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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

A very naive, sweet, and innocent teacher in an inner city comp?

60 replies

SweetInnocent · 05/09/2011 13:42

Do you think it is possible for an innocent mid twenties teacher to teach PHSE/Citizenship in an inner city comp?

This person is lovely and kind, but has not experienced many of the things that the subject requires the pupils to discuss. The teacher for example is a virgin and has never had any alcohol. Or obviously cigarettes or drugs.

The teacher has a very sketchy knowledge of how babies are actually made and almost no knowledge of her own body mechanics.

She can't bear swearing or any coarse language and finds it very difficult to hear. She gets very embarrassed at talk of sex and any kind of sexual language.

This teacher has her own subject to teach but some responsibility for PHSE too. I'm not sure if I am being a bitch in thinking her inappropriate to teach these pupils, but this is a tough area and I'm not sure that she will have the respect needed.

I would love to be told that I am being simplistic and that a good teacher can overcome these things. I just always assumed (bad of me, I know) that these days a teacher needed to be a bit more 'down with the kids' IYSWIM.

OP posts:
Pippaandpolly · 05/09/2011 15:23

  1. What a personal question Child X! Why do you ask? (Mumbling about not knowing what's 'normal'.) There really isn't a 'normal' age - it's totally private and everyone's different. People are ready at different ages, etc etc etc...

  2. Well, obviously men don't have the same body parts as women but that doesn't mean they can't be intimate with each other. They can have anal sex, oral sex, etc etc etc. (Somebody goes 'urgh!') Why do you think that's gross Child Y? (Conversation continues about homosexuality. Lots of these conversations begin from and themselves go off into tangents!)

  3. (I sort of dodged this one) Well you shouldn't ever do anything you don't want to or that hurts, and if you're with someone you care about they wouldn't want you to either, so... (this one turned into how to talk to boys about sex, their expectations, etc).

There really aren't any 'right' answers. I think they key is them knowing they can ask, and knowing you're trustworthy so if something bothers them they can talk to you, or someone else, about it, with a bit of confidence.

sqweegiebeckenheim · 05/09/2011 15:23

you never know she might learn something too. Or get eaten alive. Or reveal something to the class that will haunt her for her teaching career
thinks of secondary school English teacher who told a class of 30 teenage girls that he was a virgin

CinnabarRed · 05/09/2011 15:44

My SIL is a nun, and teaches PHSE in a London comp, although her main subject is RE (she belongs to a teaching order).

She's a virgin, doesn't smoke or take drugs, although us partial to whiskey and Indian takeaways when she visits home.

Her pupils have always treated her with respect and allowed her her dignity. She thinks they're awed somewhat by her life choices.

LineRunner · 05/09/2011 15:50

Well she can't be any worse than the insane old bag who taught my DD's class PHSE last year. She told them that AIDS was made in a laboratory and wasn't transmitted sexually. Luckily the kids all laughed at her and told her she was mental wrong.

But ill-equipped PHSE teachers can clearly pass on some dangerous ideas, or fail to tackle incorrect assumptions in the class. I wouldn't really want my daughter to think that HiV is not sexually transmitted. Nor would I want her to think that abstinence is the only way to avoid pregnancy. I think these teachers do have to be bloody good because the subject is so critical to get right.

Pippaandpolly · 05/09/2011 15:53

CinnabarRed I have two friends who are monks and both are very partial to whiskey!

EdithWeston · 05/09/2011 15:58

I loved JodieHarsh's post!

And find it really odd that the OP - who is still herself in training - is in any position to make these judgements of someone ready for the classroom: not just in comments on her suitability, but also and importantly the somewhat perforative use of "naive, sweet and innocent". I hope the rest of OP's training will at some point cover how to avoid the inappropriate use of stereotypes.

cat64 · 05/09/2011 16:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

HeidiKat · 05/09/2011 16:34

Is this her?

Talker2010 · 05/09/2011 17:23

Since PSHE requires teachers to teach facts ... which will be included in a Scheme of Work ... moreover bans them from using personal experience ... and in no way requires them to "get down with the kids" ... she should be able to do a perfectly good job

In addition ...assuming she has to teach PSHE to her form class ... she can opt out of teaching the sex-ed elements

She may find the whole set up difficult if she is a naive as you suggest but the PSHE should not be impossible

ilovesooty · 05/09/2011 17:34

And find it really odd that the OP - who is still herself in training - is in any position to make these judgements of someone ready for the classroom: not just in comments on her suitability, but also and importantly the somewhat perforative use of "naive, sweet and innocent". I hope the rest of OP's training will at some point cover how to avoid the inappropriate use of stereotypes

Well said EdithWeston That's how I would feel (though I'm still unsure whether I believe this thread at all)

If it's true perhaps the OP is simply an unemployed NQT who's spouting sour grapes because someone else secured employment and she didn't.

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