To think this teacher is out of order?

[DutchSparkle]

My DN is 16 and in his GCSE year. He is intelligent, he is not an academic type. He wants to go to college to become an electrician. He was told by his maths teacher he should study A level maths at sixth form. He explained that he wasn't doing A levels at sixth form, instead he wanted to be an electrician (applications for sixth form closed months ago). The teacher then replied "How are you ever going to make something of your life or get a decent career without going to university?"
My DB has tried to speak to the head but is being stonewalled 😢.

The teacher has just shown that you can go to university and still be stupid.

Teachers are notoriously ignorant regarding the world of work. I would just ignore and tell the boy to look forward to be earning more than the teacher really quite soon.

''Teachers often aren't up to date with career trends but any adult considering taking this up with senior staff or governors has too much time on their hands imo.

The lad is probably perfectly capable of challenging this himself.''

Agreed. heads are very busy people and a complaint like this will just make your db look silly, the teacher made an ill advised comment but he didn't say anything fatal. Teachers are human too, they will and do make bad judgement calls at time. I'd seriously get over it and move on. Plus complaints like this should go to the head of maths or the teacher's line manager really or possibly the head of year 11- heads do not take every complaint or they'd be swamped. There is a network sysyem.

'' I am a teacher and find it shocking that a teacher would say this.

But I am sorry to say that some teachers ARE in the game to put kids down. I personally recall to this day a horrible put down from a teacher.''

fgs why must every post on mn turn into eastenders? The teacher never meant it as a putdown, it was more likely an ill advised politically incorrect comment made by a person who came from a background in which education is very valued and cherished and who was brought up to believe education is the be all and end all-it does exist alot. He shouldn't have said it but he probably said it without thinking and was thinking aloud. But to call this a put down is absurd. A put down is usually deliberately hurtful. This wasn't.

Another thread where someone goes from 0 - 100 in the offended stakes over a total non-issue. It sounds to me like the teacher clearly thinks your ‘non-academic’ DN has the capability to do A’ level maths AND go on to uni. More of a compliment than a put down in other words. Say what you like about teachers being ignorant of the world of work and you don’t have to go to uni to be successful but more and more career paths require degrees or equivalent these days even at entry level. Maybe your DB needs to take a step back and encourage his son to explore ALL his options.

How could anyone possibly interpret that as a malicious comment?

It's clearly a teacher who sees talent in the child and from his perspective as an academic who loves his subject, he thinks the child should pursue it. It's one opinion, from one perspective, that the child is old enough to take as it was meant. One of my A-Level teachers said it was a "crying shame" I wasn't choosing his subject at degree level. It didn't upset me or insult me, and my mother didn't go squawking to the school about it.

The first thing that stands out to me is that there appears to be a lack of communication with dB and the school about dn’s options, choices and opportunities.
Going to college to become an electrician is a valuable goal.
Just seems the teachers comments imply that he’s a bright lad who could probably gain a maths A level.
Surely when your kid is in GCSE year , as a parent you explore all options

He shouldn't have said it but it's not that big of a deal, just ignore it.

I'd be so embarrassed if my auntie was talking to the school about something like that, it's over the top

I'm not talking to the school. My DB is trying to.

DN took it as an insult because of how she said it. Her voice tone wasn't complimentary. DB has had issues with this particular teacher calling him into school. It was urgent and couldn't wait. Damaging school property was not acceptable. When DB got there after taking time off, she presented him with a broken pritt stick.

DB and DN have looked through all his options. DN is not a sit behind a desk kind of person. My DB isn't either. He has never been to university but is very well off.

Totally believable. Living in a not very affluent area, we've had the opposite experience: when we were viewing secondaries with our ds, the teacher who did the 1:1 tour started with telling ds that it's perfectly ok, this school does understand that not everybody is academic, they do take a lot of interest in supporting students who feel threatened by traditional subjects.
He hadn't opened his mouth, they didn't know who we was, as far as they were concerned he might have been dreaming of a PhD in History. Way to tell someone that such dreams should not be for him.
In the next secondary, almost the same spiel was given by the head in the introductory talk.
In the (third) school he eventually attended he was later told by a teacher that he ought to join the army as that was the only chance of him achieving anything.
It's pure postcode assumptions.

