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Anyone else fed up of criticism?

48 replies

Msgiggles30 · 20/05/2019 21:27

I hate the nature of teaching in that it makes you feel constantly not good enough even though i know criticism is a part of the job and part of improving. However anyone else fed up of consultant type people coming in and pointing out all the negative whilst also giving 'helpful suggestions' that dont really work for your setting?!

OP posts:
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HebeMumsnet · 21/05/2019 16:23

Just bumping this for you OP. And Flowers for all you teachers. You're very much appreciated by us parents.

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Thrownbythis · 21/05/2019 16:25

Especially great is when it’s something you would never have thought to do yourself, like have a seating plan or greet the children as they arrive

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Noonemournsthewicked · 21/05/2019 16:27

Yep it was no good for my mental health so I left.
I hated passing it on the children as well. Every piece of work had a comment on how to make it better. Sometimes we are just good enough as we are.

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Msgiggles30 · 21/05/2019 18:11

Yes feeling a bit better today about it and to be fair my school isnt a bad one! Its just annoying how we need these crazy well paid people to give us silly suggestions that like you say weve already tried or thought of 😂. As someone thats naturally hard of themsleves it makes it worse!

OP posts:
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alovelywhitebed · 21/05/2019 18:14

I'm really fed up of relationships.

Yes, their bad behaviour is because I haven't done a crappy 'class bingo' session.

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Cynderella · 21/05/2019 19:19

I had a conversation today with someone who came into teaching in her thirties. She said she still finds it hard to come to terms with the fact that managers treat their staff as if they were children who cannot be trusted so need endless tasks, projects and meaningless other schizzle to fill their time. She felt as if she wasn't trusted to just get on with her job.

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peanutbear · 21/05/2019 21:00

I'm leaving education in July for this very reason. I'm to old to have to be given various bits of jobs that have no meaning.
I'll miss the pupils immensely but not the politics.

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uselessteacher · 21/05/2019 21:10

Yes. At the moment I'm the victim of a personal attack from the headteacher (don't want to detail your thread, I've got my own - Viscious email from headteacher'). Sorry you're feeling this way. You're not alone Flowers

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SparklesandFlowers · 23/05/2019 01:10

I had a vindictive, critical headteacher. I am finally leaving teaching after ten years. I did 9 years successfully and could have done more but changed schools and have been ground down. If I treated my pupils the way I have by the head I'd probably have been put on capability.

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BrigitsBigKnickers · 23/05/2019 02:00

Our bitch cow deputy used to score our lessons/ book scrutinies with the same tripe we had to use on the kids books. WWW and EBI

What's worse is I am a specialist teacher- a specialism she was woefully ignorant about so her suggested "improvements" were just laughable.

I am now an advisory teacher in said specialism. Best job I ever had- mainly because I don't have a headteacher as a boss!!!

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ASauvignonADay · 23/05/2019 07:01

Not really in school but fed up of the constant criticism faced at schools/teachers on MN. It's actually depressing. I doubt how genuine some threads actually are and I think it's really damaging.

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KneelJustKneel · 23/05/2019 07:06

I keep thinking about returnijng to teaching. But my anxiety is worse than ever and the constant negative/cri icism worries me. And you dont know what a school ethos is like til you're in....but govt approach encourages it doesnt it.

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DrMadelineMaxwell · 23/05/2019 07:10

I'm particularly annoyed when they can't find anything concrete to criticise so they choose something random and ridiculous .
I was once told there was nothing wrong with my lesson at all, but I just didn't 'sparkle' .

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fedup21 · 23/05/2019 07:13

Totally agree!

I don’t know anyone else who has to regularly do their job and be judged doing it whilst people stand in front of you writing down everything you say on a clipboard. Then tell you that you didn’t seem natural and can’t have a pay rise as you’re too expensive!

There seems to be far less criticism in DH’s job as well.

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unicorncupcake · 23/05/2019 07:19

Constantly told that you’re not good enough whilst simultaneously being told that you can’t have the tools to enable you to do the job better. 🤦‍♀️ I could write an essay on the way I’ve been treated in the last two years in my job but it would be incredibly outing. Thankfully I’m escaping and moving schools to a non management part time role elsewhere and I’m hoping I can just concentrate on teaching for a bit.

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MrsZola · 25/05/2019 21:03

After many years in my old school ( and a few HT's),and over 30 years teaching, I left when the new HT decided I should go through capability. Out of the blue, having recently given me a good observation. I'd never had less than good in any observation. Suddenly I was crap - I was devastated.
I now work in a tiny school with just 3 class teachers - we recently had OFSTED all teaching was good with outstanding features. So what the hell was the capability about? The inspector didn't give a toss what marking was in the books as long as she could see attainment and progress - same for planning. She made this very clear to the HT. There are too many HT who demand identikit planning, marking that does fuck all. I know that some of them feel massive pressure from above, but I think it's part of a HT's job to be their staff's champion.

