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?

Once a school has accepted her No school is under any obligation to accept anyone.

And to clarify again, it is NOT the weight per se, but the seriously impaired mobility that might be a real or perceived barrier. A person who is very overweight but fully mobile would, as many many other people have said, have no problem entering the profession or being a truly excellent teacher in all subjects.

derxa, which is why I made the point that the real or perceived barrier might be at point of entry, not 'in day to day school life once reasonable adjustments have been made'.

When I did my pgce as part of the training they had us do gymnastics etc.

Also at some placements we had to teach the children PE.
It was actually one of the requirements of our folder that we taught a block of PE lessons.

At my DC's school they have a dedicated PE teacher.

Go for it, OP.

I lost quite a bit of weight whilst teaching and I had several parents comment about what a good role model I was being, but not a single person said anything negative when I was larger.

It will be easier if you can lose enough weight to move around comfortably, though. Nothing makes you more aware of your own arse than trying to fit on a chair designed for a four year old .

I was a morbidly obese teacher and still managed to teach pe! It is more instruction and getting children to demonstrate. After bariatric surgery I am now just obese and a sports coach teaches my PE! I hope my teaching has been strong all the way through though!

nailak,

The point is that a teacher with a disability which impaired their movement might be unable to complete that section of the PGCE requirements - and so might a teacher whose mobility was seriously impaired by obesity. Is it appropriate to make reasonable adjustments for both of these teachers?

Pe teachers just stand there and shout anyway !

Sparkle, in secondary, maybe. Not so much in primary, where working alongside or demonstrating is much more required. And the ability to get rapidly to where a child is injured or is working unsafely is definitely necessary!

I am a teacher & a size 24. I’m not only a good teacher (judged outstanding by Ofsted) but there’s absolutely nothing I can’t do at work because of my size. What’s important is your enthusiasm & passion to teach. Forget what you look like & if your dream is to be a teacher, then go & chase that dream. Good luck xXx

Pe teachers just stand there and shout anyway ! Give up

No not at all I've had tiny skinny teachers and morbidly obese ones, I hated both of them regardless of their size

I remember the obese one kept referencing to her weight whenever we would get in trouble as if it was the only thing on our minds though, quite annoying

Just a thought, I walk between 3 and 5 miles a day at work- upper KS2 class. I am overweight (bmi of 29.5) but can teach PE, including getting into a swimming pool weekly to teach and support my weakest swimmers.

OP, I was a primary teacher. I actually put on weight while I was in the profession- from a 12/14 to an 18/20. I didn’t eat well because when I got home mentally drained, the last thing I wanted to do was cook, so I fell into bad eating habits.

It never affected my ability to teach, but I was KS2 so very little sitting on the carpet for me. Certainly didn’t go chasing children round the school either, and I had a runner in my class. We had a specialist PE teacher so I didn’t teach that either.

The one thing you might need to get used to is kids making comments. They don’t do it to be mean (at least, 90% of the time!) but they will speak their mind. I had questions like “why is your tummy so big?” and when I came back after a period of absence, one of the children squealed “OH! You’ve been off because you’re having a baby!!!” (I didn’t wear that dress again!) You need to be able to laugh off comments like that, while also explaining it’s not polite.

My size had no impact at all on my job it was the working conditions that did that

I think if all the teachers who weren't cartwheeling into work every day, buzzing with passion for the job, were told to leave because it meant they were 'jaded', then there would be a lot of empty classrooms. Teaching is all about acting and of course enthusiasm can be faked when a teacher's having an off day or even an off year. Even teachers have an absolute right to their own feelings.

@StrumpersPlunkett

How ‘significantly reduced’ is your mobility? I’m morbidly obese by weight/BMI standards (not arguing with that, by the way) and always taught Early Years. I didn’t have a problem getting up and down off the floor though. I did injure my knee at school getting up from a ring game in an odd position, but that was because knees aren’t designed to move the way my mine did, not because I’m overweight! I also managed to sit on the little chairs fine - I don’t think anybody would want to sit on them for hours (I sat on one once for about 2 hours sorting learning journeys, and my back did not thank me), and my arse hung over the edges (of course), but I sat on them.

If you teach young children, you do have to be prepared for the “why is your tummy big?” questions, and accept that almost every time it’s genuinely asked, not with malice.

I was a good teacher and didn’t have a child I didn’t love, or who didn’t like me. I had more than one observer tell me it was clear my children loved me (worked in a couple of special measures schools - lots of observers!).

And I may not have been a role model for healthy eating, but I’m kind, patient, caring and genuinely interested in what the children say and ask, which is actually a fantastic role model for other things in life!

I use the past tense because I’ve actually left teaching due to depression/anxiety and stress, because no matter how much I loved teaching young children - and my goodness, I absolutely did - I couldn’t take it anymore.

Definitely volunteer in a school beforehand, the experience is invaluable. But above all - be confident in your ability to do the job! Reduced mobility may not be the barrier you think it will - I’ve know plenty of slimmer teachers than me struggle with getting up and down off the floor and PE.

I came across an article about weight and this quote has stayed with me

“The bigger way my weight affected my life was that I waited to do things because I thought fat people couldn’t do them.”

Go for it!

My son's nursery teacher was overweight and she was the most energetic, hard working and kindest person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. He loved her and she taught him lots. Why would size hinder teaching ability?

I've never taken one of my teacher's weight into consideration with whether or not they were good at their job.

Ha - OP - to me a teacher has to be role model in terms of how they inspire kids to learn, safeguarding etc. Nothing about how they look would bother me.

I would be concerned if there was an emergency for example, like with one of the kids and you didn't have the ability to help.

I would ask though why you are considering studying to become a teacher first, why not put the effort into losing weight first? Then study teaching.

Well, it depends, would you mind when the kids laugh at you and come up with fat-related nicknames?

Well, it depends, would you mind when the kids laugh at you and come up with fat-related nicknames?

I have been an over weight teacher for many years. I have taught in a very, very challenging school (by national standards and local standards where local standards are low), and continue to supply in challenging schools across the area. I am sure kids have all sorts of names for me but I have yet to be have anyone say anything of a disparaging nature/weight related to my face. I have been told to fuck off but have never been told to fuck off fatty. My colleagues and SLT would certainly challenge and punish any child who made personal remarks of that nature. Young people have their moments but they know far better than many adults I know exactly where the line is and if you’re half decent at your job, will respect that above all else. Of maybe I’ve been lucky.

I’m a secondary teacher and have never heard students being mean about a teacher’s weight - I suppose encouragingly, they are way more critical of teachers’ actual failings (being boring, being inconsistent, being unfair, not controlling the class, not dealing with bullying, poor explaining skills etc) than the way we look.