To think some posters will always say the school / teacher is not being unreasonable

[andineverwill]

It really does feel you can’t criticise schools / teachers on here.

I think people respond based on their experience.

I tend towards backing schools / teachers unless it is clear they are wrong.

Other people tend towards always backing the parent/child unless it is clear they are wrong.

Yet there are so many threads that do. People criticise, people defend, that’s how opinions tend to pan out on the internet.
Are you suggesting that posters just stop posting criticisms? That would be quite restful, but unlikely.

Yes. They assume teachers are all people who are good at heart and like kids.

It's been at least a week since the last teacher bashing thread.

That’s exactly it chilled ... and they aren’t!

The same as we like to think that all parents are loving, make good choices with their children as priorities and are reasonable people.
But many aren’t.
Humans eh? Just inconsistent.

Actually what most people including teachers always advise is to always talk to teacher/get the other side of the story, then make a judgement call and if a complaint/further discussion is needed always do so in a calm,sensible,civilised manner and follow the complaints procedure. Which is sensible advice and more likely to get a (beneficial)resolution .

What's discouraged is "fuming", "marching in", "tearing them a new one" ,"call the papers", "report to Ofsted" sensationalistic and inflammatory bullshit.

That’s rubbish, grim

Start a thread about a mother screaming at her child in the supermarket and yes, you get plenty of responses about not judging but also plenty pointing out it is wrong.

Start a thread about a teacher screaming at your child and the child must have done something to warrant it, because teachers don’t just scream at kids, do they?

I think teachers are a pretty easy target and in the main are admirable

It really does feel you can’t criticise schools / teachers on here.

Judging by the number of school/teacher bashing threads, I don't think that is true.

They assume teachers are all people who are good at heart and like kids.

That's probably because the vast, vast majority of teachers do like kids. Why on earth would they have gone into teaching otherwise? As for 'good at heart' - I think the average teacher is about as good at heart as the average person. Expecting teachers to be perfect people is ridiculous. They make mistakes and have lapses of judgement just like any human being in any job. And there are good teachers, middling teachers and poor teachers, just as there are good, middling and poor people in any job.

I generally side with the school/teacher on those threads, but it depends. I judge each case on its merits, as do most most people I should think. I'd never back a teacher or a school that I thought was actually being unreasonable. But being a teacher, I'm better placed to understand what goes on in schools than someone who doesn't work in a school and who last spent time in one when they were a child.

I think that the main problem with school threads is that the parent rants on here to try to get some sort of perspective rather than ask the school what went on and is there a solution.
Perhaps those people who are always against the school and hate teachers had a poor educational experience and tend to think that school life hasn’t changed.
Most of the time the problem is miscommunication between the parent and the school.

Oh, another teacher-bashing thread, whoop whoop!

because teachers don’t just scream at kids, do they?

Without the kid having done something? Umm no. I'm not saying screaming at kids is good, but let's not pretend that teachers scream at a child who's sitting there getting on with their work. Why on earth would they?

I think most people take it case by case but advise whatever it is, not to go in shouting and kicking off. Aside from being unpleasant it is ineffective. It is always better to be seen to be reasonable.

You get a mix. There’s definitely a good number of posters who will always defend the teacher/school no matter what, and a good number who will look to stick the boot in to the teacher/school no matter what.

People respond from their own contexts. If (you are a teacher and) your perception is - quite reasonably - that lots of non teachers make lots of unfair accusations about what teachers do, I guess you quickly get defensive on any related thread.

There is also a lot of performative rule-following on MN though.

Me - at home I almost always support the school, because that’s how I help my children to respect their teachers and their own education and hopefully everyone gets the right outcomes that way. Out of my children’s hearing (including on here), I’d like to think I’m open-minded and critically engaged, but then wouldn’t we all?

But that's just the thing.

Children can report the teacher was screaming/shouting but the parent most of the time wasn't there. My DDs certainly weren't reliable reporters of whether a teacher was shouting, or just using a loud assertive voice.

Mainly teachers don't scream and shout. If a teacher were doing this regularly other teachers / TAs would report it. But they may on occasion do so if pushed to limits (just like mild parents may also do this).

because teachers don’t just scream at kids, do they?

I wish...we're not even allowed to shhh them anymore. We're supposed to stop talking and wait for then to stop talking as well. It's so effective!

Actually, I was screamed at for just sitting there, once.

Um surely it depends wholly on the situation? And the full details of both sides (admittedly probably hard to get a lot of the time) are needed?

I certainly wouldn't always back the teacher though. I know plenty in my personal life who I wouldn't necessarily trust. SIL is an example!

And yes I was screamed at once in INFANT school by the headteacher. For no reason. My parents complained to the board of Governors and the teacher apologised to me (a six year old).

I’m always amazed by the level of fury and aggression so many show when faced with an issue or a situation. Rather than conflict resolution using higher-level brain skills.
Or how suggestions that the OP finds out the facts from more than one source is seen as defensive.
Teachers aren’t above criticism here or in schools, that’s why all schools have both a behaviour policy and a complaints policy.

Plenty of my teachers in secondary school shouted at children boys in my class, but looking back I don't necessarily blame them at the time.

That’s the other thing that happens, anecdotes from when parents were in school as if nothing has changed in 30 years.

Ok andineverwill. As I said, lapses of judgement are bound to happen occasionally. I've been a teacher for nearly 25 years. Screaming at kids who are behaving themselves is quite a rarity.

I think it's important to get two sides of the story as there always is two sides