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

I know two people who say they are nurses, when they are HCAs.
But then they do similar jobs to the old auxiliary nurses, who were called nurses in those days.
Since the professionalisation of nursing, I don't know what unqualified patient assistance ward staff are called.

As a teacher it annoys me. My daughter is a nurse and doesn't go around saying she's a doctor.

Saying you teach as a T. A. is correct. Mothers, grandparents, childminders, aunties may also teach. But they aren’t “Teachers” with formal teaching qualifications, so not in the generally accepted way.
I do think some schools exploit T.A.s and expect too much of them for the pay.

It's funny the OP has said that he wouldn't want a TA teaching their children,but yet that's what we are expected to do.
I'm a TA who is leaving education as the expectation VS pay is disgusting.Not just the expectation from head teachers but class teachers who think we should work like dogs,cover THEIR classes constantly and basically wipe their backsides for a quarter of the pay. We are on peanuts and frankly I have more knowledge ,experience and work ethic than many ECTs that come into schools.
Therefore if we want to say we teach then we have every right to do so,because we do,sometimes without planning or any preparation or support
Oh and I also have a degree in a relevant subjects.

I think there is a difference between Teachers and teachers.

T.A.s vary massively in their qualifications, from well educated about child development (the old NNEB qualification) to just some nice lady off the street who is learning on the job. Whereas teachers are all graduates.
T.A.s should not be teaching full classes full time, although they may cover and supervise work that the teacher sets and evaluates.
Some schools are using T.As as teachers on the cheap, particularly in Early Years, and this should not be happening.
T.As teach but are not “Teachers”.

@Br0kenRo0ad your comment is exactly what I was trying to say.

As a solicitor with a title that is actually legally protected, I'm not precious about my work title because if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. While I'd stop a paralegal saying "I'm a solicitor" due to it being a protected term, if they said I work in law or I provide legal advice, that's factually correct and OK. I'd look snobby trying to pull them on it by saying "but you're not actually a lawyer though are you??" Teachers and teaching assistants all teach children and if a TA were lying saying they were a qualified teacher then that's different, but my paralegals and I (back in practice) and even admin teams were a TEAM. If someone thanked the entire team for their legal advice, I'd not point out some of the team are legal secretaries as that would look ridiculous (and, like TAs legal secretaries do qualifications!)

My sister (a qualified primary teacher) has never ever and would never belittle my mum who is a HLTA, but some in this thread give off the vibe of her coming home and doing that and I'd not stand for it. My mum is educated and professional, she would never call herself a teacher but I do say she teaches children in passing conversation, as she does. My CFO is married to an Ofsted director, so to him I correctly say both my sister and mums professions, but I don't feel the need to tell Tom, dick or Harry that my mum is a HTLA as it doesn't cover what she actually does.

Are there teachers here who look down their nose at QTS as opposed to the PGCE and teaching degrees?? I bet there are!

No, I mean what I said. I'm terribly sorry my disability speech to text software made a tiny, one letter error. Sometimes it happens.

I work for a firm of solicitors as a administration clerk, I have a related degree and I do work that can be done by a solicitor, but my hourly rate is lower, and I have more knowledge in this one particular area of law than some solicitors who work in a different area of law, but I’m not a solicitor and I have to be clear to my clients about that because they often assume I am, I can’t allow them to think I’m a solicitor because it’s a protected title.

No, not to patients. It was very obvious, partly due to uniform, who was an RN.
But outside if work, we were all 'nurses'.

teachers have to abide by Teaching Standards Agency guidelines and rules/standards and if they don’t, have to go to tribunal and run the risk of being struck off publicly.

This is very true. I am a year 6 TA and love year 6. I love maths and there are certain concepts that the teacher I work with gets me to teach, as she says I teach it far better than she does. Other teachers in the school recoil in horror when they see what we are teaching. I would feel brain dead if I worked in EYFS or KS1 teaching basic maths and phonics. Everyone has their preferences I guess. I would never say I was a teacher though and I always correct people and say I am a TA if they make the wrong assumption that I am the teacher. An ofsted inspector did ask me once if I was a qualified teacher who had taken a step back from teaching so clearly I am doing something right.

