“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 🫣

It's Miss and Sir in every school I've been in, as a pupil and as a teacher. I don't find it lazy, sexist or rude. I wouldn't expect every pupil to know the names of every teacher, of course they'll learn the most frequently encountered ones but there'll always be supply, cover or new T eachers they don't know.

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

Not in any school I've been in.

All staff would be Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms surname

Primary or secondary

Even the kids that knew me out of school would use Mrs in it.

Again just because it happens doesn't make it normal.

You're missing the point of that posters post.

She pointed out that her sister in law, who is better educated, would be called miss.

While her younger brother , gets the loftier title of 'sir'.

Why do men get the better titles?

Your son is clearly much more special that anyone else who's ever called their teacher Miss/Sir then isn't he.

Mmm, I’ e worked in many private’s and actually - it’s the same. Sometimes full names and sir/miss as a short hand or more casual.

seems common but is obnoxious. I don’t allow students to not bother to learn my name! I learn all theirs, too.

I'm a married teacher. I have been called 'miss' in different types of schools over 20 years. It doesn't bother me a bit and is perfectly normal.

"Gilbert, please can you pass me your book?" "yes Miss".

If a pupil wants my attention "Mrs Gark, do you want my book?".
I really can't see a problem with it.

In today's age with all the talk about sexism,

it seems ridiculous that men automatically get better titles in schools.

In our school, the staffroom door still has a 1960s brass sign on stating "Masters & Mistresses only"

This! Absolutely not normality call TA's by their first name!!

You mustn’t have been to many then, To add to your concern, in most schools round here, the teachers also refer to each other as Miss and Sir!
In my primary school, many children call us ‘teacher’.

Oh it is

I've heard in other business settings, shops, restaurants...

I can only speak as someone confident enough not to care if someone called/calls me Miss when I wasn’t married or makes a mistake now. If I was at work meeting someone new, I might politely ask by what name they prefer to be addressed, but that was out of respect for them, and I’d always ask adults to use my first name.
I can’t help thinking that nowadays folks overthink titles too much. It all smacks of not being at peace with oneself, or lacking confidence in some way.

If you want real sexism, a dinosaur mindset, then you have never been sat in an office with Manager on the door, heard a knock and have some ignorant Councillor insist on knowing where the Manager was and could I find him? He got both barrels and a lesson in equality, but that’s just how it was.

Wot a little prince he must be! To.Never. Ever. Copy the other children and their slack ways.
A fiver says he’s one of those kids who comes out with profound sayings that end up on social media too…

We said ‘a Miss’ or ‘a Sir’ for ‘a teacher’. As in ‘watch out there’s a Miss coming this way!’

Totally normal. Although I do wish it was Sir & Ma'am as this seems closer to equality

Look you could be the Princess of Wales, but if she became a teacher she’d be Miss. are people really so offended by it 🤦‍♀️

Who calls someone Sir in a shop?

Yes it is normal, yes it’s respectful, yes it’s easier for a y7 pupil than remembering all the teachers names.

Much better than first names all round.

Quite agree. It should be Sir and Ma'am. Or Mr XYZ and Ms XYZ.

I teach adults sometimes. At 61 with 4 kids and 3 grandkids, I do feel "Miss" grates a lot!

Even if my students remember my name, they aren't going to get away with calling me by my first name in a high school setting, so it's always Dr <surname>.

FE/HE is different - they can use my first name but only when I tell them they can (i.e. if it's a class, it's still Dr but if I'm supervising a student on a dissertation for example, then after a few meetings and if they show respect, I inform them they can call me by my first name) but email correspondence will still be Dr <surname>.

I left secondary school in 1990 and it was completely normal back then. What's the issue with it?

Yes people get offended by sexism.

This is a brilliant summary of how I feel!

I ask all my students to answer the register 'yes, Miss' . Standardised response so they all say the same , courteous thing - 'Yes, Mrs Piggy' takes longer. I am hot on sexism and this one is about a respectful title. The kids don't see this hierarchy thta you do between 'sir' and miss'. After all Mrs Surname isn't my original name either. It's confusing to have Mrs/Ms/Miss - easy to get wrong and cause upset or offence. Students and teachers don't see 'Miss' as a name for teachers as being related to marital status. In lessons, I get a mixture of Miss and Mrs Piggy. Actually usually Miss Piggy.

It's very longwinded to keep using full names!

Some teachers get called by surname only - personally, I hate that. That is usually men.

A boy I don't know said 'there you go, Miss' when he did something for me today. That was nice. He didn't know me at all. He was showing me respect. I said 'Thank you, young man.' to him...