Teachers : what's the worst thing about the job now?

Parents making and looking for any excuse possible for their child's poor behaviour. Just deal with it and give them some clear boundaries, it is actually what they want and need!

😂😂😂😂😂😂 What a dick comment

Hi, ex-Reception teacher/EYFS lead for almost a decade:

From a minority (1-2 within a class of 30):

• Physically attacking staff across all levels. I have been punched hard in the face. My TA kicked hard.
• Swearing. My Head being loudly sworn at every time he removed a child from my class for bad behaviour.
• Destroying/trashing the classroom. Shoving furniture, throwing, tipping everything out of pens pots. I would evacuate my class to the outdoor area to keep them safe whilst my TA got help from a senior member of staff (who did always actually do something).
• Running off. One child would literally run around the school, pop up in Year 5/6 classes, try and escape the school building.

From a sizeable group (up to 10 per class):

• Constant calling out/interrupting/inability to listen.
• Rough play at playtimes. Dysfunctional friendship issues, which then in turn causes dysfunctional parental fall-outs.
• Unable to share/take turns/wait.
• Limited emotional resilience.
• Lack of toilet training/dressing (even hanging up a coat!)/using cutlery/basic manners, which then has a knock on in terms of putting more demand onto the adults trying to educate. Ideally this stuff would all be sorted by home.

Thankfully based on my own first-hand experiences, my own children (aged 3 and 6) attend a school which is military about behaviour and consequences. I would never in a million years let them stay in a classroom with behaviour like I have endured, and I genuinely get why parents are turning to home educating. I don’t blame them in the slightest, good on them!

Oh just fuck off.
Only absolute morons still believe we get 13 weeks paid holiday.
What is your job and do you have to put up with anything like what is outlined by previous posters?
If it's so great why aren't you in the fucking trenches with us 'enjoying' the 13 weeks off?

During lockdown when a lot of teachers were working long hours to provide on-line learning I heard of one teacher getting complaints from a parent because her child wouldn't do the work, what was he, the teacher, going to do about it!

Behaviour.
It’s unrecognisable from when I started 16 years ago.
workload.

I’m getting out within the next 18 months for the well being of myself and my own children.

This many talks a lot of sense…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gxdkq51ywo.amp

Academies - watching the heavy multi-layers of execs, SLT and other non-teaching staff at the top syphon off so much money when we are on our knees staffing and support-staffing wise where we need it: with the children.

What saddens me (secondary) are the many effects of introducing laptops for every student in lessons. I remember classes having lively discussions about what we were studying. As soon as screens were introduced, the atmosphere was instantly deadened. On the surface, the behaviour might seem 'better' because everything became much quieter. But the reality is that students are in their own little isolated units rather than sharing ideas, and are just less engaged. It seems such an inhuman way of working. I get them to work on paper as much as I can, but this often creates resentment in KS3 and KS4 classes, and I struggle to recreate that wonderful atmosphere. That, among other things, has made me determined not to give my own children tablets or smartphones for as long as possible, including for all the apps many primary schools recommend for phonics, times tables, etc.

I did an neu group online where we gave feedback on this. Was really interesting to hear from teachers all over the country. Main things were behaviour, funding for SEN, recruitment and lack of resilience!

Juggling all the SEN and behaviour, linked or otherwise

During COVID, we gave our work email addresses to parents and now the constant stream of anxious/entitled parents flooding my inbox is adding to my workload. Most parents believe their child is neurodiverse and are demanding additional interventions/support despite the child managing very well, often excelling, in class.

^

Why are all these parents trying to seek a diagnosis for their child??? Just why??

It's the same on here every thread, is my child autistic, they are 1.8 months and still can't speak in full sentences....????

The first one is the cause of 2 and 3!
I read on here how parents will go into school to 'have a word', usually negative, about some often trivial thing, without making an appointment as they would with other professional, doctor, dentist. They should have to make an appointment, it may be that overnight they come to their senses.
Parents should not be able to email class teachers, much less expect a reply out of hours.

Learning behaviour and general behaviour.

Lack of support staff.

Teachers who are parents haven’t got time to complain to their kids’ school cos they’re… in school working!!!

Not a teacher - my partner is so I hear the frustrations second hand - it seems behaviour without consequences is massive - especially when parents and SLT would rather hear a child’s false accusation over what actually happened. Plus disruptive classes yet the pressure to get the grades in.

Anyway - I actually commended because I did a post the other day called The Parenting Crisis - and when I read a majority of teachers saying that parents are a problem takes me back to this thought that something isn’t adding up. Whilst I know amazing parents, I’m often shocked at the very few that blindly defend their children - it tends to be the children that are largely distruptive with parents that let them get away with murder.

Yes, teachers dread going to work as it's just awful. I would not be a teacher again for a million pounds.

Ha they can be the worst!

Teacher and parent here.

The teacher parents are usually fine. The worst parents are the ones who back their kid no matter what, and their kid knows it.

I think teacher parents must be the best or the worst ones. I personally am a real suck up parent to my children's teachers!

In my experience it’s a minority but they take up 80% of your time and cause significant stress. Plenty of parents are absolutely lovely.

Behaviour and parents.

Am leaving at the end of term. Had enough.

Are there no teachers who are also parents?

Not a teacher but I worked in a school as a lunch time supervisor, I got out just over a year ago. Behaviour was getting worst and there was very little consequences. New head teacher took over and it’s gone downhill long serving teachers have jumped ship or gone on the sick.
Speaking with a friend who’s still there and they have just been given a new list of rules they must follow: must talk kindly to the children, no shouting, no playing, no running after a child even if it’s to stop them hurting another child.

I think for me it's the complete detachment from reality on all levels: pupils who think there are no consequences to poor behaviour, parents who think their children can do no wrong, government who think the curriculum is fit for purpose and that exams are the most important thing in the world, Ofsted who think high stakes graded inspections can do anything other than harm, senior leaders who think it's OK to pile pressure and workload on staff and that staff will prioritise work over wellbeing, teachers who actually do prioritise work over wellbeing and think any of this is somehow normal. It's bonkers. I left mainstream for a special school 2.5 years ago and love it - I'd never look back and would highly recommend the move if you still love teaching but are completely disillusioned with the profession.