And no, I don't agree with the poster who thinks this is about seeing potential in your DN. The words "how will you ever make something of yourself" speak against such an interpretation. It is about a contempt for practical careers that is very common in this country and very damaging. And I say that as an academic teacher who love my subject.

I would not go in and speak to the school though. Your DN is a 16yo, he needs to learn to smile politely and ignore. It would be far better for your DB to have that chat with him about different career paths being valuable and sticking to his guns.

Tabbymumz applications for sixth for closed at October half term but college applications only opened in January around here.

The teacher was out of order, but in honesty, whilst electrician is a good career with good prospects (and a valuable asset to the country- we need them after all!); if you have a flair for maths, a maths degree opens up some amazing opportunities, more so than any other core subject.

Corythatwas. Some schools were like that when DB was looking around and others were pushing every child towards uni. DN school was very much any child can be anything they choose. ONE reason DB chose it but everything changed when he went to y9 and options came up. Uni is the only way to go and you need to choose subjects to get a baccalaureate (dodgy spelling) so you can go to uni abroad.

Just ignore it, I wouldn't bother trying to make something of it. We all know that teacher is wrong.

Some people are idiots, teachers included! (Speaking as a teacher, here.) My elder son wanted to be an electrician after finishing second level and he applied for and succeeded in getting an apprenticeship. The number of people who told me “wasn’t I great to let him do it” rather than “send him to university” was ridiculous. My reply was “Why on earth would he be going to university if he wants to be an electrician? University isn’t going to give him the necessary qualifications for that, is it??” I was on the receiving end of it myself when I did my Leaving Cert and got maximum points at the time. I always wanted to be a teacher but people told me I was “wasting my points when I could do engineering/medicine, etc”. They didn’t seem to grasp that I didn’t WANT to be an engineer or doctor or whatever, but a teacher. It’s sad, though, that people in education can’t accept that we should educate children to their best possible standard so that they have the widest possible choice of career available to them, but ultimately we should be hoping that they choose a career that THEY want, not what WE think they should have. Luckily for me, I teach in Ireland and still love my job, 30+ years later.

Unfortunately the 'going to uni' issue is getting worse.

The UK will become like America where going to college will become expected for anyone wanting a decent career.

Whatever was said, I think you should let your brother deal with it. If your brother is old enough to have a teenage son, he’s old enough to deal with this without his sister fighting his corner.

My dd1's maths teacher was like this too. Kept going on about making sure she chose maths at A-level and how important it was.

Until we stepped in at a parents evening and spelled out in words of one syllable that her career ambitions lay elsewhere.

The teacher backed off after that.

Uni isn’t the be all and end all these days anyway. Too many former polytechnics offering identikit degrees in random subjects. Thousands of graduates all vying for the same jobs and ending up in low paid positions with massive debts. Bonkers really. Unless you can get into a really good uni with a specialist area I can’t see the point. Mind you I am biased, given my dh’s experience.

Uni Snobbery

Not everyone actually WANTS to go !

Uni isn’t the be all and end all these days anyway.

I have found it cropping up more and more. I'm an Executive Assistant and the number of job ads asking for a degree is high. It certainly was a blocker for me when I was applying for a new position as it limited the jobs I could go for.

I'm sorry if I've missed some of your posts, did you namechange part way through, but I don't see what the problem is.

If he wants to be an electrician he needs to enrol at a college or find an apprenticeship, why does it matter what a particular teacher says?

I wouldn't waste any time on this, apply to the college and just get on with it

Sorry. I did name change. Something went wrong and I'm locked out my other account 😢. I think it is more the way she said it that has caused the problem.