DDs teacher giving serious misinformation WWYD?

[phantomnamechanger]

How to deal with this please......

DD has recently got a new English teacher. They are reading Pride & Prejudice (just started). Today in the lesson, the teacher has on several occasions referred to it being set in "the Victorian era"
that's a massive error to make, right? how do we point this out? DD was like when she told me, but there will be other kids who believe the teacher and for whom that will stick.
DD did not want to correct the teacher for fear of being reprimanded/thought rude.
WWYD?

I'm mostly just impressed that they're doing P & P for GCSE rather than Lord of the bloody flies.

Quoteunquote

"If the people who you are teaching aren't questioning you, then you are not a good teacher."

Thanks for this - my students question me daily and sometimes they're right and I'm wrong. I always acknowledge when I've made a mistake and never (unlike some teachers) try to cover it up. I'm happy to say I don't know on occasion, or that I'm not sure but I'll look it up / discuss with a teacher who specialises in that area. I work with v.bright kids (super selective grammar) so issues like this are almost unavoidable. :)

Or Kes. Interestingly my wife who grew upon in the south, didn't. Perhaps the exams boards thought we were all Kestrel flying urchins in ex-pit towns.

Imp: "I'm mostly just impressed that they're doing P & P for GCSE rather than Lord of the bloody flies."

Quite. I find DD's GCSE syllabus very dull (includes Mice of the Men as well as Lord of the Flies) and very female-unfriendly. I'm not saying girls can't enjoy those books, but it would be nice to have something that could engage their interest a bit more directly.

But the more I think about this, the more shocked I am at the teacher. Even if she didn't already know that P&P was set in the Regency period, then a little bit of background reading about the book would have told her. So we can assume that she hasn't done any background reading either.

Wabbity, I also loathe Tess of the D'Urbevilles. Detest it.

Had it for A level and only managed to get to chapter 6 before deciding to go rogue and read one of the alternative texts instead, as a back up.

Ebear - "but I wasn't always normal" You & I both!

I wasn't assuming the pupils should have known, but the teacher!

Thanks goodness there are teachers on this thread, who encourage questioning. Love your approach, Quote, it makes perfect sense! (and sensibility, argh)

In my experience only those who have studied history or English literature are aware of what Victorian refers to

In Australia they have living breathing Victorians, it refers tot he state not the queen.

Mountain out of a molehill.

Good point sashh. And in Canada there is the city of Victoria, the city of Regina, also the province of Alberta, named for Victoria's daughter Princess Louise (Alberta was her second name, chosen for the province in part also to honor Prince Albert.) Prince Edward Island is named for Victoria's father.

In the US there is a lifestyle magazine called Victoria, which features Victoriana home decor, food, architecture, and the occasional feature on some Victorian worthy. We also have a home decorating magazine called Victorian Homes.

Pippilangstrompe

LeBear, Ibsen is national romantic. Definitely not Victorian.

No Norwegian would refer to anything related to their 19th century as Victorian. In my experience only those who have studied history or English literature are aware of what Victorian refers to. It isn't part of the common vocabulary.

Not sure what you mean by national romantic - are you talking about Romantic nationalism? Ibsen's plays span that movement and Realism; some critics link him to Naturalism, some distinguish between his Realism and the Naturalism of later playwrights.

I am perfectly aware that no Norwegian would refer to their 19th century as Victorian because she wasn't the queen of Norway That's why I don't use that term when I'm teaching A Doll's House.

sshh I'd have thought any adult with a modicum of intelligence and had made their way through a three year degree course would take a guess that it it referred to the period of Queen Victoria's reign.

I have a science degree and I know what Victorian means. In the UK sense as well as the Australian sense.

Funnily enough when I was teaching P&P last year a colleague (trying to be helpful) emailed me a power point on the novel which contained slides on its Victorian context. I felt quite embarrassed for her and didn't know how to bring it up so just started talking about why I liked regency novels in the staff room. I hope it's not the same person!

Shhh, I assume any teacher of Eng lit has a degree in English in any case. I'd be very worried about one that didn't.

Did you see my post about my degree in American Studies, MI? I can assure you I am dead good; better than many colleagues with Eng Lit degrees

Ok, I accept I was wrong and apologise; a literature degree.

Love that approach quoteunquote.

My son had a similar issue once with a history teacher. my son has a real interest/slight obsession with history and noticed an inaccuracy said by the teacher. he did point it out by raising his hand and saying it. It didn't go too well but not too bad, that teacher did seem reluctant to respond to my sons raised hand after that though.

I told my son that a better approach in future would be to speak to him after the lesson on his own.

Amber leaf, I am not criticising you, but isn't it a shame that we have to teach our children to not ask at the time to save the teacher's ego? In many other circumstances including the workplace, an error such as this would be called immediately, and not swept under the carpet until later.

It is a shame really.

I suppose it's all part of the whole children are 'lesser' thing.

Yes I think it is, but as a pp from the US said she would have just stuck her hand up at school and said something. What a shame our DC are being taught to not speak up.

Sorry bit late to the discussion (stupid morning sickness).

I am an archaeologist (with the necessary degree and post grad degrees) and we use centuries (ie 18thC, 19thC) as well as periods (Georgian, Victorian) when phasing sites and finds. The use of late Georgian will take the dating up from the 1780s to 1830s.

Even I knew as a child that P&P was Georgian. Its surely listed in the notes at the front of the book? To say its Victorian once by accident is understandable, more than that is stupidity. The teacher sounds not very good to be honest.

Maybe because she is new to the school, she has rocked up and the HOD has shoved a copy of P&P in her hands and said to get on with it. She might never have read any Austen before and is thinking that she will wing it this week and get some research done this weekend.

She still needs to know the Victorian thing is wrong.

An English teacher who's never read any Austen????

A big to MI. I was (half) teasing.

Surely she MUST have read some Austen? Or at the very least, seen a film?

Mind you, thinking about some our the PGCEs we've had through the Dept in recent years, perhaps not.

Head in hands.