Just because I think somethings aren’t/haven’t gone well doesn’t mean all teachers are shit

[Scoobyboob]

Getting fed up of any thread about schools ending or immediately starting with the OP accused of teacher bashing!

AIBU to think you can have concerns about your school’s response to lockdown (usually management complaints) without thinking the teachers are crap? Do we have to call teacher bashing on all of them, especially as most of the complaints stem from chronic underfunding and/or the additional complexities of supporting an increasing number of children in poverty whilst trying to provide an equal education for all.

I haven’t posted about an issue with school but have read lots of the threads. Some of which appear valid, others less so!

YABU - fuck off you teacher basher!
YANBU- worried parents should be allowed to have a moan

💐

I think the problem is it seems like all the schools are doing their own thing with regards to home learning and obviously some are doing it better than others.

I think it’s obvious why parents are concerned and anxious in an ongoing situation, especially when the gap of educational attainment will widen still further.

I think it’s tiresome when a clear thread surrounding “my child’s school is getting this wrong” becomes extrapolated to “you hate all teachers”.

The problem is some people are generalising. It's the same for universities. There have been a number of posts saying all university online learning is shit when firstly, they can't possibly know that and secondly, it's not true.
Some universities, like schools, might not be doing a great job but lots are. If you are one of the people who is going above and beyond to support students then it's quite frustrating and upsetting to read 'all schools/teachers/universities/academics are terrible'.
It's one thing to say your particular school isn't performing well and to seek advice but it's unhelpful to brand an entire sector as failing.

There's been a massive difference in provision even between comparable schools. It ranges from children being expected to participate in 8 Zoom lessons a day and submit a piece of work for each lesson to be formally marked. To schools advising children parents to bake and build dens and not worry about learning at all. This causes frustration and resentment when parents see somebody getting something that they're not. The problem is that parents all want different things. Many threads in here saying "why isn't my child getting Zoom lessons daily" but on my child's WhatsApp group most parents are saying they've given up now and are just doing fun things.

I think people are not being unreasonable to ask for advice about how to get a level of education that suits them better from their school. The frustrating thing for me as a teacher is that some of those people appear not to have approached their school at all and content themselves with slagging them off on the internet and that's wrong. I've bent over backwards to get it right for my parents but few communicate with me so I have no idea if I'm hitting the mark. I'd be mortified and annoyed if I found out they'd been on here complaining without coming to me first.

Amen to this. There isn't one uniform way in which schools are dealing with this - there is a massive range from very little work to a full on school day via zoom. I have seen very few threads generalising but every single thread expressing any level of concern about how their child's specific school is dealing with things ends up with accusations of teacher bashing. It's tiresome. And the people who dive in there with these accusations - clearly without properly reading the op - are the ones who are doing their profession a massive disservice.

Stuckindoors, some people aren't sure if they should be complaining to the school though - we know what to expect of a school normally but nobody knows what's fair now. They're using this place as a sounding board which is understandable. It's anonymous here, before you risk being 'that' parent, people want to know if their expectations are realistic.

@foamrolling but you don't actually need to be "that" parent or complain to the school in order to work with them and make adjustments.

Eg. I'm stressed because me school expect my child in front of six Zoom lessons a day and I don't have the technology.

Suggestion, ring school, explain the problem and ask if a weekly paper pack could be sent home instead. You can ring and suggest something in a friendly way and see if the school can help.

If schools are obstructive and unhelpful than YANBU to have a moan, but I do think parents should try to work with their school first before coming on here and criticising the whole profession. Many of us are trying our best but two way communication is essential.

I agree, I’ve seen so many threads I would normally have contributed on but have not done so in case accused of teacher bashing.

It’s also (irrationally) made me feel like there is some kind of awful teacher / parent divide and made me nervous of ever raising something constructive with my child’s actual teacher in case they reacted in a similar way!

Muppetry proving their Muppetry there...

People worry about being that parent even if they have no plans to shout or rant, they worry that what they are asking for might be deemed unreasonable and cause hassle. Normally I would know that what I was asking for was reasonable because I know what normal school looks like. During lockdown none of us know what it reasonable and normal.

MarieQueenofScots

I think it’s tiresome when a clear thread surrounding “my child’s school is getting this wrong” becomes extrapolated to “you hate all teachers”.

I think it’s tiresome when a clear thread surrounding “my child’s school is getting this wrong” gets taken over by posters taking potshots at teachers, and then teachers get blamed for defending themselves.

Maybe posters should put the blame where it belongs.

"I think people are not being unreasonable to ask for advice about how to get a level of education that suits them better from their school."

Posters have had that in spaces from teachers who post on MN for years. Free, prompt, specialist advice about everything from the curriculum, to legal issues, SEN support, specialist subject knowledge, info about public exams and SATs, behaviour, exclusion, inclusion and goodness knows what else.

It's likely that there will be less of this in the future, as MN has become such a hostile place for teachers.

Posters have had that in spaces from teachers who post on MN for years. Free, prompt, specialist advice about everything from the curriculum, to legal issues, SEN support, specialist subject knowledge, info about public exams and SATs, behaviour, exclusion, inclusion and goodness knows what else.It's likely that there will be less of this in the future, as MN has become such a hostile place for teachers

This.^^^

If posters were asking genuine questions of had valid complaints, then teachers on her would be likely to give advice.

But when it’s general criticism of schools and teachers instead of concerns raised about individual problems with individual situations, then it comes across as complaining about schools just for the sake of having a dig.

