Not rtft So apologies if I’m repeating. Union advice is interesting on this: says no online teaching, no marking (wtf- why not?) no going over and above standard T&Cs (we are all having to adapt). It’s very short sighted and teachers/unions/ the public sector are coming over in a very bad light for not being creative enough at a time of crisis.
There is talk about teachers having to look after their kids: so does everyone, we are all obliged to work around it (for example my husband and I are doing shifts: when one works, the other looks after kids).
There is talk about teachers losing their Easter holidays to look after key worker children: the stats went from an expected 20 per cent of kids to around 4 per cent (radio 4 figures yesterday), very few key worker kids in school at any one time, organised largely by way of rota leaving many teachers/TAs at home on Easter hols and many more twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do before the school holidays and no doubt afterwards. If you’re not furloughed or sick, and being paid, you should be working as much as you possibly can to deliver education to your classes.
Leaders and unions will cite sickness (personal and family) and self isolation as reasons for all teachers not to work/do more work. If you’re self isolating and well or experiencing mild symptoms, you can still work like everyone else is doing. If you’re too sick to work, then you get your time off to recover and then come back to work - as normal - and like any other worker in any other field.
Teaching should be no different to any other job. Many of us are being exposed to the virus via our jobs/caring responsibilities. You deal with it individually not by a universal downing of tools. It looks terrible to the outside world who have to carry on and innovate their way out of this crisis.
I would implore those In Teaching to be creative. Interactive is up for grabs (though the private sector get around the safeguarding issues so I don’t really accept that as a cogent reason, logistics I understand much better but at least say it as it is rather than dressing up the excuse in a catch all buzz word with no real explanation ). Instead be creative. Video lessons and upload to website. Adapt what you have and video it. Send video messages to your class. Read books in video to your kids as you would in class. Write to them (photo letter on website). Ask them to write back. Invite work that you will mark individually. Set tasks individually for those who are the most vulnerable or struggle most. Give them more of your time by phone or other approved methods. Engage with your classes actively and frequently. Otherwise, if you are just sticking worksheets Online and not marking them, what else are you doing with your time?
Some schools and teachers are doing this already and I applaud you for your flexibility and fearlessness. So many schools are not doing this though and hiding behind union advice which is unhelpful to say the least in a climate where we all need to be creative to ensure the delivery of essential services. This generation of children deserve better. If businesses around the world, the courts and universities can go online, if businesses can go from making aeronautical parts to making ventilators, if our nhs frontline staff can work long shifts at the coal face with substandard ppe, teachers can stay at home (for the most part) and consider how to adapt their methods of teaching to actively educate our children at home rather than sit back and pay them lip service.