Wondering why there's so much hate for teachers?

[Nannyogg134]

I've just been reading some responses to another thread concerning teachers and working over summer and there's a real mix of thoughts. I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I'm always very taken back by the amount of negative comments regarding teachers (especially regarding workload and school holidays.)

I've taught in a state secondary school for almost 13 years and I came to the job after working in a care home for a few years. There are pros and cons; the school holidays are great (and yes, they are unpaid- teachers are paid per day of their contract, this is term time only, the wage is delivered over 12 monthly payments for ease of life.) However, there is no flexibility, so I rarely see my own children in sport's day, nativities, or even on parent's evening (if it clashes with something at my school.) Overall, I feel very passionately about giving my best to my students and extra time I spend on them feels mostly worthwhile.

However, whenever there is chat about teaching, the general feeling seems to be very negative. I'm just wondering where this seems to come from? Is it the classic 'horrible teacher' stereotype we see on TV etc.? Or is it a leftover from some of our own school days?

I suppose it's not really AIBU, more of a wondering where this issue comes from and if public view can ever be shifted?

So why are you keeping going on about how teachers come across like it's so important?

I don't care either. I'm confident in my experiences and opinions.

Maybe because how teachers come across is what the thread is about.

@Sherrystrull

Because that was the op?

Why are teachers hated?

They're not but they don't always come across the best

Some teachers tend to think they're always worst off. Comments from teachers overstating their risk from covid while down playing the impacts of schools shutting did not come across well and alienated lots of parents

I have huge respect for teachers (or anyone else trying to do such an impossible and important job for such little money).

But, I do think that the relationship between parents and schools has been badly damaged by successive governments. I lost all respect for our headteacher over the way she celebrates kids with 100% attendance (aka kids whose parents sent them in sick to infect the rest of us) while writing aggressive threatening letters to parents who’ve been unlucky enough to have children who often get sick.

@Ithinkthatisenoughnowthanks

Why can't teachers wear masks? All my kids teachers did.

Again with the no one but teachers even though its blatantly not true

ah yes, the day after which we were put into lockdown? So we were right?

So which is it? Cause you just no teachers ever refused to go to work? Now you're saying they did but its ok because they were right not to?

And no. The govt did not close schools because they weren't safe. They closed them to increase compliance. The evidence showed schools were not at more risk. The govt made that clear.

The data was clear and was based on infection, hospital admissions and deaths . Not weirdly enough, myths about kids not spreading covid.

@Topgub they closed schools the second time because they were vectors of the virus.

Topgub

I'm not fussed how I come across. I'm confident in opinions.

This is good to know. unfortunately most of your opinions are not based in fact. Your opinions are based on your poor memory of what happened and on "other" forums.

there was only one time that the unions and teachers (primary) refused to work and that was when the government was going to take two schools to court for closing due to them being unsafe to pupils and teachers.

But again you keep telling yourself that you are correct.

Here you are again. Overstating a risk? How is speaking about reality in schools overstating a risk?

Sounds like Topgub is fine that schools had repeated closures this academic year and will do in the coming year. From someone who sounds so committed to education they clearly do not give a toss that schools are still having to close as a result of covid.

This thread is about posters who are obsessed with having a go at teachers.

@FrippEnos

No, I don't have a poor memory.

Unions advised all members to refuse to return to work, not just 2 schools.

@bigfootisreal

I'm absolutely not ok with schools closing. Especially when there's no need.

Other sectors are running on minimal, unsafe staffing and don't close.

@Topgub so would you be happy if your DC didn't have an adult in front of them if their class teacher was off? Would you be happy if schools disregarded ratios, safeguarding controls due to staff shortages?

I think many of us have bad memories of an awful teacher who was particularly horrible to us NannyOgg and we've never really been able to 'put it to bed' as it were and it still niggles at us.

Plus, a family member is a teacher and by God, you've never met such an entitled, superior big-head in all your life. He really does think that he's better than the rest of us. I know he's not necessarily typical, but ...

Topgub
No, I don't have a poor memory.
Unions advised all members to refuse to return to work, not just 2 schools.

If you reread what I posted you will see that this isn't it.

But we are back to you twisting things again.

@FrippEnos

I havent twisted anything.

Perhaps its just you're not very clear on the point you're making?

Teaching unions did advise their members not to return to school.

I didnt say it happened more than once.

So I'm not sure what point you're making

@toomuchlaundry

I'd prefer schools to do their jobs.

Like every other area that is currently extremely short staffed and having to get on with it.