Parents couldn’t be expected to automatically know that the guidance given to schools has been virtually non existent so they have had to make it up as they go along by themselves and that’s why schools have ended up doing things so differently to each other. They can’t be expected to know all the various issues that schools have to take into consideration, that’s not their job and understandably, most people’s only concern is for their own child. But whatever schools do it won’t be right for everyone, there’s as many people complaining that the work set is too much as there are people complaining that it’s not enough.

It would just be nice if parents acknowledged that this situation is difficult for teachers too, and that they are likely to be doing their best within the rules that have been given to them from above.

No problem with people posting about issues with their individual schools but there are many posts which just say "What are teachers doing?" "Why aren't teachers working hard enough?' "Schools aren't providing my child with the xyz that I personally want so all schools are rubbish." "Teachers are just sitting in their gardens drinking gin all day."

As a teacher that's working extremely hard to provide for my pupils, putting up work daily in several different formats so those with varying levels of technology can access, working in school trying my best to teach groups of children in school from Reception to Year 6, delivering food parcels it is incredibly insulting to be denigrated as a group. It's like me not being happy with the way my GP practice organises appointments and saying that a doctors are rubbish.

Luckily the teacher-bashers on MN are not representative of most parents in real life. All the parents I've called round have been so kind and appreciative. Nearly all of them have apologised for not actually doing all (or any) of the work I've set up for them.

People worry about being that parent even if they have no plans to shout or rant, they worry that what they are asking for might be deemed unreasonable and cause hassle. Normally I would know that what I was asking for was reasonable because I know what normal school looks like. During lockdown none of us know what it reasonable and normal.

Yes I do get that @foamrolling

I messaged my ds' teacher this week asking if she could signpost us to some more challenging maths work last week, she hasn't replied and I'm in bits thinking I've been a bit of a dick for asking

As a teacher though, I'd much rather parents approached me than sat at home worrying. I had a parent message me last week saying there was nothing on the online platform she could do with her dc for the last week, I sent her loads of worksheets that I knew she felt confident doing and she was happy( I hope??? )

For the most part I don't take the threads on here too personally, I know people are stressed at them moment, but I do stand by what I said in my first post.... as nerve wracking as it seems parents need to approach their schools and ask for what they need. Complaining on here won't get them to where they want to be.

@Muppetry76 Thanks but I’d got my own flowers so you needn’t have

I think the problem is it seems like all the schools are doing their own thing with regards to home learning and obviously some are doing it better than others.

The government have told schools to point parents in the direction of white rose and bbc videos and a few websites. That's it.

If they'd bothered to issue any guidance other than this or provide technology for disadvantaged children then there wouldn't be such a difference in provision between schools.

Schools have been dropped in the shit big time

synecdoche
[sɪˈnɛkdəki]
NOUN
a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in England lost by six wickets (meaning ‘ the English cricket team’).

For example:

many posts which just say "What are teachers doing?"

They're not saying "every single teacher in existence", they're using a common figure of speech that the majority of us will use frequently without being attacked for supposedly "bashing" someone or other.

Teachers are fantastic, my son is in reception, the fact she has managed to teach 31 4/5 year old anything beyond remembering to breathe is a miracle.

His school are sending out brilliant work for those who want it, they also provided stationery packs for those who are FSM or pupil premium. My son finds school challenging due to attachment issues, he had just started enjoying school, his teacher video calls him at least once a week and manages to keep his attention for twenth minutes!

I posted this on another thread - I really feel strongly that teachers are taking flack for things which they have less control over than parents realise. People are tearing their hair out (understandably, as we all are!) and need someone to scream at. Incredibly unfair 🙁
"As a TA in a special school, I have some understanding of a teacher's lot.
I think some of the very vocal posters on MN think teachers have an awful lot more power than they actually do. The reality is, if SLT say jump, the staff do it. They don't make these unpopular decisions - they don't decide in what format the work is sent home or how often, the frequency and manner in which parents/carers are contacted or whether to use video platforms or not to teach. Teachers go into school when they're told, stay at home when they're told and certainly aren't responsible for schools being closed..."

We actually surveyed the parents in our school on the effectiveness of our distance learning plan. We send a weekly plan and then daily step by step instruction through PowerPoint or word by our school software for 4 subjects 3 core and one supplementry subject. Now we use textbooks (Ireland) so it's very different.work returned for marking No online lessons but one fortnightly zoom catch up class chat. Over 90,% families were satisfied. Comments asked for work to be sent earlier etc so we did that.

I think every school should ask for feedback it gives a great working relationship with parents.

I'm a teacher and a parent. If I had been getting a worksheet a week, I'd be on here complaining too (I've been very impressed with my children's school). I think it's absolutely justified for parents to come here to find out whether what they are receiving is normal. I'm pretty shocked by how bad the provision in some schools has been.

However, I've also read numerous posts about how teachers don't deserve to be paid, posts of the "I pay your wages, I get to say what I like" variety, posts telling teachings they are special snowflakes, lazy, whingeing, enjoying being off work, should quit their jobs, etc. I've seen teachers who have always been really polite and helpful up to this past week become bitter and jaded after reading post after post like this, and yes, I've seen some of them snap at quite reasonable comments from the rightfully concerned parents. Worryingly, I've seen more than a handful of teachers who feel that this has been the straw that broke the camels back and now feel they do not want to go back at all.

I really appreciate the odd, "I know not all teachers are like this, but mine have been awful". It makes me feel that we're not all being lumped in together. And I've actually picked up a few tips from reading these threads that will hopefully improve my home provision.