People who described themselves as teachers when they’re actually teaching assistance or cover supervisor

They aren’t teachers then. They are teaching assistants.

They really aren’t.

Also. They WERE teachers. Now they are TA’s on account of the fact they aren’t teachers.

Teaching assistants do a lot of teaching, just usually to smaller groups or one to one

That doesn’t make her a teacher.

My friend is a HLTA and is often asked to take classes on her own for most of the week due to shortages

Many LSAs are qualified teachers, though.

Teachers are teachers because they are actually teachers. Everyone else is not a teacher and should not claim to be.

There is a vast difference between a teacher and all of the other people in the school that work with the children due to the huge difference in qualifications.

I think in the long run, the TA suffers. They are not qualified teachers, and as a result are paid far less than teachers are. If they are just saying they are teachers but still accepting the low pay then it blurs the responsibilities between the TA and the teacher. It could mean they end up doing more and more for not much more than minimum wage when they shouldn't be.

DD is a teacher. However there aren't any teaching jobs here, so she works as an LSA. Loads of her colleagues are in the same boat. They've all got two degrees, have studied for four years and therefore have earned the right to call themselves teachers, because that's their profession.

They actually do as much teaching/lesson planning/marking etc as the teachers anyway. The school is essentially getting several teachers for LSA money (almost exactly minimum wage). It's almost as if it were intentional...

Lots of qualified teachers choose to work as TAs or cover supervisors because it's far fewer hours and it means they mainly get to do the parts of a teaching job they actually enjoy (working with the children).

In my experience as a qualified primary school teacher, TAs who misleadingly and deliberately tell people they are a 'teacher' when they aren't actually qualified are the type of TAs who are a real pain in the butt to work with, are often on a power trip and have a superior attitude. They often make the actusl teacher's job harder.

The vast majority of TAs are amazing and worth their weight in gold. They are absolutely essential and deserve a huge amount of respect and gratitude. They are also appallingly underpaid and under appreciated. This does not mean they do the same job as a teacher. They are not teachers. They do some of the same duties but it is not the same.

When it's acceptable for nurses to call themselves doctors or cabin crew to call themselves pilots, then I'll think it's okay for TAs to tell people they are teachers.

But most cover teachers are qualified teachers.

That’s a bit like preferring someone who is a professor of biology to take your appendix out than an actual surgeon!

My husband and I are both teachers, one primary, one secondary and we both agree that excellent subject knowledge alone isnt enough. You can be an expert in your field but not have the pedagogical underpinnings or behaviour management skills necessary to facilitate the learning of the students. Does anyone remember that documentary where Janie Oliver put together a school of experts and got them to teach a group of disadvantaged students. It didn't work. It's not just about the subject knowledge. Teachers have to learn how to literally teach the stuff.

A TA calling themselves a teacher should not threaten you in any way. If you believe you are superior and more professional than them, well that’s on you.

I was a cover supervisor for 20 years, over the years and with different teachers and subjects it varied wildly between what my job was supposed to be -no new topics, subject matter, reinforcement, revision or testing and been expected to teach whole units of subjects. Some teachers knew my subject expertise and trusted me to deliver to the Trust standards. I have a pcet, but without qts and frankly, I was happiest at that. But in times of shortage I was given my own classes (yr 9 drama,yr 7 re and job share health and social care, yr 7 and 8 history and two years of a shite vocational qualification) I taught myself gcse foundation maths when i was long term cover for that. To the kids I was the adult in front of the class who was teaching them. I never referred to myself as A teacher, but I was their teacher.
And yeah, I had the lower pay, but at 4 I walked out and didn’t have to work until midnight, I had my weekends and holidays to spend with my family.

Lots of teachers in independent schools aren’t qualified teachers, but have been experts in their field. I’d prefer that real life experience over someone with a teaching degree who went straight from uni to teaching.

Most independent schools employ unqualified teachers. In many secondary schools HLTAs teach lessons and many cover supervisors have a few of their own classes. So even though they may not be qualified, they are still teaching.

More and more TAs are taking class responsibilities in school, 3 TAs in my school have full time teaching responsibilities- do reports, parents evenings that’s being a teacher. 2 are qualified teachers, 1 isn’t.

If you say teaching assistant - people still assume it’s the mums army of yesterday where we did jobs for the teacher and was their ‘assistant’- photocopying, displays etc. Now many are covering classes, PPA, planning and delivering interventions, being part of external agency meetings. We aren’t the teachers assistant anymore, assistant teacher is a better title for TAs.

I'm a qualified experienced teacher who works as a TA.

This really isn’t the case in secondary. I’ve taught for 20 years and have only ever met one TA who was a qualified teacher.
Occasionally we have TAs with degrees, they normally last about six months before then training as a teacher or leaving for other work.

I have a cousin who says he’s a nurse, he’s actually a nursing assistant. Any time he has a photo taken at work/in his uniform he makes sure he has a stethoscope around his neck, like that makes it official 😂

Why couldn't they have secondary level knowledge, are you implying they are all thick and didn't go to school.
It's high school ffs they are teaching basics, they are not genius specialists in their subjects... or they probably wouldn't be teaching.

Many TAs are qualified teachers with several years of teaching experience. Becoming a TA doesn’t mean you stop being a qualified reacher.

I was a cover supervisor, which in my school (at that time) meant I planned, taught and marked my own lessons, and was class teacher for a year 3 class one day per week while their teacher was half day PPA and half day NQT time.

If I'm talking to a teacher or someone who works in schools I'll use the term cover supervisor (though I know most people would not assume the true breadth of my work and experience using this term). However now I've moved sectors and work with non teachers I say I was a teacher. A) because I was, and b) because they would not know what cover supervisor meant and even if they did, see a).