markedly improved effect on the quality of instruction in our schools, generally. If the practice ever gains traction, maybe some insightful person will even figure out a way to set in store funds during each of the first six years of a teacher's service so that year seven could be a year of drawing at least partial wages out of the accumulated funds.
If I take regular sabbaticals, maybe I'll live long enough to find out what happens if groups of godly individuals apply their collective insights to figuring out how the Biblical principle can best be applied in our time.
posted by Mrs. I at
7:09 PM
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