That is exactly why I don't say that I was a teacher, rather that I used to teach, which is what I used to do.

My step sister is a TA. She has very low levels of literacy and numeracy, her speaking is embarrassing (things like dropping h's, leaving t's off the ends of words, saying th as f, mispronounciation, inappropriate slang, absolutely no general knowledge etc. She tells people she's a teacher. She couldn't qualify as a teacher if her life depended on it. People mock her behind her back because it's blatantly obvious she's not a teacher. (She's an awful person, so attracts negative attention).
I think you mean her speech is embarrassing, although the first three things you list could be considered dialect, and the word is mispronunciation.

This

To be fair lots of roles, outside being a qualified teacher, may require similar.
Brownie and scout leaders would be one quite obvious example.

whilst in a primary there is a requirement laid out that there must be a teacher on such a trip, the reality is that this is one example where the teacher’s professional qualifications doesn’t really make much difference, ime.

And yes - I’ve led and taken primary school children out on school visits - and a fair bit younger than 10y too.

I have worked as a TA and I always described myself as school support staff. I worked in the lunch hall too. Many TAs are qualified teachers though (not myself).

I'm a qualified teacher who is currently working as a TA - I do a fair bit of teaching as part of my role. As do the other TAs I work with, so I can't get worked up about this.
As for cover supervisors, obviously some are more qualified/better at teaching than others, but if they are at the front of the class, delivering a lesson or trying to help children to understand the set work, that's teaching!

I think it probably mattered more in the past when teachers had a status. People were proud to be a teacher. I rarely see anything positive about being a teacher, particularly on mumsnet, so it’s probably more common that other workers in schools don’t see the difference. It’s like the dinner lady who warms up the baked beans. She’s not a chef but nobody really notices the difference any more.

Are we talking primary or secondary here?
I’m in primary, and bar the odd occasion when the children were continuing on from the day before(and that’s on lesson of the day out of 6), I’ve never just walked into the room , gave children work and let them get on with it , without some form of teaching happening first. If I was lucky and it was a preplanned absence and an organised teacher , then I’d have a clear plan (adjusted to the class) and a presentation to go from plus the work ready to go, which with some experience and subject knowledge is pretty easy. If not (and it has happened more than once), then I had to sort all of that out, plus actually delivering those lessons.

The thing is, a nurse will never walk into a hospital and be asked to actually perform surgery . Or several surgeries, for several days /weeks.

I’ve been a TA for a long time and in that time , I’ve taught every subject in every year group. Often, I had a class completely on my own. I’ve done marking, including taking books home. I’ve attended meetings with OTs and EPs. I’ve attended parent meetings and progress meetings. I’ve done planning and differentiation , and a billion other things.I’ve even had my own (small) class that I was responsible for , for a while.Not regularly or frequently, but it has happened because it needed to be done.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the blurring of the lines because I do not want to be a teacher and just because I can do all that(and do it well) doesn’t mean I should be expected to do it . Especially not on a TA wage.

Massive difference between managing behaviour in a room and setting work left by the teacher and teaching.

If you don't see that then you don't understand teaching.

You aren’t a teacher.

It’s the same in lots of trades and professions, not just teaching. There are huge numbers of people who call themselves accountants despite not having an accountancy qualification but just doing accounting work- the word accountant isn’t protected/regulated. Likewise joiners, decorators, plumbers etc - odd job men and diy-ers set themselves up using those descriptors despite no formal training or qualification. There are actually few trades and professions with protected and regulated descriptors. But even in those, such as solicitors, you get trainees, part qualified or other people working in law describing themselves as solicitors informally even if they can’t use the term formally. My nephew tells everyone he’s a teacher when he’s a TA but we also have a neighbour who tells everyone she’s a nurse when she’s a HCA in reality.