Warning: teachers and striking. AIBU to think that some of you may want to watch this?

[Iffy2014]

Apologies, as teaching and striking are continually done to death on here, and this may have already been posted. I've just been sent this video of slam poetry and thought some folks here may appreciate it.

I reckon this is a pretty clear explanation of how a lot of secondary teachers are feeling at the moment, and why there is copious moaning and striking.

That's hyperbolic hysteria that is.

Rosa Parks, Harvey Milk, Emily Pankhurst and Joan of Arc and the only one you pick out is Arthur Scargill. That says quite a bit. It's also nice to see we're judging one another on how we look still She has more than valid points about what is actually happening in our schools but the people who need to listen won't and there's nothing anyone can say that will change their minds.

Why let facts get in the way, eh?

Also, this poem by Taylor Mali sums up What Teachers Make print

FFSTiggaxx

*"And how much of that do you think is within teachers' control?"

All of it! They do it! Don't make me pull a Godwin here.*

There's this thing called a Long Term Plan, fayrae. It's written for each year group by the Department collectively, & required to be linked to all manner of assessment objectives - I won't tax you with the details! As soon as anyone observes me teaching/checks my books, both of which happen half termly at least, the first question is 'Is raven following the LTP properly?' - & if not, if I haven't planned all my individual lessons around it, I'm in deep shit.

Then there's another thing called a residual, which is basically a comparison of how my year 11 students do, on average, in their GCSEs, compared with the GCSE targets they were set 5 years previously.

Again, if my residual has a minus sign in front of it, I'm in the shit.

Then there's a benchmark figure of how many kids get 5 GCSEs at A*-C, including English & Maths. If that was 75% last year & it's 72% this year - or it's 75% again but the school down the road got 77% - again, the HT is going to track down the 6 kids who missed their C target, & if they're in my teaching group - guess what? More deep shit.

Of course I teach to the test. If I didn't, I wouldn't be teaching at all for much longer.

I don't know if the woman in the film is a teacher but she's definitely a performance poet, I've seen films of her reciting her work before.

It is an absolute scandal that teachers who like and are good at teaching children rather than crunching numbers are being so demotivated by government initiatives.

No one with power cares Vole, so we can either weep and gnash and go insane, kowtow and survive or make a leap of faith and be free.
I chose the latter, and I don't regret it.
Different schools, different rules, different children every week. When you are on the outside, it's easy to see how the lack of consistency and focus, and the desperate panic to anticipate what is expected and to ensure that it does, whether good practice or not, is ripping things apart.

She works in schools and she is from a teaching family, AuntieBrenda, she know how it is.

I quit several years ago too. I enjoyed classroom teaching but the other stuff made me ill. Did work for a bullying head for the last 10 years though.

I work in a combination of criminal justice, substance misuse, careers advice, and counselling, some of it self employed.

I probably work longer hours than I did in teaching and certainly earn less.

But I'm valued and supported in what I do and don't feel I'm looking over my shoulder all the time, or justifying myself to the ignorant and uninformed. I wake up every day enthused rather than fearful.

I still have a lot of teacher friends and am horrified by how demoralised they are.

I don't think teachers are poorly paid and I do think it is a standatd expectation that professionals work and train for more than their contracted hours. If we want to change that, the effective way would be for most employees to strike - a general strike.

But I do believe that teachers are being put under targets and working conditions by government and poor management that makes it impossible for them to do the job they have trained to do. That is not only unfair to them but damaging to the whole country, and should be considered a serious problem we all want to see resolved.

I wonder how long it took to film and edit that.

I appreciated the message, but I found the delivery really irritating.

I would probably be thrilled if she was teaching my kids as she seems so passionate.

I just didn't like the delivery.

I wonder how Faeray will feel in another decade, when her daughter is 13, and if she will have an opinion then?

Sorry, got your name muddled fayrae.

I wish that was the case Parliamo, however I'm six years in and only a few pounds an hour better off. Still, I start a Physics PGCE in September and can't wait. I don't care what the naysayers say on MY, I'm going to do what I should have done a decade ago!

*MN stupid autocorrect

Two points I'd like to make:

1. Teachers are leaving in droves. This is having a hugely detrimental effect on children. I have a Year 11 tutor group. They told me this week that they have had 7 teachers for GCSE General Studies since they began the course at the beginning of Year 10. They have also had 4 for GCSE Geography. In the case of Geography, teacher 1 was there for the whole of Year 10 then moved to a different school to be nearer to her terminally ill father. Teacher 2 began in September of Year 11, was rarely in (stress) and then resigned, citing stress as the cause. During her absence, the lessons were covered by Teacher 3 (supply) who was not a subject specialist. Lessons were planned by the Deputy Head. Now, Teacher 4 is that same Deputy Head, though sometimes she has other things she needs to do (small secondary - SLT of 3) so the lessons are taken by a cover supervisor. The fact that 2/5 of teachers leave within 5 years, and that experienced teachers are leaving the profession has a direct and serious effect on the children. Last year, there were 8 teachers at my school off with longterm stress.That's 1/4 of the staff. We are a converter academy (sponsored) thanks to Mr Gove.

