To think it’s about time @MNHQ stepped up and did something about the teacher bashing.

[SachaStark]

This evening has been AWFUL here on the AIBU board.

@MNHQ, at what point do you actually plan to intervene and do something about the sheer number of teacher bashing threads, and individual posts? Should we expect any kind of moderation?

Or, is this in fact, “all in the spirit of Mumsnet”? Because at the moment, you’re making it look a darn sight like you agree by proxy.

I think the aggressive tactics of most schools to protect staff interests would show exactly how, systemically, the education system prioritises adult well-being over child well-being. Pretty much 80 percent of SEN parents will tell you about experiences which are hair raising.

And now a light is being shone on very clearly on exactly how children are perceived by those adults paid to provide them with an education. I bet it touches a nerve.

@caringcarer You don't live up to your username, do you?

I was clearly referring to sons school where any child without laptop or tablet or who had to share with a sibling was loaned a device from school. School is in affluent area. They all have phones as well.

You can't do school work on a phone. You particularly can't do school work on a payg phone with no credit. Child abuse, children who are carers, poverty etc. all exists in affluent areas. It's not only deprived areas that have these problems.

And now a light is being shone on very clearly on exactly how children are perceived by those adults paid to provide them with an education

How do I perceive the children I work with?

ShallallalAa
I think the aggressive tactics of most schools to protect staff interests would show exactly how, systemically, the education system prioritises adult well-being over child well-being

Surely you understand that like many workplaces across the country, individual teachers cannot influence the working of schools. They can’t demand when schools open and close, they can’t refuse to work because they don’t feel like it. They can’t teach live lessons if their schools policy says they’re not allowed to.

So go yell at the DfE, yell at the school leaders/heads, but berating teachers on Mumsnet is like punching a train driver because they won’t drive their train to your house.

What is is about the word 'systemic' that you fail to understand? My point is exactly that - it's a system failure but one which head teachers and staff members alike collude in to ease their respective burdens.

🙄

My point is exactly that - it's a system failure but one which head teachers and staff members alike collude in to ease their respective burdens

Your experience might be that. Or may feel like that. You cannot speak for all teachers and all schools.

How on Earth does eg. decades of underfunding, ease our burden ?

How does not being able to recruit and retain quality new staff ease our burden? How does not having enough money for basic resources ease our burden? How does ss, CAMHS, Sen support and funding being slashed ease our burden?

You seem utterly unaware of what has been going on in schools for the last couple of decades

And now a light is being shone on very clearly on exactly how children are perceived by those adults paid to provide them with an education

This is nothing to do with anything systemic.

How do I perceive the children in my care?

I don't understand the logic that because some children can't be remotely that we shouldn't teach any of them

We don't say that because we can't house every last homeless person that we shouldn't house any of them

We don't say that because we can't feed every last hungry person that we shouldnt feed any of them
It's a flawed logic. Better to educate all that we can online and then fight to get access for those who can't currently rather than just admit defeat.

SmileEachDay
I’d be interested in an answer to that too.
How do I perceive the children I teach?

Especially as I’ve stayed up until midnight many nights to translate different subject worksheets/powerpoints into different home languages for my students so they can access the curriculum and get the best out of their education, on top of my “normal” teaching work.

Lazy as fuck, I know!

And yet lots are saying, well care workers have been forced to be unsafe so teachers should be, or some retail workers haven’t got ppe so why should teachers have it.

I too don’t enjoy the what aboutism that leads to a race to the bottom

No one has said we shouldn't teach online because that will be problematic for some children. Plenty of schools are teaching online. Some schools aren't. The curriculum was 'suspended' therefore no teaching is actually needed, is it? What we are supposed to be doing is consolidating.

If we are home much longer, of course, teaching is going to need to take place. But it will be at considerable cost to those who cannot access the system. That cost is something schools are measured on so schools will, no doubt, be the ones who are supposed to solve the issue of no laptop and no internet connection across thousands of homes. On top of everything else.

Someone has raised an interesting point which might help if explained. They said that the government has suspended the teaching of the curriculum. What does this mean in practice? As a result should Us parents be raising this with our MPs if we disagree rather than the HT?

And also, if it has been suspended, some schools and teachers clearly are still teaching, because the teachers on Mumsnet keep saying that they are ... So something very weird and inconsistent is happening.

Potentially yes coffee though most schools have gone above and beyond that guidance. It would also be great if people would address chronic underfunding of schools with their mps and ask them to address this

Political pressure would be massively more constructive than buying into it all being teachers fault. It would be great if teachers and parents could be a united front against political decisions and policies that destroy education

I would love people to be outraged that some schools don’t even have enough money for soap let alone regular deep cleaning.

So the worksheets and lesson sheets that my son is doing is that what is meant by suspend the curriculum ie no face to face teaching or is my school doing more than required by sending out the worksheets?

Do teachers have to mark the work.

I think as usual the government (and all do this) have done a great job of dividing us and encouraging us to blame everyone (ie schools and teachers) when in reality they have not been honest to parents what they are expecting schools to do. In all honesty I thought that my son working at home was to replicate what he would have done at school but without seeing the teacher. So far example I’m able to do 100% of my job from home however I can’t have physical meetings and we don’t have Skype. That’s how I assumed the schools worked but clearly, through no fault of mine, that isn’t the case. And I would say that’s the same for the rest of the parents on our parents Facebook page.

Well "bash" is a very emotive word and inappropriate in my view. Tbh I do notice that teachers are especially sensitive to any comments being made. It seems that teachers are very very defensive to what are often (not always) genuine points being made by parents. I think I'm fairly objective (before I get 'bashed") as my children are past school age and I have several friends/family who are teachers.

I often think the risk factors are being overlooked in this debate.

If you are
a) not of retirement age
b) not in a medically vulnerable group
then your risk of dying of coronavirus is really, really tiny. The younger you are, the less risk. For example >90% deaths are over 60, >99% are over 40, only 0.05% deaths are under 19. It's a disease that kills the elderly and infirm.

The personal risk if you meet (a) and (b) is not in catching coronavirus. You may well, at some point, catch the virus but the point to note is that if you're not old or already with a comobility then the virus is just a virus - not something to kill you.

The risk in getting coronovirus (If not elderly or comorbid) is not dying, its/passing it to someone who is elderly or with a comorbidity - it's a risk to the elderly/infirm

If we continue to shield and isolate those at actual risk of dying, then the rest of the population are not in a situation whereby they might die of coronavirus.

I just thought I'd type this out because, I feel, the actual risk is being lost within this educational debate.

If I was in charge then anyone who is over 70, with a comorbidity, and anyone who lives with these should all be isolating to protect themself. So I would suggest staff and pupils who meet the above should be advised not to work or go to school. But I think everyone else needs to start to better understand the data in terms of their actual risk, instead of perceived risk.