The ever-elusive work–life balance.

We dug into the archives to find tidbits from previous issues of the ATA Magazine that are worth ­another look, either because of their relevance today, or as a reminder of how far we’ve come. You decide.

Can you match the following excerpts with the year that they were originally published?  1956, 1963, 1992, 2018

1. “Dickensian” hours

Driven by fear for their jobs in tough economic times, or blind ambition which necessitates climbing the promotional ladder to reach for the elusive brass ring, or perhaps just through plain loyalty to hard-pressed colleagues and institutional policy, more and more professionals are putting in hours that a generation ago would have been derisively termed “Dickensian.”

Your guess: 

Fun–play time!

Amusement also has its place. While there is little therapeutic benefit from watching movies, television, ballet, or baseball, they do provide some degree of relaxation.
Real therapeutic fun, however, is active fun–play. Ten-year-olds play tag and have a whale of a time. They find it fun to chase and be chased, yet no one wins and no one ever really loses. That’s the type of games adults should have, say the experts.
Among ideal adult games: square dancing, splash parties, picnics, hiking—anything, in fact, that keeps people moving and laughing.

Your guess: 

Concentrated effort

Teaching involves intense and prolonged periods of concentrated effort in the field of human relationships, which can fatigue the most vigorous person. A dynamic working situation must be maintained during the school day with from 25 to 35 lively human beings. … Other load factors are found in the external environment in which the teaching is carried out such as class size, social setting of the school, type of administration in the school, and class achievement levels, as well as the teacher’s physical health, ­personality, motivation, and enthusiasm.

Your guess: 

Mental health in schools

While school does not constitute the entirety of our lives, it does constitute a significant portion of awake time for all members of the school community. Students spend a third of their waking hours in school. Teachers and nonteaching staff spend even more time in the workplace than students. Because of this, mental health must be supported in school as part of our “whole” lives.  

Your guess:  

Answers: 1. “The Expanding Workday.” Peter Clamp, April 1992.    2. “Your Job Doesn’t Have to Drive You Nuts!—If You Take Time to Play.” Donald Gordon and Jon Kiernan, January 1956.    3. “A Teacher’s Work Week.” J D McFetridge, May 1963.    4. “Mental Health: A Changing Landscape.” David Grauwiler, Winter 2018.