To want parents to stop blaming their child's teacher for everything?

[starlightexpress]

I'm just so sick of reading parents on here moaning about how crap their child's teacher is for one reason or another (not aimed at any particular thread this evening, btw).

In any given class of thirty-three, seventy percent of my time is spent dealing with about three kids who couldn't give a fuck. They don't want to learn, they don't want anyone else to learn. I'm not talking SEN, here, I'm talking just plain naughty.

As far as I'm concerned, the majority of the time when a parent is on here moaning about how shitty their child's teacher is, it falls into one of four categories.

Either your child is:

a)Badly brought up and you're making excuses for them.

b)So-called "SEN" which means they can behave when they want to, but misbehave most of the time using said SEN as an excuse. You allow them to do this because you prefer not to take any responsibility for their behaviour.

c)Genuinely suffering from an SEN, which I probably know very little about and am given little support (either in terms of training or TAs or resources)for.

d)Suffering from the fall out of "inclusion" which means that so much of my time is spent firefighting (see a, b and c) that I don't have the time to spend on your child that they deserve.

Of course there are crap teachers. There are also medicore teachers and there are good teachers who have crap days and make crap judgements sometimes. But mostly it is not your child's teacher's fault.

If you are a C or a D parent, then get thee to the Head, the governers, the local MP and kick up an almighty fuss. You're right to be upset, I don't blame you, I'm not happy about it either but what can I do? I'm doing my very very best but I can't fight the system on my own.

If you're an A or a B parent, do what the fuck you want - that's what you do anyway, and I'm not interested in your whining.

Before you ask, I teach in an inner city secondary school. Not the worst school in the whole world but not great either.

I'm a relatively experienced teacher with a decent results record. I don't have classroom management issues - last Ofsted (they actally watched some of my lesson) they said that this was a strength, fwiw. It's worth nothing actually, as Ofsted couldn't identify one end of a decent lesson from another, but I know their opinion matters to a lot of you.

Go on, flame me, I will have heard worse at parents evening, I can take it.

AIBU?

"The "system" as you and Moore see it doesn't exist."

I'm using a sociological term when I talk about systems. Not "The System", as run by "The Man", though I can understand why you thought that.

its plural btw darling clemette teeeee heeeee

Clemette I marked some fab work tonight. Dp said to me you are singing while you mark you mad cow stop it.

Barnsleybelle, no it isn't fair, you and Starlight are protesting about the same problem just from different perspectives.

Some teachers can hold 30 damn challenging kids in the palm of their hand for a lesson - dh does - but I know I'd struggle, and the fact that we teach in very different school reflects that.

The answer is a) smaller class sizes b)support by people who are paid in schools to give it - it isn't a sign of weakness/criticism necessarily of a teacher to say they need support; fgs there's 1 of them and 30 individuals (smacks head in despair at stupidity of the system). Putting 7 or 8 challenging kids together in one room with no TA support and offering no intervention/training - THAT is SMTs fault and SMT need to do something about it. Easier for a parent who's a teacher to put SMT on the spot about this, I'd imagine.

I claim the irrevocable defence of sleep deprivation
flatcap he might be right...

CAn I ask a question then please ? If YOUR child was in a class with 3 SEN children who hit out (age 4/5 so still very young) would you sell your soul to the devil and send them to a private school ?

heated... thank you. I see you are right. I think what has upset me tonight is that it seems that what i thought is actually true. The "naughty" children are pulling the teachers away from those who are well behaved.
As i said, i'm not a teacher, just a concerned mum who wants her son to do well. I'm concerned he's just cruising along now as the teacher has little time to challenge him. How can i possibly address this?

clemette i loved and totally agreed with your comments tho

I am a teacher who is doing just that KathyBrown but i have no ishooooos (largely cos i am completely apathetic to ishooooos)with private education (was privately educated myself).

Oh fuck I was hoping you'd say no lol

Flatcap does indeed to be a bit mental when it comes to certain parts of teaching.
Dizietsma, so do you think that teaching in schools consists entirely of teachers talking at the class? You seem to think that they do nothing of their own accord - any research, projects, our finding things out.

Kathybrown, no she was and I didn't. Dp and everyone else wanted to put her into a private school. They got as far as getting her a place and paying a deposit, I compromised by moving to an area with better state schools. There are a few children again who cause problems but they don;t really upset dd, she is a tough cookie. To my annoyance dp and my extended family are looking at the private option again but I dont see the need.

As a teacher, firstly I have to say that I enjoyed Alan More's stuff when I was a student.
So I'm not anti the chap in any sense of the word.
However, looking at Wiki
' He lived in a poor working class area, and, after passing the Eleven plus exam, attended Northampton Grammar School, but in 1970, at the age of 17, he was expelled for dealing LSD,later describing himself as "one of the world's most inept LSD dealers".
He is a vegetarian, an anarchist, a practicing magician and occultist, and he worships a Roman snake-deity named Glycon, which he acknowledges to be a "complete hoax".'

So I'm not really surprised that he had a somewhat jaundiced view of school in particular and education in general.
I wonder what the parents of his fellow students thought of him. []

I am taking that as a compliment gerontius, not entirely sure that it is meant as one but Oh Well!

I have put up with the problems of the SEN children in my DSs class for 6 years now (My youngers DS - DS2 has severe SEN and is educated at special school so I am pretty tolerant of SENs i think) and now its time to put my DS (1) first...the school are big time struggling to cope with the SEN of 3 boys in particular.

But you did move her though Pearls, it wasn't an acceptable situation ?
I wondered if I was over reacting.
I have one in a rubbish class, one who walks around the playground so lonely and cries at lunch time and one who's happy as larry all in the same school there's no logic is there ?

I respect you flatcap. In a weird kind of way. You're obviously a Monica-type character.

"The flow of vital youth along school corridors like sheep towards a shearing. Frisking, unaware. The real cirriculum is punctuality, obedience and the acceptance of monotony, those skills we shall require later in life. Oblique aversion therapy to cure us of our thirst for information, and condition us so that thereafter we forge an association between indolence and pleasure."

Nonsense.

Badly written nonsense at that.

Says she who has spent most of this evening planning an individualised learning programme for her yr 10 class and a highly structured intervention programme to support literacy development of INDIVIDUALS.

Rote learning - this isn't used in any school I have ever been in.

Teaching to the SATs - maybe this happens in some areas but that is a product of a system, not of individual teachers.

My DS1 is the one you first describe too (he is nearly 10!)

I was happy with the school as was dd. Of course when she was a school with huge grounds, a swimming pool and observatory she was swayed which was why I was annoyed at dp for taking her there. But he meant well

I would have left her where she was if it were not for other factors causing us to move. Part of being in a relationship is compromising, I did not want to move her and certainly not into the private sector. I compromised by moving to an area with grammar schools, but also one with a school that gave me the new direction I needed and better health provision for me.

I have no intention of pushing the grammar option to dd though.If we had remained in the same town she would have stayed at the same school. We moved from Lancashire to Dorset.

If my child was unhappy I would do something about it, as would any parent.

sorry Kathy i meant my DS is the second description

I am not getting the monica reference. Do you mean from friends because that is way of mark because I am not in any way known for my love of housework. I am very very competitive though, I caused some raised eyebrows yesterday when I found out my tutor group had won an interhouse tournament and gave out a huge whoop and leaped in the air. Everyone else said "well done" in a very calm voice.

Yes, I did mean from Friends.....and I can see that I was probably right!

Am off to bed with my Bible and laptop!