Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Preparing for a flaming, very bad teacher alert!

43 replies

DrSeuss · 13/02/2013 11:17

In a recent observation, I was told off by my line manager for telling a girl that I was disappointed in the grade she had achieved in her homework. Her level was three full levels under target, she is highly intelligent but lazy and by her own admission, had rushed through the work the night before despite having a week in which to do the work. I said one negative sentence on the subject stating that the grade was disappointing, nothing more extreme than that. She appeared not to care about my opinion either way, although this could have been not wanting to lose face, I suppose. I was told that I should have, "relied on my maternal instincts.". My instinct as a mother is that if my son went down three whole levels due to his own idleness and lack of organisation, he needs a kick up the butt!

Incidentally, the same manager was in the staff room last week, reading a kid's work out for the amusement of all and then ridiculing it. Apparently, that's fine.

OP posts:
Flobbadobs · 13/02/2013 11:23

Why will you be flamed? It's not like you told this child that her work was shit! If DS came home an told me a teacher was disappointed in his grade I would back the teacher up because I would also be disappointed.

fairylightsinthesnow · 13/02/2013 11:24

absolute bollocks. Was this an official observation a part of review and development? If so, I'd be requesting a meeting with her and her line manager to discuss it. Maternal instinct actually is not a professional requirement for a teacher, otherwise all childless teachers would be lacking a key skill!

atthewelles · 13/02/2013 11:25

Well
a. You're not her mother, you're her teacher; and

b. What was the point of that remark?

YANBU and your manager is an idiot.

GrimmaTheNome · 13/02/2013 11:29

So did this idiotic line manager say what word's s/he'd have used? 'Disappointing' sounds spot on.

Schooldidi · 13/02/2013 11:30

I regularly tell kids their homework is disappointing, I tell their parents that their level of effort is disappointing. Does that make me a bad teacher? I don't think it does, I think it lets the kids know where they stand so they aren't surprised when their GCSE result is lower than their target. Quite a lot of them even put more effort in and improve the standard of their work to achieve their targets.

cory · 13/02/2013 11:31

Disappointing is actually quite a positive thing to say: it shows that you do believe improvement can be made quite easily. Not as if you'd said the child was hopeless.

atthewelles · 13/02/2013 11:31

Has the girl's parents complained to the Manager or something?

Toughasoldboots · 13/02/2013 11:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Saski · 13/02/2013 11:33

Are you seriously saying that you're not allowed to tell a student you're disappointed in her work?

Is this just a normal school?

My kids have both heard that from their teachers on occasion!!!

NopeStillNothing · 13/02/2013 11:34

I honestly can not see a single thing wrong with what you said to your pupil.
Surely as a teacher your job is to encourage children to reach their full potential? You didn't tell her she was shit, you infact told her the opposite that she had the intelligence and ability to do much better. I always worked much harder for teachers like that when I was at school.

cory · 13/02/2013 11:34

I feel as long as ds' form tutor can muster the energy to be disappointed in him there is still hope. The day she can't even do that I shall know we really are in the shit.

somebloke123 · 13/02/2013 11:38

You were not in the least unreasonable, on the contrary. In fact it could have been considered remiss if you had not expressed disappointment.

(I taught for a few years many moons ago and then we had heads of department, senior teachers, deputy heads and heads. When did "line managers" come along?)

TroublesomeEx · 13/02/2013 11:39

I'd have considered the "maternal instincts" comment to be rather insulting actually. What exactly were you supposed to say!

How do the male teachers cope? They have no chance of having maternal instincts!

Floggingmolly · 13/02/2013 11:40

Relied on your maternal instincts Hmm. Mine would have been exactly the same as yours - swift kick up the backside.
Is this all part of the "everyone's a winner", no one can fail, spelling mistakes can't be corrected as correction cause irreparable damage to their self esteem bollocks?
I send my children to school to learn. Your manager is doing the students no favours. Their future employers will have no maternal instincts at all.

MrsMushroom · 13/02/2013 11:40

I think it's shocking that the manager said that about maternal instincts. What a crock! I'd have pulled her up on it....

sue52 · 13/02/2013 11:43

As a parent I prefer teachers who tell it like it is. 3 levels under target and rushed homework from a bright pupil is disappointing. I can't see how a child will benefit by ignoring their shoddy work.

UptoapointLordCopper · 13/02/2013 11:50

I am also shocked at "maternal instinct". I feel that one should complain about that but can't quite articulate. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can comment.

I would expect my children's teacher to express disappointment if they don't work to their full potential.

Flobbadobs · 13/02/2013 11:53

I would take the word disappointing to mean that you thought she was capable of much more. It really is a positive thing to say, much nicer than ridiculing a child's work in public as your line manager did. I would wonder if this manager really was the right person to critique other peopes work...

AmberLeaf · 13/02/2013 11:54

YANBU at all.

As a parent that would have been my exact response too.

If you weren't disappointed it would mean you didn't give a fig about how well she does, which IMO would be much worse.

If you were my childs teacher I would agree with and back up your opinion 100%

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 13/02/2013 11:58

Maternal instinct Shock. Arguably that is discrimatory as you are being judged on a criteria that can only apply to women and wouldn't and couldn't be expected of a male colleague. Also how do you objectively measure maternal instinct?

My maternal instinct this morning, when faced with two whining primary school children who are really ready for half term, was to run back to bed and pull the duvet over my head ...I managed to resist the urge.

Softlysoftly · 13/02/2013 11:58

[Hmm] I'd be warning your management about the sex discrimination laws. Big the assumption that as a woman you would have maternal instincts and that a man would clearly lack that skill to do the job!

Idiot.

Softlysoftly · 13/02/2013 11:59

X post Chaz

GirlOutNumbered · 13/02/2013 12:04

Maternal instinct?! I can't get over that. What a goon!

Sunnywithshowers · 13/02/2013 12:15

YANBU

A teacher I respected told me that she was disappointed in my GCSE mock - I'd got a G. I went on to get a B in my exam - she gave me the kick I needed to do better.

Your line manager needs to do one. And YY to sex discrimination - maternal instinct my arse!

shesariver · 13/02/2013 12:19

What did your line manager say was wrong with saying you were disappointed and what did they think you should have said instead?