Does the size of a teacher make difference to their ability to teach?

[StrumpersPlunkett]

Would you be concerned if your child’s teacher was of significantly reduced mobility due to being overweight?
If you are a teacher in early years/ks1/ks2+
Would it limit your teaching?

you've misunderstood. It's not the ONLY thing, there has to be ability, talent and competence - but without passion for the job, it's pointless.

It’s always stated as “you need to be passionate” though. I agree, being passionate is better than not, but there have been times in my career when I’ve just been going through the motions and the kids have still made great progress. You can fake it for them. It’s not ideal though.

I put on three stone in my first year of teaching so was at one point an overweight teacher. I also have a disability (minor in my opinion) I was consistently graded as an outstanding teaching and learning practitioner. I’m not teaching anymore but being chubby didn’t stop me!

Lack of mobility ( not size by itself) would be an issue for anyone working with my son because his disabilities mean that he needs someone who can move around quickly and easily.

I am not a teacher so others will no doubt correct me here, but could you talk to some teachers of this stage a get an idea of the physical movement required then try it out.

I think this may be more about your confidence - they smell fear! It doesn’t really matter what the parents think- there are some who will find fault with any rpteacher and I suspect your weight would b low on their many many issues (little tarquinn is not being given then opportunity to express his individualism)

You won’t have to leap tables or climb ropes - but you may have playground duty and you may havhave to move at a bit of speed in certain circumstances to protect he little angels from danger, or stop the little monsters from killing each other!!

And you should take comfort from he posters who thought you were a bitch parent complaining about a teachers weight and went for you!!

I think it’s great you are thinking though this aspect of the job.

People think I'm crazy when I say this, but teaching, even in secondary, is quite a physical job. When I taught in a multi-storey Victorian building, endless flights of stone stairs, we did have a teacher who had to give up because of her weight. Moving from class to class with a bag full of books up and down stairs all day gave her permanent knee trouble.

It's exhausting enough if you're fit. And it's unfair on your colleagues if you can't play a full part in school residentials and trips. As pp said, if you're serious about it as a career choice, use it as an incentive to lose some weight.

If it’s primary you’ll need to be fit enough to get up and down off the floor easily and potentially run after/to a child in an emergency, but as long as that’s achievable I think your weight’s irrelevant.

Also agree with it being quite physical. I’m secondary and am usually standing up a minimum of 6 hours a day plus lots of stairs, regularly carrying boxes of sketchbooks/bags of clay/boxes of paint. But I think that keeps you reasonably fit, so you might find the weight comes off a bit in post anyway.

The limited mobility aspect isn't so bad - we had a teacher when I was in primary 6 and 7 who only had one arm due to her mum using thalidomide. She used it as a perfect example of people being all different.

I do think that a teacher who is significantly overweight is unfit as a role model though. What kind of example is it to a class of kids. We're trying to teach children to eat healthy and that's not going to come all that good from someone who's overweight.

That's true, Dollymixture, it was really refreshing to see (in an odd way).

Strumpers if you think that this is the profession for you then you really should go for it.

Sorry PurpleDaisies, I don't think that it's acceptable to 'go through the motions' because children deserve better than that. We can all have off days, no judgement here because I certainly have them, but somebody who is having 'off months' needs to pull it together or get out. Children can thrive regardless, even when a teacher doesn't much bother about them, but why should they have to?

I feel strongly about it because it's a teaching/caring profession and vocation, so not the same as other jobs and teachers certainly do hold themselves in high regard (as they should), but they ought to be deserving of that accolade too.

wrenika, sorry but that's tosh. Your job as a parent to do the health eating thing, don't abdicate that to somebody else.

We visit health professionals who are overweight, sometimes morbidly so? If it doesn't affect their ability to do the job then why is it our concern?

I really hope you're not 'that parent'?

A passion for teaching most certainly isn’t enough. Ability, commitment, enthusiasm, aptitude, interest, knowledge, presence are all vital for teaching. Wanting to do it isn’t enough. Nor is having multiple degrees and a genius level of intelligence.

The worst teacher I ever saw was the most highly qualified. He knew his subject inside out, but was unable to impart his knowledge and understanding to his students, who (almost literally) ran rings round him.

