What is the difference between a nanny and a governess?

[lucyjames]

What is the difference between a nanny and a governess?

Governess teaches children in the home (ie takes the place of school).

erm, 50-100 years, and a governess would be more like a mothering figure too, as mum is so upperclass she cant be arsed to parent?

A governess is there for teaching only.

oh yeah, and she teaches.

Ok, so I am totally wrong.

Thanks for replies, I found the differences on a quick Google search. A governess will plan the curriculum for children and isn't responsible for childcare duties like cooking for the children. She will need to have teaching qualifications,

Interesting. I wonder if there is a call for this anymore?

I suppose home schooling if the parent is unable to.

Lots of call for it in the Middle East and places like Russia, Switzerland, etc. I frequently get emails seeking Governesses.

A governess is from Jane Austin Novels, a nanny is from real life

I used to be a nanny/governess - school aged child managing transition back to school including educational support in school languages and English language teaching.

There is increasing demand for home educating nanny/governesses so they exist but it's changed from the Brontë days.

I have a friend who does governessing. (?) It looks a bit insecure to me but she lives an amazing life jetsetting all over the place every year/six months and paid a relative fortune given that she is usually provided with place to live etc. She sometimes lives in the same house as the family but has a separate flatlet, or sometimes has a separate place. She teaches the child/children of the family, who will usually have some sort of issue that makes mainstream school/boarding school undesirable (like being human - sorry, am very anti-boarding school myself).

A nanny does childcare. She's done that as well in the past before training as a teacher. She did a couple of decades hard in primary schools, so I think she reckons she deserves this

It does sound a bit 18th Century though. Wouldn't they be called a tutor (full-time) nowadays? Is a male governess a governor??

Thanks for the replies.

I have seen a few jobs advertising for a governess, mostly in the Middle East and in Russia. The children already seem to have nannies and the role is purely to educate them. Like the PP said, it is paid well, up to 1k per week, live in! It is something to consider. I am a qualified teacher and like the idea of a complete change but I am sure there are many downsides to the job too!

I think the downsides are/is the probable length of tenure and the lack of variety in terms of teaching the same child/small group of children every day. My friend has chosen not to have a family of her own - whether she would have liked to or not, I'm never entirely sure.

It's very intensive and completely different to class teaching. Some parents like to see all the paperwork as well, which is a bit of a stress, but there are upsides too (besides the pay ).

I know a family who travels an awful lot, following the father's global business interests around the planet. They hired a governess for their two children for a year, as the children could not attend school; that did not preclude also having a travelling nanny and travelling maid.

The governess delivered the distance/home school version of the French national curriculum (CNED) but also took charge of teaching the children all about the different countries and cities they stayed in.

I think the downsides would be the parents of the children. I don't think they'd be the easiest customers. But it would be a fascinating insight into the lives of the super rich.