AIBU to think that not being allowed to sit down whilst teaching is insane!

[Supermummy88]

Good evening all,

I’m a head of department in a secondary school where the work load has become horrendous. We have a new senior assistant head and he has made some awful changes and has increased work load by about 50%. Last week he made a complaint that he saw a number of teachers sitting down during lessons and that it’s not acceptable and that we should not be sitting down at all during any stage of the lesson apart from doing the register. I physically can’t stand for hours, but he doesn’t seem to care and thinks that teachers are not doing their job properly unless they are consistently circulating the classroom. I’m very close to giving up teaching completely and finding another career and I feel this has given me more of a reason to just leave.

What do you all think about this?

I love to perch on my desk - I can see across the whole room (I'm short) and it's comfortable. I circulate when students are getting on with a task but not constantly, it's not always helpful! I absolutely will sit at my desk if students are doing an exam question/watching a video clip rather than hovering about for no reason.

Sometimes, a teacher needs to sit at the desk to work the IT. When my whiteboard pens don't work, I can type directly onto the presentation files I've created ... The pupils often find this easier to read.

I think you have the right to teach as you see fit - every teacher has their own style, which they adapt according to the specific class. This is massively infantilising, the implication being that you don't know how best to do your job without them directing you at a detailed level!

This is one for the union imo - it's seriously overstepping and questioning your professionalism.

When l started Primary Teaching 40 years ago my Principal would encourage me to sit saying you will kill yourself standing like that all the time. Schools were places of care for their staff then. We sat/ stood whatever suited. Now telling us practically how to breath is driving teachers away. For goodness sake l wish they would back off. Is there no trust anymore in us knowing what to do ourselves. My favourite teacher at Primary sat a lot but he held all our attention as he was such an interesting teacher. I still remember a lot of his very varied lessons.
Teachers and hairdressers stand the most for their jobs and over the years it tells on your body.

I got pulled up on this when I was a teacher some 10 years ago. I reminded SLT that I have a chronic health condition (that they were aware of) and sometimes I need to sit for a few minutes.

I'm home schooling now and one of the first things I realised is that all teachers should be issued with a reclining sun lounger. I think much better if I am comfortable.

Also SLT teams seem to be a bit bonkers these days.

Why does everyone seem to be doing their best to put teachers off doing and staying in their job.

When I was in school ( many many years ago ) I had a variety of teachers that all had their own style of teaching, some would make us laugh , some were strict, some sat on or behind their desk, some paced around .

There was one teacher in particular that paced , it drove me mad, the room was quite big so when he got to the back of the room and had his back to the front couple of rows it was hard to hear him plus dome of the kids would mess about passing notes etc while his back was turned.

Of course with some classes where the kids move about like home ec, wood & metal work , etc the teachers need to move around but even then they should be able to sit down for part of the lesson , esp at the start while going over the project/ tasks .

I don’t understand how any teacher can sit for a length of time.

When I was teaching I was constantly moving around and didn’t have a chance to sit down, even if I wanted to.

One of the best teachers I know sits down the entire time though.

I’ve never seen her teach an entire lesson and have no idea how she manages it.
I guess it just comes with experience and confidence.

As a PP said, teachers all have different teaching styles and they should teach how they see fit.
The results speak for themselves.

The head seems more interested in people appearing busy, rather than actually being a good teacher.

No way could I do a day like today on my feet all day. It’s ridiculous op. I’d ignore it. They won’t sack you for it.

Yep, the same for me in a couple of schools I’ve worked in. And if we did stop, we were supposed to stand (not sit) at the back of the class behind them as it’s “unnerving” and will help keep them on task because you can see them but they can’t see you.

Y9 bottom set - no way am I sitting down
Y13 further maths - they don't need me hovering over them the whole time

Your Ass Head is a twat.

He's an absolute fucking idiot. I have a bad back atm. I can't even stand for a whole lesson, never mind all morning or all day. Astonishingly this has not suddenly made me into a worse teacher after 30 years in the classroom. What a wanker. We have an unpopular new Head, but even he wouldn't do that.

15-20 minutes is my limit. It’s why I’m getting out.

The senior assistant is a prick.

I wonder how much the senior assistant head stands up to teach during the day and how tone they spend sitting on a decent sized chair at a desk.

Please, please, please become part of the senior leadership team!

Every school needs more people with your attitude. Let teachers teach!

The only teacher that had my attention was the one who sat on their desk.

This . This micromanaging is driving good people out of teaching.

This was also the rule when I was teaching. I wasn’t even allowed to sit to do the register. I agree it’s ridiculous. A lot of the standards around teaching were in my opinion. It honestly felt like they were looking for things to criticise teachers for and came up with the most random things if they couldn’t think of anything important.

I thought teachers stood up to get a better trajectory when throwing a board rubber.

YANBU
I am a teacher and often sit down. Are you part of a union?

Yeah that's absolutely nuts.
I had some great teachers and they just sat at the front of the class mostly. Sometimes got up to write on the board or look at someone's work.
Wtf has wandering about the classroom got to do with good teaching?

I would hate that. I find it so odd that most workplaces are becoming more and more flexible and schools more and more draconian As a parent, I really have no objections to teachers being able to sit down. Surely your SLT is potentially going to get themselves into trouble re discrimination at some point either on grounds of disability or pregnancy.

Yup the gulf between flexible hybrid jobs and the ultra controlling schools is growing bigger and bigger...

Its almost like senior staff need to justify their job so they nitpick at controlling teachers but it ultimately doesn't make for happy staff or happy students. So much is wrong about education currently.

I want out.

I'm in Scotland. There was a phase a few years ago when kids of teachers got rid of their desks. It was insane! I did not follow suit. They all have them back again now. I definitely sit when children are all busy and on task. Always available for help though. Walking around when you're not needed puts kids off and makes them think they should ask a pointless question just because you're there!