Teachers - most disliked profession on mumsnet?

[OhReally18]

In the last few days, I've seen a lot of teacher bashing on mumsnet. Even teachers giving other teachers a hard time. Seems like it could be one of the most disliked professions on mn. Is this a true reflection of how the rest of society feels?

I've been teaching in primary for a good few years and I have never experienced bad feelings towards teaching in real life, just on here and social media occasionally. Maybe the odd envious comment about holidays but that's it.

It's by no means harder than other professions but teachers are portrayed as lazy, moany, hard done by, ungrateful, the list goes on...
Is this fair? Surely it's no different to other professions?

Over lock down I had experience and knowledge of 5 setting's.

Two refused to teach, refused to give the most basic information out,like dragging blood from a stone.

The two with highly politised heads...and I could not understand their reasons when the other 3 place's seemed to over come the excuses they had used?

Then...I realised when I saw the union's had said don't teach and made it akward.
They had also said don't disadvantage some DC by assisting others (which is why they wouldn't help me) and then they didn't recognize dyslexia anyway!!

One teacher that posted a few days ago said they’d rather nobody trained as new teachers, so the whole profession breaks down until the Government steps in. She didn’t care that education “was on its knees” and supported the shortage in teachers

see, maybe have a think about what is going on. The reality of today’s classroom: teachers facing increased levels of violence from both students and their parents. Teachers putting their hands in their own pockets for classroom essentials - not nice to have, essentials - pens, paper, glue sticks, new reading books, art supplies….in secondary schools, we have whole cohort teaching in halls and sports halls because of a lack of specialists in essential subjects like maths and science. Schools increasingly can’t get teachers in MFL/physics/maths/chemistry/DT. ITT recruitment is at an all time low - which means we are not replacing retiring teachers, let alone those who are walking because they’ve had enough.

We have been papering over the cracks as professionals since 2010 (and longer). But we are at the point where it is critical. We can’t fill those gaps any longer. That means more children than ever are not getting much of an education, let alone the education they deserve. That includes your children. Yet when we try to discuss it on here - a parenting forum where education should really matter to a majority of forum users - we are shouted down, have our professionalism brought into question, told to get out because we are clearly useless. It is a rare forum user that listens and tries to understand. It is frustrating and upsetting because we think our children deserve better.

But Sen is a massive issue in schools with no will to recognise or support DC with Sen
this is your personal experience, but as a generalisation it's just not true

Agreed. And of course everyone went to school.

Good points, @howtomoveforwards

@howtomoveforwards I appreciate the time it took for you to reply.

Youre talking about a small % of users on a website where a tiny fraction of parents IRL are actually members.

Stress can make you hypersensitive and that’s clearly an issue for the MN teacher cohort. Enjoy your day :)

@howtomoveforwards I appreciate the time it took for you to reply.

Youre talking about a small % of users on a website where a tiny fraction of parents IRL are actually members.

Stress can make you hypersensitive and that’s clearly an issue for the MN teacher cohort. Enjoy your day :)

Did you support priority vaccinations for teachers and mask wearing for children or did you just expect teachers to risk their lives whilst others ‘worked from home’, behind screens or were vaccinated?

The heatwave concerns me less. If we hadn’t already finished for summer, I could make sure I was cool and sit in the car (air con on) at breaks to cool down. My life wouldn’t be at risk as there is some control. I think it is entirely reasonable to explain clearly to parents that some schools will be very uncomfortable but if parents want to take that risk with their children, that’s their prerogative, even if I feel sorry for the children. Before the vaccinations, Covid was hospitalising many, many people and killing a fair proportion so on that basis, you don’t get to decide that I needed to be in a crowded room, with no ventilation, no masks and no vaccine whilst other professions were supported appropriately IF they were actually work in work and not WFH or on furlough.

The problem is some parents feel let down and angry and so do many of my colleagues.That will continue to cause conflict as it is all very raw still.

You're a peach

This is exactly the kind of comment that makes people pissed off with teachers.

That’s fair though. It’s a rare physicist, architect, geographer, economist, mathematician etc who is able to excel in the job but who chooses to teach it in school instead.

Yes, there will be some excellent engineers, biologists, and the like who choose to turn to teaching, but the average teacher was never going to set the world alight had they tried to make a living in their subject outside of education.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones

I didnt support teachers being priority for vaccines or masks for children because there was no evidence either of those things were required.

Teachers were not at higher risk from covid than any other member of the general public.

Pretending they were was what allowed unions to campaign for schools to close to a majority of children

Harming many of them.

It really annoyed me when the teachers then were refusing to go back into the classroom when so many key workers were on the front line day in day out

except teachers never refused to go back in the classroom . Concern was expressed - which seems to be considered unreasonable - but we worked when we were told to work.

