to resent getting grief because I work in a private school?

[fuschiagroan]

OK, realise that people may say I am being totally unreasonable.

Just about to start my first teaching job. It's in a private school. At a dinner party the other night, my friend (well, I've known her a long time but we're not that close) was making lots of digging little comments about the fact it was a private school. Other people were asking genuine questions about the job/school, not being snarky at all, like 'So what are class sizes like?'. When I answered, e.g. 'It's fifteen to a class at most' this friend went 'God!', wrinkling her nose, as though I'd just said they had a school society for strangling baby bunnies or something. She also made comments about 'privilege' and 'unfair' etc.

OK, I know of course that it is a very privileged environment, and the kids are incredibly lucky. But why does that make me a bad person for working there? If a job had come up in a good state school I would have been just as happy teaching there, but this was the school that offered me a job.

I just think, ffs, I'm not an arms dealer. There's really no need for her to criticise my choice of workplace just because it doesn't fit in with her faux-socialism.

By the way, she got her kid into a great state school by moving into the (expensive property) catchment area - not exactly something possible for all!

This is beginning to sound like a Monty Python sketch....

Extraordinary!!

No I really am amazed people thought of earning potential when choosing their careers!

Thatcher did a lot for social mobility. The previous government did a lot to end this - sorry but true, which is shocking for a supposed party of the people - the gap between rich and poor is far, far wider now.

"I really am amazed people thought of earning potential when choosing their careers!"

You obviously didn't start your career in the middle of a recession then.[same generation as MmeBlue emoticon]

Nope I did not. I am 36, I just went where I went.

My point is I am now feeling surprised at the lack of information I received from school or parent. I am impressed with MmeB's foresight.

I didn't think of earning potential when choosing my career. Obviously.

It's a good job some of us didn't or there'd be nobody to teach Mme Blueberry's children!

How can you do research on careers without thinking of money. That is just not possible. What do you learn about each career?

I did it back in the early 80s and my son has done it almost 30 years later.

I didn't. I just went with what interested me, maths = economics and literature = arts. 5 year's study.

I knew it was a 'solid' degree so didn't need to think about money. People probably just let me get on with it as it was a good choice. Same if I had chosen medicine or law.

I did a science degree. Then decided I wanted to be a teacher. I really enjoy it, and have enough money to live on (but not enough to send my children to private school).

Not a problem for me.

OP actually I do think YABU- why should your friend not express her views, you do not need to be so defensive or irritated that someone disagrees with aspects of the sector that you work in.
If you have chosen to look for a job in the independent sector then you have made that choice, but that doesn't prevent other people from feeling that there are issues with the concept of private education.
As a teacher you will need to get used very quickly to the fact that everyone and his dog will have an axe to grind with you, or helpful comment to make, or observation about schools/teenagers/teaching that you simply must hear. It goes with the territory!For the last fifteen years I've worked in state schools and eleven of those have been in schools in special measures/deprived areas etc. I am an AST and chose to work in those schools because I myself came from a deprived background and was helped in life by some very good teachers, as well as my own desire to learn and support of my family.
FWIW I would have also wrinkled my nose and tutted at the prospect of class sizes of 15 etc- not at YOU, at the concept of people with well off parents being given a further leg up on the ladder. I can't see why it is so unreasonable to think that ALL children in this country should be given the same opportunities. The existence of the private sector is just one thing that prevents that from happening, I agree, but it is a pretty big obstacle in the way of a meritocracy and if you can't understand why some people think that, and accept that they should have the right to express their views, without going into a defensive huff and taking it all personally then I would say you seem to be lacking some of the resilience it takes to be a teacher!

me too lequeen, i will also be pushing for vocatioanl subjects. i think HE is an investment and i want my dc to get a good return.

i am v much of the school of get the degree then dick about all you want but its there to fall back on

But msyikes, as I posted earlier, the biggest difference is between stste schools in very affluent areas and struggling schools in very deprived areas. Surely that's a far greater moral injustice?

I chose my career without ever thinking about what I would earn, it just did not matter to me. I am finacially content because I don't give two figs about buying a lot of stuff and have no desire to privately educate my child. More money may be nice - but not as nice as having a job I adore.

I only made one decision with regard to money, there were 2 men that wanted to marry me. I loved them both, one was a millionaire, I married him. It was the worst decision I ever made.

Good point mysikes, if the OP is offended this easily she will not last in teaching - whatever sector.

myredcardigan I think it is really shocking that there are such widely different schools in the state sector, and unjust, yes. Absolutely. But certainly not more unjust than an entirely separate system based on the ability to pay fees.
It is easy to see why the postcode lottery thing in the state system begins to perpetuate itself and why it is then harder to break the cycle of failing schools failing more and successful schools becoming increasingly successful. Children in some households are greatly disadvantaged from the very start, long before they go to school, often these are concentrated in some areas, the local schools in those areas often do worse. It takes a great effort to turn that around- some state schools do it,many don't. It is ludicrous to claim as some posters do that social class and academic success or failure are not linked!
It can very much feel in some schools that you are fighting against insurmountable odds- though you never give up fighting. I have not worked in the independent sector and would not want to though I can see its appeal, but I bet the last thing a teacher feels in that sector is that they are struggling every day to do their best for children against insurmountable odds!!!!

Education should be about discovery, research and following one's talents and interests. What a sad education system it would be if the whole thing were based on vocational courses and money-based decisions.

I loved the degrees I did. They were challenging and hard, with some of the best lecturers internationally. I would have been hard pressed to give a damn about something for which I had less interest (just for the dosh). But then most people that do law, economics, medicine or science choose them because they like them.

I think as a parent who pays for school but who teaches in the state sector I see the differences and I really believe that is where the greatest gap lies.

When I taught in leafy Surrey, I remember our summer fayre bringing in 8k. We had no trouble getting money in for trips and things and I'd say that many of the parents could have chosen private without financial hardship. The vast majority of children were read to each evening and it was rare for a parent not to attend parents eve. We had great facillities and very, very supportive parents.

Tbh, it was an excellent school but I chose to pay for the class sizes and the extras over and above the excellent education. However, the school my 3 attend is far closer to that school than that school is to the school I now teach in with a staff just as competent and, if I'm honest, probably more committed.

And actually I think it is more unjust than a separate system. At least that's often got better facilities etc because people are paying extra for them. But just to lose out simply because of where you live when state schooling is supposedly universal is much more unfair.

It's like IVF. Everyone knows you can continue to try if you pay privately but how unfair it seems that you can get 2 goes on 'the state' if you live in one county but none if you live in the county next door.