1. My "holiday" begins tomorrow. I will be in school Monday - Friday with Yr 11s. I teach Performing Arts and practical exams are 2 weeks after the holidays finish. I have arranged for Year 11s to come in to work on their practical exam pieces. This is mostly because I want them to achieve their full potential, but also because unless they ALL make 4 Levels of Progress, I will have to explain exactly why that didn't happen. Even the boy who suffered from depression last year so was given permission to come to school late every day - his lesson with me is first period on Mondays so he missed exactly half of the teaching time. Now, his depression is under control but he smokes a lot of weed. His mother knows, the school knows, but his mother feels she can't really do very much about it. He's a bright boy. He got a Level 5 in his KS2 SATs. Therefore if he doesn't get an A in GCSE Performing Arts, I will have to explain why. Also in that class is a boy with SEN who finds communication really difficult. He has made huge leaps in confidence since the start of Year 10, but he cannot concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time, and finds working in a group difficult. He managed a 4 in his KS2 SATs (presumably with a lot of support) so I need to get him a B. When I'm not with my Yr 11s, I'll be marking. I am the only Drama teacher in my school, and despite the government's attempts to downgrade creative subjects, my subject is popular. I have 60 students in Year 10. I need to keep their portfolio marking up to date. I can't really do that during the normal school day as it probably takes about 10 minutes per folder - formative comments, responding to their responses to my previous marking, annotating work so that it is clear how they are hitting GCSE criteria. So that's another 10 hours of my holiday.

My own kids - DTDs aged 7, will be spending that first week in a holiday club.

DH works in a private sector job. Our hours are comparable. However, he earns about 3x my salary, and has recently had his annual bonus, which works out at about 10 months worth of what I earn in one chunk.

FWIW, I don't think that teaching is poorly paid. I genuinely love my job. I fucking hate listening to people criticising me though. I hate the clichéd "paid holidays" "INSET days should come out of holidays" "why don't schools think about working parents" crap.

'Still, I start a Physics PGCE in September and can't wait. I don't care what the naysayers say on MY, I'm going to do what I should have done a decade ago!'

No, good for you, ballinacup. I hope that it's everything you dreamed of, and that you are still teaching children in the state sector with the same enthusiasm and focus in another decade. I really do.

I love being in the classroom with the kids, but to be perfectly honest I'll not be teaching much longer. I've done a decade, I'm a lead practitioner and HOD, but I do nothing but eat, sleep and breathe school. I'm stressed and often on the verge of tears because no matter how long I spend working there is always more to do. I won't let the children I teach down, but that means that I let everyone else in my life down because there are not enough hours in the day.

And we have another week until the holidays here. I'll be in school with Year 11, 12 and 13 at various stages of those holidays though.

I've applied to study Primary Education this September, any advice from teachers here?

Good luck ballinacup. I think people who come into teaching after a stint in the 'real' world often have a different take on it that those who go into it straight from uni.

By the time you've finished, there will have been a general election, and it will probably be somebody elses turn to mess about with stuff. Maybe things will have settled down a bit by then.

'I've applied to study Primary Education this September, any advice from teachers here?'

Well, a sense of humour is always a good start.

rockpink - run for the hills! Unless you seriously want to spend your working life looking over your shoulder and being forced to teach in a way that goes against everything you believe is right. Find something else that involves the teaching of children - but don't do this unless you are made of steel.

I LOVE TEACHING. I just want to get that across first. I work in the most brilliant primary school you can imagine. We have a supportive head teacher who is the hardest working person I know. She comes in at about 7 am every morning, has meetings till late at least 2 or 3 nights of the week. She works 1 full day at the weekends and is in most of the holidays. Every single other member of the teaching staff is now working part time because they could not bear the hours and totally resented giving up every evening and one day at the weekend all the bloody time.

I'm sorry but I really don't think many people DO actually do a full day's work (say 7.30- 5..30) go home, cook dinner, get the kids to bed and then do a few more hours plus work at weekends, some people maybe but not most.....I have a large family, most of them are not teachers and none of them work like that.

I am not going to leave teaching I love it but I absolutely could not do it full time again. I have several friends whose children are fairly newly qualified teachers (have been in the profession for 2 to 3 years) and out of 4 of them 3 are planning to leave. I think that sums it up.