Just to save time, shall we just have a thread here, where our teaching colleagues can collate all the answers to the questions about teachers and schools, to save having to repeat the same stuff again and again?
- Why aren’t the teachers working?
They are working.
- What are the teachers doing all day?
A myriad of things. Including, but not limited to: gathering evidence to get qualification data for Year 11 and Year 13, planning lessons that can be taught remotely, creating resources, marking work, checking on vulnerable children, completing safeguarding referrals, writing school reports, in school minding key worker children, writing new schemes of work and policies for the COVID-19 world, delivering free school meals to students...
- Why aren’t the teachers doing online video lessons?
Some are. Most (the correct decision, IMHO) are not doing this, following union guidance. This is due to unsafe platforms, such as Zoom, the inappropriateness of it for some ages/classes, and due to safeguarding reasons.
- What safeguarding reasons could there possibly be for not doing online video lessons?
So, so many, sadly. Including, but not limited to: the vulnerability of teachers’ images or voices being used to create online memes (at best) or pornographic material (at worst) by downloading and manipulating the clips, protections of both staff and students who may be hiding from dangerous individuals known to them, the possibility that abuse may happen live online in front of other children, the possibility that some children may appear on camera either undressed or performing indecent acts...
- Why aren’t the teachers in school actually teaching the key worker children?
We’ve been told not to teach key worker children in school, we are only child minders at present. This is due to the possibility of unfairness if we are teaching some children and not others, and also because it is impossible to plan for and execute when you are trying to maintain social distancing, and also have no idea what year groups you will have in each day.
- What’s happening with the school curriculum?
It’s been suspended.
- When are the schools going back?
Literally, NONE OF US KNOW. It doesn’t matter what your school has said or not said, or what your neighbour’s Aunt Gertrude has said. None of us know anything about when the schools are going back.
- Why can’t they summer holidays be cancelled, and the kids go back to school then?
Because the teachers and students are technically working right now. The children will need their summer holidays, and the staff will need them, too.
- But other industries have had their holidays cancelled, so why can’t teachers have theirs cancelled?
It’s more complicated than it is in other industries. Teachers aren’t paid for their holidays, and they also can’t take them as time off at a later date. The government would have to pay six weeks’ extra pay to all teachers, which I don’t reckon they’ve got the spare cash to do.
10. Why can’t teachers just work it unpaid?
Because we are not bloody saints, and we aren’t very well paid in the first place.
11. Why are the teachers still receiving a full salary?
Because they’re still working full-time, see above, points 1 and 2.
12. But why isn’t MY child’s teacher doing X, Y or Z?
We have absolutely no idea. Why don’t you contact the school in question? Maybe they are, and you haven’t seen it yet? Maybe they’re not, and they’ve actually absconded to Hawaii? Maybe they’re just drinking gin all day? Who can tell, I certainly can’t...
13. What are the daffodils on posts about teachers/teaching for?
It was decided in a thread on The Staffroom that it would be far more productive to give each other flowers on threads clearly guilty of teacher bashing, since many people’s mental health and well-being is at a real low at the moment, and many hard-working teachers are genuinely upset by these posts.
14. Is it really teacher bashing, though? I’m so bored of hearing this.
It is, because these threads generally rely on generalisations regarding an entire profession, and are simply an excuse to “have a go”, rather than doing the more productive thing and contacting their child’s school.
15. But don’t teachers think they have the hardest job in the world? They’re always moaning and being so defensive!
Literally none of us have ever said that we have the hardest job in the world. I don’t know who does. NHS staff at the moment, for sure. Other key workers still having to carry on in difficult conditions, absolutely. But we definitely are facing some very difficult tasks in our jobs right now, that we’ve had no time to prepare for, in an unprecedented situation. Exactly the same as most other lines of work are having to do. And we have to defend ourselves, because SOME posters on here do love a pile-on when it comes to teaching.
16. Would you like a glass of wine?
Fuck yes, most of the time, actually. Care to join me?
