Teacher Shouting

[Dottie39]

Not actually sure if I am being a bit over protective.

Basically son is Yr 5, a sensitive boy and quite intelligent and generally well behaved. His class seem a good bunch and are quite a small class, 19.

They have a teacher this year with a reputation for being very strict. I have no problem with this but she is very shouty. Since they went back my son tells me she shouts daily, ranting at them. I personally think that it's a bit unprofessional and not creating a great learning environment. The class have made it this far with various teachers who have not felt the need to shout at them this way. My son is becoming less involved in class, won't put hand up etc as nervous of being shouted at in case he gets it wrong. Yesterday the class were given work and apparently noone could complete it. The teacher shouted at them all and told them they should know this and she is let down by them all. I'm not happy about this, I think negative language and shouting is bad for the class and bullying! Aibu to say something? In a workplace it would not be acceptable to treat people like this....

Very few teachers shout all day, we'd never have any voice left if we did. In reality, the vast majority of pupils do perceive discipline and a projected voice as shouting. I don't shout as I refuse to wreck my voice, but due to training I can project it well but still I remember one pupil accusing me of shouting - I proceeded to show him the difference. Some teachers do crack down hard on their classes at the beginning of the year to establish discipline as it is much easier to relax than try and tighten up the discipline later in the year. Also pupils (and even adults) will remember the one negative comment, even though the rest of the comments might have been positive.
However if your son is unhappy, then yes say something, but talk to the teacher and explain your son is unhappy and getting worried about getting things wrong and is too nervous to about ask for help. Hopefully he and you will get reassurance.

I agree, it's the projecting/shouting confusion, especially if the teacher is projecting her voice to the whole class and the message is not a 100% positive one. Oddly enough, one rarely gets told that one is shouting in a PE lesson, despite the fact that you are projecting there as well.
Yes, September is always teacher-bashing season on Mumsnet. Children have had 7 weeks of doing what they like, parents are having to adjust to new teachers, teachers are trying to get their shit together and remember that end of Y5 children are more capable than at the beginning of the year and start all over again...people are all tired and stressed and whingier than usual.
I hear parents shouting much more often than teachers TBH.

User, throwing stuff as a teacher in class has not been ok since the early 80s. My maths teacher used to throw chalk. Now he'd be on a disciplinary.

I'm a teacher who is quite loud as I'm pretty good at projecting my voice (trained singer). As far as I know I've never been accused of being 'shouty'; I think most children know the difference.
A good teacher doesn't need to constantly shout as it has little to no effect.
It's difficult OP as the teacher has probably gotten into a habit and probably won't take kindly to being picked up on it. The best thing to do is try to explain to your son that this is just the way this teacher talks and it doesn't mean she is angry at him. It's a difficult one. You could always mention it to the head. They might be able to give the teacher some gentle criticism and support.

I lose track of the amount of times students have said I have shouted. I wasn't shouting. I had raised my voice a little and altered my tone to show I'm unimpressed.

There is a time and a place for shouting. It is not always a sign you've lost control (though it can be if someone does it all the time).
E.g. a large group of students were starting to circle like a fight was about to happen. Either I could walk calmly over and then try to break it up on my own. OR, I could stand at one end of the yard and shout down at them to move. I chose the 2nd. I rarely shout. It scared the bystanders off and left me able to calmly pick up the 2 at the centre without an audience.

Unfortunately, there's this idea with some people that 'Best teachers never raise their voice / going quiet is often better'. If behaviour management was that simple then no teacher would ever have classroom management issues. Strong teachers have good classroom management. There's not one way of doing it well.