“Miss” and “Sir” in schools

[MyCleverGrayBear]

Been to lots of secondary school open days recently. At the state secondaries the children showing parents around etc called the teachers “Sir” and “Miss”. Is that normal? I haven’t heard this IRL ever.

(To be clear, “Miss, this parent wants to know about languages at school” vs “Mrs Jones, this parent would like to see the sports centre”. But also in a couple of classrooms there were children constantly saying “Miss, look at this, Miss, I’ve out the sign up, Miss, shall I stand here” etc and it was incredibly grating.)

And why are female teachers “Miss” and make teachers “Sir”? I felt like I was in a bad 80’s Grange Hill episode and Benny Hill was about to run in and chase me 🫣

Well, it was like that when I attended primary school in the '60s and secondary in the '70s. Has also been the case in most of the secondary schools where I've taught. (I still do occasional supply at my advanced age.)

My experience is wholly within the Scottish state sector.

SilenceInside · Today 16:38

I was fairly frequently referred to as Mum which was always quite entertaining.

When my daughter went to middle school, the parents were called in after the first two weeks, to meet their form teachers. Hers had a difficult to pronounce name (for our girl, at least!) He told us how to pronounce it and said that he could call him Sir, as all the teacher were Sir, or Miss. He explained that he's been called Mam / Mum on numerous occasions - but never took offence.

Both brilliant films!

Totally agree, this is pretty much how I feel.
Left teaching in 2015 but I liked being called Miss.
It is respectful. And at the same time it shows trust when the student doesn't know you and a familiarity/good relationship when they do. Hard to explain really.

If they wanted to use my Miss xxx or Mrs xxx names (I got married in the middle of my career) that would be fine. But Miss was fine by me, on a par with Sir and by no means disrespectful.

Working in a vast school with dozens of staff, all female adults are "Miss" and all male adults are"Sir". Whether they are teaching A level or sweeping the floor. It's not just the kids - we don't all know each other's names.
The kids sometimes call me "Sir", and explain that it feels more respectful than "Miss".
I reckon "Professor", "Coach", or "Nurse" have mileage but you don't always know who's who, or what to call the Tech support.

Sounds archaic but at least seems a more equal status.

I think this is also the case in Chambers for the clerks to call their solicitors Miss or Sir.

It's been the case in schools for decades, though I remember my French teacher in the 80s did not like it. She was actually French, though. I can remember her saying:
"I am Madame! I am not Miss, or Mrs. I am not one of those ridiculous women who calls themselves Ms. I am Madame!"
She would fine us if we forgot to use Madame, and put the money towards whatever charity the school was supporting at the time.

Completely normal.
Our tutors were Drs and called Miss and Sir.
To say Dr Mortimer ( or whatever) is a mouthful.

More embarrassing is if one called them mum by mistake!

Yes. completely normal. I've been called Miss at least 100 times today.

It shocks me that it’s so ingrained. Women teachers should be called whatever they choose. Miss Name, Ms Name, Mrs Name, Dr Name.

Dr Mortimer is a mouthful? Really? Gosh. I disagree. It’s just someone’s name.

It seems inherently inequal to me as well.

But I am not from the UK so I appreciate that my perception is quite different.

And isn’t “Mr” the (male) equivalent of Miss / Ms ? Instead of Sir?

My English teachers used to call us / the pupils Miss.
So this does seem quite strange to me…
But it does remind me of the “olden days” when teaching was considered an appropriate profession for unmarried women.

I went to secondary school in the 90s. We called every teacher Miss or Sir. My children are currently in secondary and it’s still Miss or Sir.

I’ve worked in several secondary schools and it’s always Miss or Sir. Not entirely sure what OP is talking about. It’s completely common place in the UK. Whether you’re in Devon or Yorkshire.

Yes they do (or did at my school). Be good for Miss, or go and ask Sir. We never once thought the female teachers were lesser. My favourite teachers were all women and I called them all Miss. so shoot me 😁

it wasn’t a serious suggestion.

It’s been this way for decades.
Have you lived under a stone?!

It's funny, because I get called Miss when invigilating, and I find it quite respectful. None of the students have any need to know my name, and it's better than 'Oi you'.

But I dislike it intensely when I'm teaching karate, where my title is sensei. I wouldn't mind quite as much if the children who 'can't remember' to call me sensei called my male counterparts 'Sir'. Strangely though they always get called sensei.

Is that what female teachers want to be called? My teacher friend is quite content to be called Miss, she finds it easier than kids getting her name wrong all the time.

They are, in context. So if a child came to the teachers office looking for a particular teacher they'd say "is Mrs Smith here" or "is Miss Jones here" as per the teacher's full title and name.

If you're in the corridor and tell a kid to stop running, they'd say "yes, Miss, sorry Miss".

I think Miss and Sir is very respectful too.

I do get your point, but the range of meaning of words shifts. I don't think many people under a certain age would think of 'Miss' as something they'd call a young girl. And I doubt that many female teachers would be that keen on being called 'ma'am'. Besides, it sounds a bit too like 'mum' for my liking! They often can't remember whether their teachers are Mrs Miss or Ms anyway, so Miss tends to do for all, even if they use names.

We had this too (different country though).

At my son's school it's first names in 6th form - I even heard him call the Head 'Big Jase' (Jason) which shocked me but he didn't seem bothered by it!

I don't mind either way, but find that children (and sometimes adults) struggle with my surname.

The one time I became irritated was when I returned to supply teaching after my husband died and found that young deputes were referring to me as "Miss Weary" when speaking to the kids. I admit that I was probably feeling prickly because of my widowhood.

Totally normal in my 80s secondary.

Exactly that, sometimes you say their name and other times it’s just ‘Sir’ or ‘Miss’. Context is everything.