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stayingaliveisawayoflife · 25/05/2019 21:24

I teach year 2 and we are being moderated this year. I am panicking that our moderators will say that none of my children are writing well enough to get expected. My sensible brain says this won't happen but I still worry. I look at all the progress they have made and wish this would be recognised instead of them being marked down because they spell like a 6 or 7 year old!

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BrigitsBigKnickers · 26/05/2019 10:45

MrsZola 30 years experience? You were not crap- you were too expensive...

One school I worked in was populated almost entirely by teachers under 30. The deputy (29) had been in post after 4 years experience. Almost all the older teachers had been "managed" out.

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MrsZola · 26/05/2019 18:26

BrigitsBigKnickers - I know that now, I think that in my heart I knew all along - but I ended up taking 6 months off after planning to drive my car into a lampost. The capability shite was the last straw in a system that has forgotten children and only sees data, bullies the very people who make that system work. I think it's only a matter of time before it all truly goes tits up. I could never have progressed as a teacher if I hadn't had more experienced teachers to learn from when I first started, or the enthusiasm of newer teachers as I got older. Schools need the vast range of experience to function as they should.

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BrigitsBigKnickers · 27/05/2019 00:03

MrsZola totally agree. Children are just numbers on a page now. Breaks my heart. I am a specialist advisory teacher now and the best thing about my job is that my line manager is not a head teacher. Totally trusts me and too busy to micromanage me.

Totally autonomous job. Just love it.

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Freemind · 27/05/2019 00:26

My HT used to bring in advisors to observe how we were all doing the latest fad in teaching (or not in my case) until one day, after getting the 'feedback', I asked the advisor to demonstrate in class on his next visit. He tried. It was a shambles and he was very embarrassed: he confessed that he had forgotten what it was like to teach 30+ teenagers on a hot day in a small room and that the activities had not worked in that environment in spite of all his plans and he understood why I wouldn't do them. He was shattered and confessed he had spent hours preparing for just part of one lesson, and was massively disappointed it hadn't worked as per his theory. HT and advisors left me alone for quite a while after that!

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KneelJustKneel · 27/05/2019 07:52

Thats really thw heart of it isnt it. Being asked ti jump though i mpossibpe hoops the people cant jump through themswlvea...


I keep thinking of returning to teaching but I have anxiety and this kind of threqd reminda me why it wouldnt work :(

I miss teaching though, and belonging to a community and the buzz...

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BrigitsBigKnickers · 27/05/2019 21:33

Freemind that was always my reaction to head teachers advice following an observation.
" Ok- let me observe you- you show me how I could have done any better?"

As the headteacher was not qualified to do this ( was working at a school with a specialist provision) it was a bit of a joke. She never took me up on the offer. On one occasion where teachers were on strike and she taught the class ( yeah I know- totally illegal...) , LSAs said she was totally crap.

We also had a Deputy who was a vindictive cow- similarly incompetent in my area of expertise. Her book scrutinies were a joke. She once said there was no evidence in my books of differentiation ( I had 4 pupils with totally different needs.) I went in and challenged her- said that I was concerned that if she couldn't see my clear differentiation that an inspector also wouldn't- she was like a rabbit caught in the headlights- totally backtracked.

The inspection we had had a few months earlier, rated my provision as outstanding ( whereas the school was, very unfairly in my opinion, RI) It clearly rankled her.

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LemonRedwood · 27/05/2019 21:39

I had a conversation today with someone who came into teaching in her thirties. She said she still finds it hard to come to terms with the fact that managers treat their staff as if they were children who cannot be trusted so need endless tasks, projects and meaningless other schizzle to fill their time. She felt as if she wasn't trusted to just get on with her job.

I just left teaching after 15 years and one of the most amazing things in my new job is that I am trusted to manage my own time and get on with the job. I have trouble getting my head round it sometimes. I think you get a bit institutionalised as a teacher.

Flowers for you OP. It's a tough job.

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Mumsymumphy · 27/05/2019 22:14

I was put on capability a couple of years ago - for planning and marking. The head started the review meeting with "You're one of the best teachers we have got but...." -WTAF?

At the final review meeting the head commented on 'how much better the history books had been marked.' Guess what - I'd not touched those books since they'd first been identified as 'RI' because I couldn't possibly mark them any more than I already had.

Head just had beef with me because I was UPS1 with no intention of going on SLT.

New head now, smart marking policy, the future's bright!

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