Of course its not ideal and I'd rather it wasn't happening but that's the reality we're faced with

So you're happy for schools to run on unsafe staffing levels?

@Sherrystrull

No. Not happy.

I'm not happy with nhs wards running on unsafe staffing levels either.

They can't close...

I agree that this is not right either.

This is why your stance makes no sense. By denying that covid spreads in schools and that there is exaggerated risk you are denying what needs to happen, which is the government needs to realise that schools and hospitals and nurseries and care homes cannot work effectively with skeleton staff, it puts vulnerable people at risk, and they need to put more money into providing extra staff when it is needed and to put the infrastructure in place to support air filtration and ventilation.

Wards do close if they have insufficient staff.

So what would you do @Topgub if your DC came home from school and said they were left in the classroom all day without an adult and just told to read a book? What would you do if your child was involved with a safeguarding incident and the school didn’t do anything as they had insufficient staff?

I know this post is from ages ago but I just wanted to say that having done both I found mainstream teaching SO much harder, and a lot of my colleagues would have said the same. Class sizes are huge in comparison and you have no other adults around to help out - personally I found dealing with 30 moderately disruptive kids on my own much more difficult than one screaming about how I was a fucking cunt and storming off. Not saying working in a PRU or similar is an easy job by any means, but it's not like mainstream is a walk in the park in comparison.

Why can't teachers wear masks? All my kids teachers did

erm…I think you will find that from September 2020 we were advised to wear masks in corridors but nowhere else. Most schools took the view that their staff should follow the guidance, in the most part this was to avoid any legal challenge either from parents, the Usforthem group or indeed, the local authority or central government. so we wore them in corridors, not in the classroom. And it was made clear that masks don’t protect the wearer, rather they protect others from a wearer with a virus. In other words, to do a half decent job, it needs everyone to be wearing one.

Again with the no one but teachers even though its blatantly not true
well, no, it’s not ‘blatantly not true’. It is convenient for you - and many others - to forget that there was a significant period of time during the last academic year when we were all in school and the majority of us without the vaccine whilst numbers - and the delta variant - were rising. There were no measures put in place to help protect school staff, other than mask wearing in corridors. Schools staff, for the most part, considered this insufficient.

So which is it? Cause you just no teachers ever refused to go to work? Now you're saying they did but its ok because they were right not to?And no. The govt did not close schools because they weren't safe. They closed them to increase compliance. The evidence showed schools were not at more risk. The govt made that clear

I am not personally aware of anyone who refused to work for the one day that schools were open in January 2021. I am aware that numbers were increasing, there were legal challenges being proffered to schools/heads who did make murmurings of closure, and we were still not being guided to wearing masks in the classroom. Some school staff were nervous about what this meant for them personally and also for their students and the wider community. In a nutshell, it felt unsafe for all concerned.

Schools were closed because it was clear that schools were playing a major role in community transmission. This was particularly evidenced by lockdown lite in December 2020 in the South East and the growth of delta. It was the exponential growth of delta which finally pushed us back into lockdown because, I can only presume, the Government feared that people would die unnecessarily, not necessarily because they contracted covid, but because health services would be over run.

Unions advised all members to refuse to return to work, not just 2 schools

I think it was one union only. And what that union did was offer a letter to it’s members to give to their head based around safety. We were not advised by the union to refuse to return to work. Rather, we were offered union-backed action if that was what we, as individuals, wanted. Some people couldn’t have cared less at that point but many staff were scared about that spring term and how it was going to play out. As, it happened, lockdown was ordered so we never got the measure of how many teaching staff wouldn’t have gone in that next day. It would probably have varied from area to area and probably also would have depended on individual school experience up to that point.

@toomuchlaundry

Extremely rarely. I've never known it

Why would they need to be left without an adult?

But yeah, I'd be fine with it as a short term measure. They're at secondary, I'm sure they'd cope.

@Sherrystrull

I havent denied covid spreads in schools? It does. Although the evidence os inconclusive on how this affects wider community transmission. The last study I read said there was little evidence of transmission from kids to families at home but I think that was prior to this variant?

The govt increasing funding across lots of public sectors is absolutely necessary but doesn't really have much to do with covid

I am pointing out that I didn't post what you said I posted. But it seems that you can't even accept that.

I don't understand your stance. Why do you keep going on about alleged risk and overstated risks? If covid spreads in school then there's no magic bubble to stop children then spreading it to their families.

Covid has made the money schools have a million times worse. School staff who are poorly need replacing.