Why is there so much hostility against teachers on MN?

[Bulb1976]

Is it jealousy? The daily teacher bashing threads on here are ridiculous.

Do you blame us for schools closing?

Please ignore my grammar and spelling. Breastfeeding in the dark - I promise I’m a good tracher!

Yup. I have never said my job is more stressful than anyone else’s. I don’t think it is. It’s hard-big so are shitloads of jobs. I certainly wouldn’t fancy working in a supermarket at the movement.

I have, however, been repeatedly told that I

don’t work in the real world
Finish at 3
Don’t work full time
Have a gold plated pension
Just play with sand

Which can get kind of get you down.

You fail to mention “toxic” children that hit, swear and generally go out of their way to be obnoxious brats

You show such contempt for children, you shouldn't be around them. Have you thought of adult education, OP?

And I totally believe that teachers should be well-paid, not have such a heavy workload, supported by parents and have long holidays. But nobody with such undisguised hatred for children should be in a classroom.

Agreed @Coyoacan it’s really quite jarring and worrying to read.

Tunnocks34
What a brilliant post!

There's a number of martyrs in teaching who are annoying to everyone, including fellow teachers, but really most of us just want to do our job without being told we aren't working, have paid holidays, work 9-3, some anecdote about someone's sister's uncle's friend who has really been on holiday since the schools closed (despite countless teachers saying that we've got work to be doing, have been given additional tasks to do and so on).

Prior to entering teaching I never had to defend my career to anyone, never had to justify why I had the benefit of flexible hours and some work from home when I wasn't client/service user facing, never had anyone try to tell me they knew more about my contract, terms and conditions, or pensions than me.

Teaching isn't the hardest job in the world, few would claim that, but it does fall into a category of public sector front line professions where a certain section of the public seem to have an axe to grind and a willingness to comment on things and judge based on hearsay.

You show such contempt for children, you shouldn't be around them.

Yes.

Coyoacan

What would you call the minority of children that do this?

Not all of those that do this have a SEND

An old friend of mine has many "funny" stories of how bad teachers are,
and as I am a teacher he likes to regale people og these stories when I am there.

I take great delight in reminding him and everyone else what an absolute dick he was at school and of the many lessons that were destroyed by his poor attitude.

I mention this as many on here, like him, haven't set foot in a classroom since they left school and often forget to look at their own behaviour when reminiscing on the past.

Ok but I doubt the hundreds of students that I’ve worked with agree. Sigh, of course keyboard warriors know me so much than anyone else.

I absolutely hate that meme - disappointing if some teachers feel this.

Loving spending more time with my DC when I’m not working and learning together.

The great majority of people don't have anything against teachers in general. On a discussion forum such as this it is hardly unsurprising that there will be specific issues with specific teachers though. What gets on my nerves is that teachers on MN will always jump to defend whatever the action of the specific teacher is, usually with accusations that the poster for the child is lying.

for or

I am a teacher and the way I see it on here, some teachers bring it on us. We have excellent terms and conditions and respectable pay, yet some teachers defensively feel the need to point out just how hard their 195 days a year are. It's not surprising people raise an eyebrow at that. It's also quite distressing, from a parent's pov, to hear how much some teachers apparently hate their jobs. That's not my experience IRL but it's true those teachers should absolutely find something else to do - most don't because they can't match their salary elsewhere, another indication that the salaries aren't that bad.

Most teachers and parents have plenty of respect for each other IRL though.

Ok, where is the evidence that teachers feel the need to say we work harder than anyone else?

And please don’t provide teacher bashing threads where we respond to criticism?

I absolutely hate that meme - disappointing if some teachers feel this.
You'll be hard pushed to find a teacher who hasn't met a parent of a badly behaved / disrespectful student who claims "well they're never like this at home..." and insist that it is sheer coincidence that their child has been disruptive/rude/badly behaved to dozens of staff and students.Usually conversations end up with the parents claiming anything and everything is to blame for their child's actions and attitude other than their child.

Fast forward to GCSE parents' evening and you mention homework/revision and the parent says "but what can you do if they say they don't want to do it?" It turns out the child absolutely displays the same defiance and rude/disrespectful attitude at home but the response has been to let them do what they want but in school we don't roll over.

I dislike the meme because whilst amusing, it creates needless bad feeling.

Oh and what your sister in law, second cousin or lady that lives at the end of the road doesn’t count.

woodchuck99

Most teachers will say "go and ask the teacher", this is seen by many on here as "the child is lying".

and just FYI, children do lie.

Teachers often try to represent the profession as though everyone is a brilliant, dedicated teacher, which is not always the case.

It's because we have our own experience of schools and teachers, and also our Dcs in both primary and secondary schools, and we know that although there are some very good teachers about, there are also mediocre teachers and there are also some bad teachers about.

Some teachers are totally inspirational, and I remember these ones with fondness.
Some of my DCs' teachers have been insprirational, especially at secondary school. To see your DC come home and talk non-stop about a subject and what was learned that day, is remarkable.
But some teachers were so bad, that my DS stated he would definitely not study one of his favourite subjects at GCSE, just in case he had a specific teacher.

Not their little darlings... they NEVER lie so it must be the teacher who has a personal vendetta against them. In fact they spend most of their waking hours trying to figure out how to pick on their dc

@LolaSmiles I agree with you. I think the meme is awful, I’m sure there are lots of memes that other professions could write about customers/patients, I’d dislike then equally. Creates needless bad feeling.

@Bulb1976 you seem to have a really negative view of pupils and parents.

I have a negative view of keyboard morons who think they know anything about me.

The only reason I stay in the job is the fact that I teach A level and don’t have to deal with the behavioural issues my colleagues have.

As I mentioned in a previous post, those teachers that do tend to martyr themselves and complain a lot, would, I’m pretty sure, whinge about whatever job they did. Because they’re the ‘poor me’ martyring type, not because they’re teachers. Now, this is only my experience, so just anecdata.
I do know a lot of teachers (friends) and they don’t moan ( except usual job moans which I think we are all allowed), are absolutely dedicated and are very worried at the moment for their students education.
I know 2 teachers (a couple) who do the martyr act. I knew them before they were teachers and they have always done the martyr act, whatever they did ( they also do it to other teachers, pointing out how their subject is so much harder).
I’m not surprised given some of the opinions about teachers on this thread that teachers do get defensive. I’m also not surprised that there is a shortage of teachers either. Fuck, I wouldn’t be one if that’s what people think of them.
But I’d really like to know why the profession is perceived the way it is. It demands professional qualifications and skills like any other professional job.

You're doing it now Bulb. You started a thread exactly for that purpose.

You’re posts show the kind of person you are.