I think that it would be tricky for an early years teacher to be overweight and with limited mobility because of it, for the reasons already mentioned. I don’t think that someone’s size limits their ability, but it may limit their capacity. Then again, it would probably limit the capacity of people in lots of jobs. I would probably feel that a morbidly obese HCP, for example, would have no business giving me lifestyle and diet advice.

Agree re the passion. It doesn’t make you a good teacher.

I wouldn't worry at all about training etc however you would probably have to teach some PE. -14 years of primary teaching and I have always had to do some, even when pregnant with twins. But you've got a year to prepare yourself. I don't think weight matters but you would need a decent level of fitness.

When I was in school, we had a severely overweight supply teacher (he was covering maternity leave so was there for a while).

Firstly he had mobility issues. He couldn’t walk around much, not even to the boards at the back of the classroom next to his desk. So what he did instead was sit at his desk and USE A MICROPHONE to speak to the class, and get the class to write on the boards, and come up to him. The problem with the microphone is that it was loud and booming, so for example when we were in form for the register, we could hear him taking his form’s register due to the microphone. It was just weird.

Secondly he was incredibly hot and sweaty at all times. He would literally get pupils to go the bathrooms and get him massive wads of tissue so he could wipe himself. No exaggeration at all, pupils were told to leave the class and stop their studies to get him toilet roll. Again it was just weird.

Hi OP, my son had a very, very overweight teacher in primary school. She was a lovely, kind person and a fantastically gifted teacher. That is what mattered. Parents were disappointed when their children got put into another teacher's class rather than hers. She died suddenly, at the tragically young age of 40. At her funeral, you literally could not have fitted anymore people into the church - it was beyond standing room only and some had to stand outside. Pupils, ex-pupils, parents and colleagues joined her family and friends and we all wept that she had been taken from us. That is how much her size meant to us - nothing at all.

No. There was a huge teacher at my son's school, taught reception, she was lovely, all the children adored her. Being obese was just part of who she was.
All that matters is how well they teach and get on with the children.

Regarding the PE aspect, obviously you'd need to be able to show the children what you'd want them to do, but it would be more of a case of walking around, supervising them and giving advice. Why do people want PE to be poorly taught?

Hmm.. may be going against the grain here but I teach KS1, and have put a lot of weight on and have gone from a size 14 to a size 18/20. It is noticeably more difficult now to be bending down to tie laces etc, joining in with dances and I struggled when it was so hot. We have a senior leader in school who is probably about a size 28 and she struggles to walk, which has meant on school trips etc the burden has been on other staff, which is a little unfair. It’s not impossible but I would say it’s harder in EYFS & KS1.

Sorry PurpleDaisies, I don't think that it's acceptable to 'go through the motions' because children deserve better than that. We can all have off days, no judgement here because I certainly have them, but somebody who is having 'off months' needs to pull it together or get out. Children can thrive regardless, even when a teacher doesn't much bother about them, but why should they have to?

My going through the motions was significantly better than most of the other “passionate” ones at school. People aren’t mind readers. You can’t always tell somebody’s level of motivation. As long as you’re doing a proper job, that’s what’s important. Passion/enthusiasm can be faked!

Saying that, it’s pretty hard to stay in teaching unless you’ve got a genuine care for young people’s lives. It’s a bloody difficult job.

My son's year 1 teacher is morbidly obese. She is brilliant and I don't think her size affects her ability to teach.

Most importantly OP do YOU think you can do it? If so then crack on- your weight is nobody’s business. As a pp said, be kind to yourself- that is the most important thing I want my children to see- role models who believe in themselves and are kind and positive people. Good luck.

Is this a joke?

I’m a teacher (secondary). I started my career at 24 stone but now weigh around 13 and I can tell you it is much easier doing it at my current size. It’s a physical job and I’m on my feet all day. I remember feeling so hot and sweaty and smelly at my heaviest and being so tired at the end of the day. It definitely wasn’t impossible but it’s much easier now. The pupils didn’t treat me any differently -though I’m sure they called me the fat teacher behind my back

Don't let it stop you training to be a teacher. I know a few primary teachers and they don't actually teach pe, an outside company comes in to run the sessions so chances are you won't even have to teach pe.

And others suggesting the OP 'might not' have to teach PE. As others have stated (a) most primaries require their teachers to teach PE AND gaining QTS will require the trainee to demonstrate that they can teach PE.

I work in teacher training.