To think we could just collate all the teacher/teaching related information here, and have done with it?

[SachaStark]

Just to save time, shall we just have a thread here, where our teaching colleagues can collate all the answers to the questions about teachers and schools, to save having to repeat the same stuff again and again?

1. Why aren’t the teachers working?

They are working.

1. What are the teachers doing all day?

A myriad of things. Including, but not limited to: gathering evidence to get qualification data for Year 11 and Year 13, planning lessons that can be taught remotely, creating resources, marking work, checking on vulnerable children, completing safeguarding referrals, writing school reports, in school minding key worker children, writing new schemes of work and policies for the COVID-19 world, delivering free school meals to students...

1. Why aren’t the teachers doing online video lessons?

Some are. Most (the correct decision, IMHO) are not doing this, following union guidance. This is due to unsafe platforms, such as Zoom, the inappropriateness of it for some ages/classes, and due to safeguarding reasons.

1. What safeguarding reasons could there possibly be for not doing online video lessons?

So, so many, sadly. Including, but not limited to: the vulnerability of teachers’ images or voices being used to create online memes (at best) or pornographic material (at worst) by downloading and manipulating the clips, protections of both staff and students who may be hiding from dangerous individuals known to them, the possibility that abuse may happen live online in front of other children, the possibility that some children may appear on camera either undressed or performing indecent acts...

1. Why aren’t the teachers in school actually teaching the key worker children?

We’ve been told not to teach key worker children in school, we are only child minders at present. This is due to the possibility of unfairness if we are teaching some children and not others, and also because it is impossible to plan for and execute when you are trying to maintain social distancing, and also have no idea what year groups you will have in each day.

1. What’s happening with the school curriculum?

It’s been suspended.

1. When are the schools going back?

Literally, NONE OF US KNOW. It doesn’t matter what your school has said or not said, or what your neighbour’s Aunt Gertrude has said. None of us know anything about when the schools are going back.

1. Why can’t they summer holidays be cancelled, and the kids go back to school then?

Because the teachers and students are technically working right now. The children will need their summer holidays, and the staff will need them, too.

1. But other industries have had their holidays cancelled, so why can’t teachers have theirs cancelled?

It’s more complicated than it is in other industries. Teachers aren’t paid for their holidays, and they also can’t take them as time off at a later date. The government would have to pay six weeks’ extra pay to all teachers, which I don’t reckon they’ve got the spare cash to do.

10. Why can’t teachers just work it unpaid?

Because we are not bloody saints, and we aren’t very well paid in the first place.

11. Why are the teachers still receiving a full salary?

Because they’re still working full-time, see above, points 1 and 2.

12. But why isn’t MY child’s teacher doing X, Y or Z?

We have absolutely no idea. Why don’t you contact the school in question? Maybe they are, and you haven’t seen it yet? Maybe they’re not, and they’ve actually absconded to Hawaii? Maybe they’re just drinking gin all day? Who can tell, I certainly can’t...

13. What are the daffodils on posts about teachers/teaching for?

It was decided in a thread on The Staffroom that it would be far more productive to give each other flowers on threads clearly guilty of teacher bashing, since many people’s mental health and well-being is at a real low at the moment, and many hard-working teachers are genuinely upset by these posts.

14. Is it really teacher bashing, though? I’m so bored of hearing this.

It is, because these threads generally rely on generalisations regarding an entire profession, and are simply an excuse to “have a go”, rather than doing the more productive thing and contacting their child’s school.

15. But don’t teachers think they have the hardest job in the world? They’re always moaning and being so defensive!

Literally none of us have ever said that we have the hardest job in the world. I don’t know who does. NHS staff at the moment, for sure. Other key workers still having to carry on in difficult conditions, absolutely. But we definitely are facing some very difficult tasks in our jobs right now, that we’ve had no time to prepare for, in an unprecedented situation. Exactly the same as most other lines of work are having to do. And we have to defend ourselves, because SOME posters on here do love a pile-on when it comes to teaching.

16. Would you like a glass of wine?

Fuck yes, most of the time, actually. Care to join me?

I absolutely agree with all of the points in your OP, i have defended teachers on MN under various names and I work in education but not a teacher.

However I am also parent of teens in Scotland and I am gobsmacked by the SSTA suggesting that 2021 exams should be cancelled.
Now that really does not reflect well on teachers.