@howtomoveforwards

I appreciate some teachers are really struggling in terrible conditions.

The English education system seems particularly bad.

More funding is definitely required

@howtomoveforwards

Are we ignoring all the (cant remember the name for them) forms the unions told teachers to submit, refusing to teach if schools were reopened?

I get it mist be hugely frustrating for decent teachers who didn't refuse but lots did and the consistent denials just make it worse

Its all a bit gaslighty for parents who's children were entirely fucked over by the unnecessary response

I learned how to do my job by working alongside and under other people doing my job. I listened, watched, understood what mattered, and put it into practice.

I found a good mentor, I read around the subject, and perhaps most importantly I went in every day for twenty years determined to do better than the day before, and to deliver what my management needed me to.

Your post seems to suggest that you think that people learn how to be good at their job in school. That can’t really be what you mean, as school is about giving people the basic building blocks, not teaching anyone how to do a job.

Are we ignoring all the (cant remember the name for them) forms the unions told teachers to submit, refusing to teach if schools were reopened?

Possibly you're referring to Health and safety at Work. 2d covers a safe environment, and would be pertinent to Covid in schools after lockdown. Why should anyone be compelled to work in an unsafe environment?

Not sure why you're referring to "all the forms" you "can't remember". Oh, hang on.

And unions don't tell their members to do anything. They advise.

Its all a bit gaslighty for parents who's children were entirely fucked over by the unnecessary response

What does that even mean?

Are we ignoring all the (cant remember the name for them) forms the unions told teachers to submit, refusing to teach if schools were reopened?

Are you sure that's what happened? Or did we have to deal with inconsistent messages from Government as delta was taking hold, cases were going through the roof, no masks were being worn in schools and there was concern about our exposure given it was pre vaccination and it was clear schools were fuelling the increase in cases? Was it reasonabke that school staff questioned how they were going to be kept as safe as possible? Why is it wrong of us to want to be as safe as possible? And was there a bigger picture?

Now, let's be clear. I am over 50 and a type 2 diabetic. I have a type 1 child and a type 1 ex. School was a scary place for us and still is to a certain degree. I have had covid twice - the first time I took 12 weeks off work and had a short stint in hospital. Aside from the stress and long term issues that has caused us as a family, what do you think happened to my exam classes? I teach a shortage area subject and no specialised support was found. So for a crucial 12 week period, my exam classes made do - work sheets, basically. Lots of teachers had significant periods of time out of school. Lots of children have been short changed from an educational point of view as a result. Those are children who.will be set against those who had full lockdown lessons and little disruption, just down to luck, when doing their exams.

There is, of course, no way of knowing what impact better measures might have had. But as a parent, you should be angry that not only were your children out of school for weeks at a time, even when in school it has not been business as usual and sod all has been done to try to improve that. Sod all. It is an inconvenient truth to many parents that any protesting by the unions and teachers was always about maintaining the integrity of our education system as best as was possible, and not about us having a jolly in our back gardens.

@echt

There was a form or a template issued by unions for teachers to fill in saying they wouldn't return following the lockdown.

Schools weren't unsafe. No more so than any other workplace that millions of people were 'compelled' to work in through the pandemic.

Items the continued denial by teachers that any school or any teacher provided anything except wonderful standards throughout the pandemic completely ignores and disrespect the awful experience lots of parents and children had.

Lots of vulnerable children were harmed. Lots of children full stop were harmed by a policy that was completely unnecessary.

And yes, it is the govts fault ultimately but teachers didn't help.

They and their unions were fully in favour of the policy. For their own selfishness

Refusing to do zoom because of safeguarding was an enormous own goal for teachers /unions.

Everyone else just got on and did it.

The dance schools and brownie groups and drama clubs etc all just found ways to run sessions on zoom.

There was just a silly refusal to find a way to get back to teaching, at a time when all other professions and jobs took pride in innovating or just getting on with it.

I said many times during the first lockdown on here, and I still stand by it that if teachers /unions had been open to testing delivering teaching online then there wouldn't have been the same push to reopen schools in the September. That was the chance to prove that there were other ways to teach, not to make excuses why you can't

@howtomoveforwards

the unions and teachers was always about maintaining the integrity of our education system

Yeah, I just don't believe that.

That was not the focus from the unions. It was not the focus from teachers online screaming about how unsafe they were and how dare anyone put them at risk.

I rarely heard any mention of educational standards or even the slightest care for how it would affect the children.

Most teachers were in favour of full school closures and would have seen them closed indefinitely

That's not caring about educational standards

Refusing to do zoom because of safeguarding was an enormous own goal for teachers /unions

Unions did not refuse to do Zoom. Unions cannot tell their members what to do, they can only advise.

Most teachers were in favour of full school closures and would have seen them closed indefinitely

In your head.

sigh