WHY TEACHER NEED A BREAK

Most of the teacher work eight to twelve hours a day or more, six days a week the problem on the recreational use of leisure cannot be underestimated. For most them, time for leisure is short and opportunities are few.

Nowadays, it is recognized that leisure is not a luxury. It is a fundamental universal human need and therefore, one of the rights of man. And to meet that need the rational approach is imperative. People should plan ways to enhance better job performance through the judicious management of their own time.

Throughout history, people have sought leisure. To have leisure is the oldest dream of human beings, to be free from an endless round of labor, and from tyranny of nature and of other human beings; to be free to pursue what one wants, to spend time in voluntary, pleasurable ways; free to find and accept one’s place in the world; and free to exist in a state of grace (Godbey, 1981). Indeed, to those who are brain, weary and nervous because of continual and excessive work of labor, coming in close contact with the things in nature, a visit to the countryside where they can leave a simple, carefree life will be most helpful, and will do far more than any other agency toward their recovery (Nelson, 1994).

Carlson (1979) considers leisure as the weight – the means to keep man’s life in balance – not a perfect balance for man or inertia, but a swaying, dynamic balance that is acceptable to the individual. The balance can be physical, psychological, or social. A person who lives alone may seek social interaction in recreation, while a person who does demanding intellectual work may choose physical activity to sustain balance.

--oOo— The author is Teacher III at Dapdap Resettlement Elementary School, Division of Tarlac Province