Should I correct a teacher?

[Sadgirlonatrain]

In my son's recent geography homework, one of the questions on the sheet referred to the decline of coal mining in the North East.

"How would this of effected the area?"

No wonder the use of 'would of' is so widespread now, never mind the incorrect use of 'effected.'

Would you say anything to the school?

And this is another reason to support strikes. If there was a choice, a teacher with poor literacy would not be employed over a teacher with good literacy.

There isn't a choice. There would of been if teaching was paid in a manner commensurate with how challenging it is. The poor pay is effecting your children.

(Yes, I am proud of myself for getting both of those in and setting dozens of pedantic brains into irritated overdrive!)

Please don't do this. The head has far better things to worry about.
Contact the teacher directly, or if you really can't face that, the head of faculty.

I'm a teacher and I would be mortified if a parent pointed out that I had made these mistakes. (I wouldn't make them though.)

However, my embarrassment would be my problem.

Teachers of all subjects are expected to model correct SPAG and I'm shocked how many posters think these very basic errors are no big deal.

I think things are set to get worse ...

I don't think there's anything to be gained speaking to the teacher herself if you are convinced these aren't typos. The HT can arrange extra training if it's raised with her or him, but the individual teacher would probably be defensive or embarassed if confronted in person.

Yes I would of been embarrassed to as well.

It’s not “just” the poor literacy in what seems to be a large and growing minority of teachers that I have a problem with. It’s the fact that they must have a very low level of interest in their work and their pupils

This seems a fair point; after all if they can't be bothered even to try to get it right, why would they expect any better from the pupils?

Then there's the question about all the reading staff will have needed to do during their own training. Surely at some point they'd have noticed "should have" instead of the wrong version and thought "hang on ..."?

@AngelinaFibres
I have had to correct teachers referring to 'hyperbowl' and 'the eppytome' on more than one occasion. I am known as an absolute grammar and spelling obsessive though.

Then there's the question about all the reading staff will have needed to do during their own training. Surely at some point they'd have noticed "should have" instead of the wrong version and thought "hang on ..."?

That's the bit that bemuses me. If you're a reader, you'll come across "should have" in its written form, thousands of times in your life. How can anyone with a reasonable level of education and who reads for pleasure, still think that it's should of?

Exactly - and some of the comments here only serve to underline how incorrect spelling and grammar have become so common! It's just not acceptable! How many young people will now think these are correct, and go on to use them as the norm themselves? How many pupils will go through this teacher's hands in 5/10 years?

It needs to be corrected.

I'm just going to suggest that if the teacher hasn't made the connection between their wrong writing through reading the right thing, the children are equally unlikely to learn the wrong thing through reading it in one place.

Sorry but I've read that several times and still can't follow your logic, can you explain it a different way please?

Why are you emailing the HOY? Rather than the teacher? Surely you approach the teacher first, point out the error and wait for a reply. If it is a worksheet, it's entirely possible s/he didn't create it.

It seems odd to report someone to their boss about this.

Someone upthread mentioned that the teacher is making this error despite having read it correctly many times. I'm just suggesting that if that's the case, a child who already knows the correct version is unlikely to unlearn it and learn the wrong version from reading it on this worksheet.

OP if you wanted to point out the error you could perhaps send a message to the teacher and say just letting you know that there is a wee typo in your task. Keep it light. I think sending an email to the HT would be too much and would definitely embarass the teacher.

As a PP posted, the wrong spelling on BBC & Sky news drives me to distraction.. instant rage!

@saraclara most likely that person had undiagnosed dyslexia. Dyslexia wasn't even a thing in the olden days.

My teacher friend used 'to' instead of 'too' on a fb post the other week. And a friend doing journalism incorrectly used an apostrophe on theirs.
I was twitching but didn't comment.
I probably couldn't help myself in this instance though.

... if the teacher hasn't made the connection between their wrong writing through reading the right thing, the children are equally unlikely to learn the wrong thing through reading it in one place

Fair point, StephanieSuperpowers, though it still leaves the question of what else such a staff member may be uncaring about and the effect that might have

As for comments about those who see no issue here, I'm remembering the educational fad where correcting SPAG was anathema unless in English classes, and sometimes even there. Perhaps, if some posters have been taught that way, it's more understandable that carelessness is considered no big deal?

Some years ago, I received an email from my bank (and I know was genuine, because it was in response to a query I’d raised with them) which contained not one but two examples of the dreaded “would of” or “must of”. Which made me wonder: what must the other candidates for the job have been like, if this one was reckoned to be the best?

@corcaithecat this is a tricky one for me. I'm inthe 'not contact the teacher camp' for the OP's mistake but I'd be more inclined to make contact in your case as it shows a complete lack of professionalism. The teacher can't possible think yer and ye are grammatically correct and he/she knows full well they're slang/informal use.

@Puzzledandpissedoff , I wouldn't like anyone to have the impression that I think this is not important or that it would be wrong to say something, but I do feel that it's not fatally undermining anyone's literacy and it's possible that some of what people are inferring about the capacity of the person involved is a bit extreme.

The teacher can't possible think yer and ye are grammatically correct and he/she knows full well they're slang/informal use.

I am not sure about whether the status of hiberno English as a dialect is fully settled. Genuinely, I'm not sure. But since it is common usage in Ireland, it may not be automatically and obviously incorrect in all circumstances.

@StephanieSuperpowers ye and yer is not correct in Ireland, I'm Irish.

The people who set exams don't agree that there is so much more to teaching than SPAG. They want students to keep retaking their GCSE English and Maths until they pass. If students use consistently incorrect grammar, they might not pass.

In fairness, reading widely would expose a person to language and they would unconsciously pick up 'would have' as the correct form. If people don't read widely, broadsheets, etc., then there isn't going to be a huge deal more to their knowledge and understanding of world affairs and culture, so what breadth of understanding they would be inspiring in their pupils is questionable.

I don't think complaining is the right thing to do, but point it out pleasantly. We all make mistakes. I'm a bit surprised that teachers can be prickly. If I went to the swimming pool, I might say that there is no soap in the dispenser, or the changing room floor needs mopping. I wouldn't think the staff would feel like ranting and think that they were being patronised.

Yet another thread about school, though, which makes one think that some kind of systemisation of materials and resources would help. It doesn't seem right to me that teachers are staying up all night creating materials. The Department of Education should proforma a load.

Why doesn't spell and grammar check correct 'would of' and 'effect' not affect?