When you do go back to school stella, I think you might find you won't be with those same kids but in mish mashes of different classes and maybe other people's subjects.

Nice deflection by the way of issues raised about student (and indeed , teacher!) access to stable and good wi fi, capable laptops etc and the fact that your school is not representative of most.

As I believe I have said to you before, my DH is not competent with technology. He is massively struggling with Teams and everything technology focused. Fortunately, most actual resources and pre sorted for him (not a luxury I get!) but I have to be on hand constantly to assist him . This does NOT make him a bad teacher.

It was his IT technician who said that the irony of IT training is it can't really be done easily remotely!

view presumably that is because they are worried about an unrealistic pressure on teachers, and students to get right back up to speed again , and a fear that curriculum content and examined material will remain exactly the same? I definitely worry about this for our current year 10 and 12.

Really, viewfromabridge? Why does that reflect badly on teachers? (Bearing in mind it's a proposal from the leader of the smaller teaching union, not all teachers, and would be to make things better for pupils, not worse surely!)
"Mr Searson argued that setting the system up that way would also make schools better able to cope if there was a second wave of the virus and another lockdown."

It reflects badly because every other industry is having to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and prepare for a new normal going forward, but (and I absolutely accept it's not all teachers) the implication of this proposal is that teachers /schools/ SQA should not adapt or use the time available to develop new methods and instead just hang the current senior pupils out to dry.

It's one thing to use teacher rankings after a year of face to face teaching and evidence collected over the course of that year as an emergency measure, quite another to suggest in advance that teachers can just decide who gets what because they apparently know this after a couple of weeks in the classroom anyway. It's possible that pupils may not even be returning to classes in August en-masse so teachers may not get that opportunity.
Very disappointed at this, as I genuinely think teachers do a great job.

In the new world we get back to, this teachers who have figured out the technology (not rocket science, but clearly way beyond the capability of some posters's DHs) and made it work effectively for the benefit of their pupils' learning will be better placed for the future of education.
Technology is the future. Those who resist it are not going to be effective.

I think I might have to agree to disagree, It will be the governments that hang students and teachers out to dry by telling them in 2021 they have to be tested as if they had had no disruption to their learning, I suspect.

This is not the same as adults in industry having to find different ways of working. One way would be to decide what doesn't need to be done and what they learnt about new ways of working during lockdown , surely?

Stellamboscha I'm not talking about Zoom training. It's an easy platform to use, even if most of my colleagues & I find it a bit of a parent pleasing Band Aid. My concern is lack of safeguarding training as it relates to Zoom & other live online video media.

& I'll be honest - I have 3 senior school dc. When I go over which lessons they have each day (maximum 4 as reduced Ramadan friendly day) I am bloody delighted if they have a couple of Zooms each.

Because, selfishly, I know that work just set to be completed can be kicked down the road & then it's me that gets the shaming emails saying 'Purplegirl2 hasn't handed in her Science' from colleagues, whereas if they've got a Zoom they prioritise it.

It would be lovely if it were risk free. Still not much learning going on IMO but Zoom is nice when it goes well.

Well, you'll be happy to know my DH may well be taking early retirement due to ill health quite soon stella so your Darwinian theory may see that teacher (who gest the best maths results in his school ) out of the classroom. Wish granted.

I think pupils will have to be tested on their learning so they can get on with their lives. Universities will still require some evidence of ability, either through school exams or some form of entry assessment if there is no rigour to school results. Employers likewise.

The best thing schools/teachers can do is to adapt their methods to help pupils learn despite the uncertainties. Not put everything on hold until we get back to what was normal.
We can't keep invoking emergency measures if we don't return to face to face teaching normal classes quickly, or if there are future waves of shutdowns. We need to change the way we do things to be able cope with those possibilities in future.

I think it's all unknown unknowns view. I doubt they are suggesting teaching them nothing! Please don't suggest teacher grading isn't rigorous: that's a bit insulting to the profession!

Well said OP.

My sister in law is a teacher and isn't working. She goes in once every two weeks and sometimes it's cancelled as there are only a few who are using the provision). She teaches Y1 normally (working outrageously hard so I don't begrudge her the time off for a second). Her school isn't doing much home learning - even for the older years so she just sends a few sheets off at the beginning of the week and that's it. It wasn't her decision - just what the school decided. But it's definitely not true to say all teachers are working flat out.

