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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask WHY in the name of Gove are teachers striking again?

792 replies

loftyclopflop · 17/09/2013 18:17

DD's school is closing on 1st October because they have chosen to strike. Is it over pay, pensions and conditions? Did they achieve anything by striking a couple of years ago other than massively inconveniencing a lot of parents?

I know Gove is a twat but do they really expect to change anything by taking the day off?

OP posts:
nobutts · 17/09/2013 21:34

You get that many teachers are also parents right?
No one claimed to be face to face 10 he's a day.
I spoke to 3 sets of parents, arranged exam concessions for 10 children, liaised with social services and the police, taught 4 hours, delivered cpd to other teachers at lunch and marked a set of essays today. Just settling down to writing a full exam analysis for all the sen children at school. Might also put the kettle on...so that's fine. I also understand that other sectors work very hard and I assume that because they tell me so..and after all, they're the experts.
The strikes encompass a lot of issues and yes, perhaps need to demonstrate that via the often lame PR of the unions..not sure that would change many people's views on teachers though.

revealall · 17/09/2013 21:34

No wrong way round - you strike and we point out how good you have it.

nannyj · 17/09/2013 21:34

My best friend is a primary teacher. The amount of hours she actually works per week are huge! The paperwork and data analysis on top of planning etc make for a very stressful working week for her. Before I knew her I thought teachers had it easy. I don't anymore.

mirry2 · 17/09/2013 21:34

Blissex thanks for pointing your message out to me. imo it's the only coherent one on here from a teacher.

sunshinemeg · 17/09/2013 21:36

NewName very well said!!!

clam · 17/09/2013 21:36

With respect, revealall, you appear to have no fucking idea.

revealall · 17/09/2013 21:38

You'd be very wrong then wouldn't you.

Blissx · 17/09/2013 21:40

Thanks, mirry2, I think us teachers get so caught up trying to defend ourselves (understandably) the actual issues often get missed. These sorts of threads are good if one can get past the teacher/parent and teacherparent/parent bashing posts as at least a discussion is being had.

TheRunawayTrain · 17/09/2013 21:40

Teachers work hard. Most people from the public sector are working increasing,y harder. Depending where you are, you can have similar and above hours of contact time with mentally ill or seriously vulnerable or seriously volatile patients, as an example, aside from other work with similar hours and hardness. Teaching is hard and exhausting- but so are quite a few jobs who either don't strike or are in careers where they can't strike for various reasons. I agree with mirry that teachers aren't special cases, I don't think anybody has actually said that though or thought that? But this is the world we live in, to get the same money, we are being forced to work harder, work longer and earn less money overall and this isn't unique to education. Yes, we all need to take a stand and STOP this happening, but ultimately, I don't really see how striking will help. I know and understand and support all the reasons for striking but don't see what it will do for teaching.

Orangeanddemons · 17/09/2013 21:40

Actually I also think you have no fucking idea either. Bet you're a joy to meet at open evening

Freshlysqueezed · 17/09/2013 21:41

Oh here we go anothef teacher mentions that they are used as nothing more than free childcare. Please get a grip regarding that issue. Children legally go to school nothing to do with being childcare. If they didnt have to go to school you wouldnt have a job and society would be very different as we would all be out in the fields in a medieval styley with the children working with us

mirry2 · 17/09/2013 21:41

Clam I think the problem is that most people don't support strikes of any kind. You would probably get you message across more effectively eg you aren't contracted to work during the holidays, so don't do any.

Freshlysqueezed · 17/09/2013 21:44

Exactly mirry - work to rule. Much more effective and doesnt piss off the parentscwhose support you need

NewNameforNewTerm · 17/09/2013 21:45

If some parents don't view us as childcare why are many posts stating how difficult a strike or PD days make their child care? Why are there threads from time to time complaining about school holidays? Being a working parent is tough - most teachers on here are working parents too, but our role is to educate and us parents need to find work and child care that fit that.

echt · 17/09/2013 21:48

RunawayTrain don't you see a contradiction between "we need to take a stand and STOP this " but not seeing how striking will help? What do you expect teachers to do? Wring their hands? The whole point of a strike is that union members go without pay to show the seriousness of their cause, and the more inconvenient it is, the better.

