To feel like parents aren't allowed to criticise teachers anymore?

[velaryon]

I have the utmost respect for the teaching profession, especially the hard work and dedication of many teachers despite a pandemic and nationwide lockdown.
But at the same time, I've seen a lot of parents genuinely concerned about the teaching & communication at their DC's school who were immediately accused of 'teacher bashing' and being too lazy to teach their own children.
AIBU to think this is absolutely ridiculous?
I don't see anything wrong with questioning the level of teaching a school is providing, provided it's done in a sensitive and understanding way. IMO it's ridiculous how quickly someone is accused of teacher bashing for asking a legitimate question.

@LemonPudding

Start one. That would be interesting. (Genuine comment)

A few posters?? It has been a massive pile on and it has gone on for weeks. It's absolutely disgraceful. Think about how you'd feel if you were doing your absolute best in your job and every newspaper, and every social media troll was slating you and calling you lazy and cowardly. Teachers were already resigning in droves before this and if the vitriol doesn't stop there will be no experienced teachers left in the profession.

I'm so glad I now earn my living doing something else.

Surely if you have a problem with your child's education or the way they are being taught you contact the school, so what is the point in starting an on online whinge, not happy contact the school or write to your MP. Mn can't change anything

It is never ending. OP a have a look through the boards for posts with school
Or teachers in the title. Then come back

@LemonPudding if you did start one it would (understandably) be deemed "not in the spirit"

What pisses people off is the utter negativity and intransigence of the unions. It seems like they’re putting blockers up for the sake of it

If it’s “the unions” that are a problem, why are an increasing number of councils (including Tory ones) saying their schools won’t / shouldn’t / needn’t open?

I am so sick and tired of threads like this. I am a teacher and a parent. If I have an issue with my child’s school I tend to find contacting their school helps.
I can’t wait for the 1st of June where my whole school compliment of staff bar 1 will be in school teaching the bubbles of kids the government require.
Then after a full day of teaching come home and start to plan for the kids that are actually in my class so they still have some learning.
That would be through half term also.
Meanwhile worrying about my own children and how they are getting on with their own home schooling.
Give us a break please.

Anyone good at spreadsheets/graphs? We need to see how many teachers start threads along the lines of 'I'm working harder than anyone else' and compare it to how many teachers have to defend selves to 'teachers think they work harder than anyone else'.

In order to do the job properly, you need to have the children in the classroom daily. It is not possible to provide a remote education of the same standard. Many children do not have parents who can supervise them and insist they do the work. Many children do not all have a laptop. In fact, lots are trying to do their school work on phones and tablets that are simply not good enough. I am setting work which only a small minority are actually doing. One child today submitted a task 5 weeks late! The lessons suffice to say have moved on in the time that she has not been logging on. Yet there are still parents complaining that either there is too much work; not enough work; the wrong kind of work - some want sheets that are easy to complete; some want videos to watch; some want work which requires no internet; some want work which requires no paper copies or printing etc, etc. It is impossible to keep you all happy. I will be very happy to return to work even if I do become infected with covid 19 or have to spend my day cleaning loos and surfaces whilst trying to teach groups of children I have never taught before with limited resources in a socially distanced way. At least this endless complaining will end! I suppose the next complaints will be about why is my child not with this friend or that one or why doesn't he have the maths specialist or why is he / she not being sufficiently stretched or where is the homework etc etc.

My husband is a primary teacher and I am a secondary teacher and Head of year on maternity leave, we have a baby and nearly three year old. My husband has been going into school on a rota, calling children's families at home to provide support and setting work (lovely catchment and supportive parents). Yes we have loved going out for our daily walk with daddy, but only last night my husband stayed up writing reports until 3am (this is not unheard of).

I am dreading my return to a secondary school in September which has a very high number of pupil premium students in a deprived area. My work colleagues keep telling me the students are not engaging. Many of our students are vulnerable, don't have adequate places to study or equipment. My colleagues are using the time to plan more resources in preparation for teaching students who will have fallen behind. We will be accountable for their progress and we will have to work twice as hard to bridge the gap. As a head of year I regularly hear 'well your the teacher you sort it', 'my child does enough work in school, I have X number of other children I haven't got time to help'. I work a 50-60hr week, I hope more parents have more respect for us.

Are the Downing Street Communications staff out in force on here? Maybe Sarah Vine has a few interns working from home?
Where are the threads about hair salons and beauty salons not opening?
Are they feckless too?
Maybe all the journos on here were taught in the type of school where pupils sat at a little desk and the teacher sat at theirs and never ‘worked the room’.

I think what makes me sad is that lots of workers have kept on going during the virus: post, truckers, supermarket AND TEACHERS amongst many others.

Lots of professions are working hard and putting themselves at risk to do so and this includes teachers.

However, teachers seem to be the only profession that are being complained about in thread after thread after thread...

Please, we are trying our best.

Hair and beauty it not essential at the moment though. Teaching is. I am not impressed with my children’s school. Hardly any work set and my A level student children were just sent home never to hear from their school again. Meanwhile their cousins not in the Uk have been taught a full day online since the beginning of lockdown. They have to log on at 8 am and do a full day. Why can the Uk schools not provide the same ?

To be honest I want to know where this mythical new parenting site is because I’ve had it with this.
There are too many threads started by people with agendas that do not match the ethos that this site claims to still hold.

As a head of year I regularly hear 'well your the teacher you sort it', 'my child does enough work in school, I have X number of other children I haven't got time to help'.

That does put one off teaching.

Before I had kids I worked briefly in an office with lots of female admin staff who all lived locally. They would often discuss their children. Wherever any of them got punished for anything they would have a knee jerk reaction to presume the teacher was in the wrong. I'd never previously realised how normal this attitude was and it struck me as incredibly harmful for the children long term.

I haven’t rtft as I can’t be doing with teacher bashing. Yabu to criticise teachers-yanbu if you have a specific issue with your child’s teacher and raise it directly with them.

For me this lockdown has shown me that there are great teachers out there

Eg my sons graphic teacher set a task to design a jar and draw things that make you happy in hard times and then design a bear for the John lewis competition

Well thought out lessons keeping the kids on task using the circumstances

And there are rubbish teachers like his maths teacher who sent out 4 pages of questions week 1 and nothing since

I intend to flag both extremes to the head when i get a chance

Why are people calling this a teacher bashing thread exactly? Surely people are allowed to discuss their children's education, during a pandemic no less, on an Internet forum?

I am a teacher and a member of a primary school SLT. We have worked non stop on the risk assessments and logistics of thinking about June. I am tired and also fed up with how the profession is characterised by the media.

I have been phoning parents this week to ask if they are planning to send their children back. Before anyone asks, I am neutral and neither trying to encourage or discourage. All the parents I have spoken to, no matter what they are deciding, have been supportive of what the school and the teachers have been doing. Many asking what measures will be in place to keep the teachers safe alongside the children. Lots of them keen to tell me how their child’s teacher has been motivating them through phone calls and by responding to their work.

The issue here is the government and their inability to set proper guidance. Their inability to work with parents and the profession to come up with a good plan for either home learning or more pupils returning to school. All the unions want is to see to science and be consulted and that is reasonable to me.

@DamnYouAutoCarrot The post above yours highlights the issue perfectly. Do you think that is acceptable?

I wouldn't be criticising teachers at the moment. Everyone is trying to make the best of a bad situation. In the real world, well yes of course if there was a good justifiable reason for it.

@DamnYouAutoCarrot please see the final comment from @HeadOfHomeschool in answer to your question.