to think a teacher shouldn't comment about their pupils on fb?

[Justholdthesmile]

Just that really.

And I'm talking about every kind of situation.

I deal with customers every single day - some are lovely and some even wish death on you, but I would never comment about them (or colleagues for that matter) even if I never mentioned their name over FB.

AIBU?

If someone doesn't put down where they work on Facebook, they can be much more honest about how they feel about their workplace. There should be no problem with saying "I hate my boss" if your Facebook page doesn't say where you work, and only your close Facebook friends know.

That's fine Dromedary unless you live in a small place like I do and everybody knows which school you work in

I still wouldn't do it then, dromedary. Don't forget, fb security is crap, and often if your friends like/share/comment, it becomes visible to their friends. Not to mention the possibility of someone purposefully shit stirring and mentioning/showing a screen shot to your boss.

Don't say anything on fb that I wouldn't publicly announce is my motto.

Oh, and with schools having their own websites, often with staff lists, it would be relatively easy for someone to find out where you work.

Out of interest, I googled my own name and city and my workplace was the first hit.

If it's locked and the teacher doesn't allow friendings from parents, let alone kids/siblings of kids, I don't see an issue. Teachers are human beings too, first and foremost, and should be able to vent on a locked space to people they are comfy with, IMO.

Having said that, naming/identifiably slagging off the kids or colleagues is shitty, and would be so in that context wherever you worked IMO. But general grumbling, or sharing something sweet or funny, and I think that's... well. Normal.

Any teacher who posts anything about school or anything at all really on Facebook is a knobhead and deserves to be sacked.

My facebook policy is to never write anything I wouldn't put on a billboard or say to someone's face. So I'd never talk about students, although a "great day today at work" would be ok. I also make a point of not posting negative things about anything or anyone (save that for MN!).

Perfect - my colleague who was sacked wasn't friends with parents, someone in his office screen shot his post and showed the SMT.

Flossy - are you saying teachers shouldn't be allowed fb? Really?

Anyone who thinks not being friends with parents will cover it, or that Facebook is a safe locked space, is being very naive.

People you are friends with might be friends with parents, or go to Zumba with a governor, or know someone who does, or something.

With a name and even a vague location it's easy to find out which school a teacher is at.

Also, many many people's settings on Facebook aren't nearly as private as they think.

Flossy, teachers do have a right to a life outside of the classroom. We don't climb in to our cupboard when the children go home and go in to hibernation until they come back the next day.

I might say if I have had a great day or if I am tired, am pregnant so that is a constant at the moment. Sometimes if someone says something funny I might post it in a general way, but not in an unpleasant mocking sense.

I would not post anything that I would not be happy to see in the local newspaper.

Teaching is just a small part of my life, I would not let it define me once I have left the budding, that includes how I use social media.

If you were just referring to negative comments about work/colleagues/students and/or mentioning particular students in an identifiable way, I would say YANBU.

However, as you are talking about ANY reference to school then YABU.

For instance, I have posted in the past something along the lines of: 'Some of my students brought in a Lord of the Flies themed cake that they had made for our class today - wow!' with picture of said cake (no students in photo). I do not see why anyone would take umbrage at that.

Crowler - it's a bit weird when teachers get involved in social media? Almost everyone is involved in social media. Teachers are actual people. Most are not stupid enough to post things that would get them sacked.

Dp is a teacher and won't touch Facebook for all of the above reasons. It's a bloody minefield.

It does amuse me when people think that teachers should live completely different lives. When I am working I am a et wheel the rest of the time I don't think about my job. There are long chunks of the year when I almost forget that I am a teacher.

Teachers have every right to engage with social media just like everyone else. Many use Twitter as a way if keeping up to date with info from Ofsted and the DfE.

A teacher who posts negative comments about their school or pupils will probably be in breach of the Teacher Standards if in England. Disciplinary action could then follow. Simple as that really.

I use twitter to talk bollocks. Certainly not to keep up to date with Oftsed.

Slagging off students, even in locked posts, isn't okay I don't think, no. Nor identifiably your colleagues. But general and non-specific venting, or endearing generalised anecdote, is rather different IMO. And teachers are human.

Bobpat, that was really shitty of the screenshotter, unless the comments were so bad as to be evidence the teacher wasn't fit to do the job. "Really crap class today - not one student had done proper preparation" is one thing, but more vitriol and/or more identifying info, and I'd understand the response better.

Flowery obviously I don't think FB settings are good at all (one of the founders/owners had his own private photos suddenly exposed as public after one change, I seem to recall, which bodes ill for the rest of us), but I do think reasonable efforts to set a FB to private should allow for a greater degree of candour than an open one would. I'd imagine that was common sense. Along with appreciating that once you have 100 people reading your comments, they aren't private in any recognisable sense.

I squirm a bit at the notion that teachers should be unable to have normal human outlets. It's not like the job isn't massively demanding and fairly badly paid for the workload. Expecting sanctity on top just seems a bit much.

Really Flossy? Knobheads? I have a life, I have a right to a life outside of teaching. I don't recall taking a vow that stated I was entering the equivalent of a closed convent when I became a teacher. I post on FB, I'm neither naive nor an idiot - I know not to say anything that I wouldn't say to anyone in RL. Where I live and teach is quite a tight community anyway and just chatting in public can be the same as being on FB. Funnily enough, I've managed not to offend anyone, be indiscreet or unconfidential on FB or in RL.

Isn't it a breach o their school policy? Must be!!

I don't think asking teachers to refrain from posting about students, things that happened from school, or the school itself is unreasonable. That's just being a professional. I'm not a teacher but I don't use FB to complain about work or colleagues or customers.

OTOH I do think they should be able to say in a non-specific way 'Had a bad day at work' or similar (although generally I wouldn't).

ALSO I think parents should not post things about teachers on FB.

If I was a teacher I would have a fake name on fb. I would use a dedicated email or one that I used for receiving marketing emails, not personal ones. I would have it set so people can't search for me. I would not have anyone from school on there unless I was married to them. No pupils, no former pupils, no siblings of pupils, no parents of pupils. I wouldn't let tagged photos appear on my timeline without my approval. And I wouldn't put where I work in the about me section.

And even then I'd try not to put comments about pupils in my status.