That doesn't reflect well on her school. Where I work the teachers are producing home learning packs, writing reports, planning for a potential return to school, planning for potentially not returning to school, planning curriculums for next year, checking up on families etc. So even though they aren't being seen to go into work they are still working pretty hard. Even as a TA I'm expected to make use of the time for CPD, which I have to pay for myself if there is a cost to it. I'm also on the rota for childcare and have to be available at all times in case I get called in at short notice. I think it's fair to say that the pressure is greater on secondary schools for now though.

Thank you for answering common queries, I know nothing about the teaching industry and it helps us to understand. Especially safe guarding instances, hadn’t thought that teachers could be made into memes!!

Brilliant post. Just one point:

9. But other industries have had their holidays cancelled, so why can’t teachers have theirs cancelled?

I didn't have an Easter holiday because of working in school with key workers children, same for my colleagues. We did this willingly because we care about the children (as do all teachers and support staff) and our colleagues and want to share the load.

Technology is the future. Those who resist it are not going to be effective.

My degree is in Computer Science. Even I don’t blindly follow any platform that ‘looks cool’ and is the ‘next big thing’ death by multiple choice self marking quiz anyone
I actually do my research thoroughly first before I use anything with students because they matter (if you advanced search me, you will find I was pretty much one of the first, in the days before ‘Shutdown Friday’ to have posted the research about the security issues with Zoom and Microsoft Teams initially going down in parts of Europe due to not being able to cope because I want to thoroughly check something before using with young people)
Technology is a doubled edged underfunded/security nightmare sword in schools (Example: we had more SIMS behaviour points about homework in the two years we went over to a homework app, than we had when we just used much cheaper homework planners previously-that was an interesting data report to pull from SIMs!) and that training that you deride so much is so important.

Those who resist it are not going to be effective
Maybe it's because I'm watching Doctor Who at the moment, but I'm picturing Stella running a Dalek-style school if she got the chance

"It's not possible for teachers with tiny ones of their own to deliver live lessons - my 1yo would be climbing over my head and kissing the screen!"

I'm doing online toddler groups. One tried to eat the phone...!

I'm not sure if this link will be helpful to anyone - you may have already seen it. It's the NSPCC guide to online lessons.

learning.nspcc.org.uk/news/2020/march/undertaking-remote-teaching-safely

@Stellamboscha

Reasons why I refuse to use zoom

safeguarding and well being, mine as well as the kids

I have been told not to by my head teacher and by the union

Its not safe or secure.

who is going to pay for the equipment?

and who is going to pay for my broadband usage?

Before you call me a dinosaur and that I should learn to use it, I can use many design packages that are much more difficult to learn than a video conferencing system. I actually train up the members of staff in the school to use the software that we have.

Oh and sticking the boot in to someone's Dh is seriously fucking low.

I think it would be better all round if people did not make sweeping generalisations, one way or another. Because statements like number 1: Teachers are working, are obviously in contrast to the experience of some posters on MN. Many teachers are working, I’m sure most are, so an answer like ‘The vast majority of teachers are working very hard’ would be a more accurate response.
In the same way parents should be saying ‘Why are teachers at my child’s school not providing lessons/using zoom/calling me’, because that is an accurate question and not offensive to the rest of the profession.

Amazing post, thank you

Fripp

I work from home normally not through choice.

I do not get any help with broadband from my company.

Possibly I could if I asked for it but there can be tax implications I believe.

No help for utilities too.

As for Zoom, well i am not sure I would be happy with my kids being on there. We have videos they can watch and I prefer that. I can have my eldest watch video whilst I work. She is near me so can be monitored but videos can be stopped, paused, rewound etc.

My youngest - well he needs 1:1 due to his age. Will just need to workaround work

It's not that schools, or individual teachers aren't willing to "embrace technology,"

My school is not relying on technology because a sizeable number of our families don't have access to it. A lot of them have internet access only through their parent's mobile phone with limited data. Not too helpful with multiple children in the household. We have home learning available online but also in hard copy to collect from school.

Stellam sounds like a very young and inexperienced teacher if she thinks that technology is the future of education.

Experienced teachers have seen so many pieces of Edtech come and go amid much wasting of money.

Well I think every single teacher sucks because my neighbour’s sister’s cousin is one and she does ZERO work. So it’s only fair and logical that they are all useless and lazy and that they should all work for free on weekends and throughout the holidays and even then MN will still bash them cos that’s not enough.