The only reason teachers are so ineffective in the UK is because they have competing unions, usually competing to show how unlike a union they are. A single union would have the capacity to make changes.

noblegiraffe · 17/09/2013 21:48

WE ARE ALREADY WORKING TO RULE AND HAVE BEEN FOR OVER A YEAR

for those that missed it first time around. Hmm

morethanpotatoprints · 17/09/2013 21:49

Freshly

Children legally go to school? If they didn't have to go?

They don't have to go, there's no law to say they do.
You choose to send your dc and unfortunately some parents do see school as free childcare. The government do too according to job centre official.
As a H.educator my friend was told she would have to become a job seeker or loose her benefit under new UC ruling. When she asked about childcare and her dd being h.ed she was told to send her to school as this was free childcare.
What hope is there for the professional status of teachers when their role is viewed as free childcare?

mirry2 · 17/09/2013 21:49

Newnamefornewterm here's the thing though. Most teachers don't have the same childcare problems because they're also on holiday.
It's a little ingenuous to pretend otherwise.

farrowandbawl · 17/09/2013 21:50

I support them 100%

I wouldn't do that job.

itsametaphordaddy · 17/09/2013 21:50

Revealall I agree with clam. You really have no idea. You think working a 70 hour week is choice. Tell that to my headteacher or to ofsted when I can't prove progress because my assessments aren't up to date. No I do it because I would lose my job if I wasn't gettingeverything done. I also do it because my 30 children rely on me to plan great lessons, they rely on me to know their gaps and target them. They need good people to be their teacher, their counsellor, their nurse, their loco parentis and their advocate. I don't choose to work 70 hours a week. I have to. I don't want to.

NewNameforNewTerm · 17/09/2013 21:50

Work to rule would mean "teaching" lessons that had not been planned, with resources that hadn't been made, don't do any interventions or support for children, don't provide first aid, don't write or review IEPs, don't write reports, cancel all after school and lunchtime clubs, don't mark any work, don't do any parents evening ... i.e. don't really do anything except turn up, improvise a crap lesson and childmind for the day.

Every teacher I have spoken to cares too much about the children to do that.

cardibach · 17/09/2013 21:52

Dominodonkey sorry for the delay, I was marking (actually true, though it sounds facetious)
^"because the Education Minister from the Welsh Government is in talks with the Unions. That's all Gove has to do to stop this, but he won't."

Interesting - do you really think that would stop the strike?^

That's what the letter from the NAS says - we aren't joining in with the strikes in England because we are in talks with our devolved Government. I don't think it would be any different over the border...

FirstVix · 17/09/2013 21:53

I'm going to repeat what someone upthread said (as I wasn't aware that this strike could be averted so easily before).

My head teacher asked our rep 'what could be done to avert the next strike?'. The answer? Government can meet with the unions so we can discuss the changes Gove wants to bring in. That's it. Meet with them. We're asking to be part of the discussion/consultation or whatever it's called nowadays, that's all.

The reason there's no strike in Wales is that the Welsh Assembly have agreed to have meetings.

Not stop the changes, just TALK TO US!!

And whoever said about firemen retiring at 60, I'm fairly sure I heard on Radio 4 today that they're striking soon over pension changes and plans to have to work beyond 60.

Blissx · 17/09/2013 21:56

One small point mirry. I still have to pay for my childcare in the holidays as its very difficult to find term time only childcare. I pretty much also end up looking after most of my family's kids in the holidays. I know it's my anecdotal evidence, but please don't think we don't have our own childcare issues. I'd love to pick my little one up from school just once (missed her first day of school) or attend some of her events. It's true though that I did choose the job, but sometimes the lack of knowledge about some of the negatives grates.

echt · 17/09/2013 21:57

I worked to rule in a recent action in Australia, no work taken home. It was really rather nice. Evening and weekends free. Bliss. It was combined with rolling one and half-day strikes.

It's the strikes that work, though, no-one gives shit whether essays are marked or not.

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