Stand and deliver the NC (you try it!) - teacher bashing in the UK

[bb99]

Hello all, after rambling on and seeing several other threads I've got interested in the whole teacher bashing concept.

I'm a teacher in Primary schools (a very lovely one) and have been spoken to rudely and unpleasantly by people (not from the school) who know I'm a teacher because it seems to be OK to be rude and denigrating to me as 'I should know that' or the 'don't you know - you're a teacher?' attitude takes over.

Lots of threads on here talk about crap teachers or people who disagree with teachers state that they should 'rethink their career' and it seems to be OK to just be unpleasant to and about teachers and schools and constantly judge them and their actions, even outside the classroom. This happens to the point of rudeness and could, in a classroom, be seen as bullying...

Why is it OK to be so unpleasant about and to people who do an amazing and challenging, underpaid job, with little or no support from the government?

I am guessing you are referring to one of my posts (amongst others) where I expressed to a teacher that I thought she should know better than using smacking as a discipline (on her own children)? I am standing by my every word.

I think teaching must be a really challenging and demanding job . I know of lots of great teachers and I agree with you teachers are under-paid. However, lots of jobs are challenging and under-paid and I don't know many professions who moan as much as the teaching profession. You don't have to be a teacher. Noone is holding a gun to your head delivering the NC!

bb99
i am a teacher too
been here 5 years and on the whole most people a pretty supportive of the work that teachers in general. There have been a few exceptions.

When people are critical of teachers, IME it is of a particular teacher - just like you or I may criticise am estate agent, police man, butcher, shop assistant - not tarring all with the same brush.

STick around - you will see that most MNers are grateful that there are good teacher MNer around

Fairymum - I think you need to meet more teachers...

I have huge respect for teachers. I can't control 1 small boy, so how they manage to sort out 30 children, let alone teach them anything is a miracle.
I do think teachers moan a lot, but FGS everyone moans about their job. I used to, and I loved my job.
I also think the NC, SATS etc., must be maddening for teachers. Expecially in infants and primary, it is a job which uses people skills and social communication, so constantly having to fill in forms must be quite irritating.

I have huge respect for teachers. I can't control 1 small boy, so how they manage to sort out 30 children, let alone teach them anything is a miracle.
I do think teachers moan a lot, but FGS everyone moans about their job. I used to, and I loved my job.
I also think the NC, SATS etc., must be maddening for teachers. Expecially in infants and primary, it is a job which uses people skills and social communication, so constantly having to fill in forms must be quite irritating.

What I find bewildering on Mumsnet is that when a mum describes what inatially amounts to a misunderstanding (ie their 7yo little darling said so), the full weight of mumsnet comes down and says, "report the teacher to the head" "write to the chairman of the board of governors", etc.

With anyone else, you would quietly and calmly get their side of the story first.

But then, we are all experts because we have all been to school.

I am a primary school teacher of twelve years' standing. When I first came on here, I used to get really upset by some of the comments made about teachers. Now I tend to avoid the education threads, unless I see that I can be of help to someone. I think that there will always be people on here who think they know better than teachers. There is a significant minority who show little respect for the profession - God help their children!

Doesn't bother me. Could be worse - you could be a health visitor

I'm not suure I'd stick around on MN if I were one of those. They get a real pasting.

The thing is we sort of do know better than the teachers, in that we think we know our own child.
But children behave so differently at school and at home, and most children -tell- -fibs- are not exactly impartial witnesses when talking of what happened at school.

It took me a long while to get through to DS that there are 30 children needing the teacher, and he can't expect constant 1-2-1 attention. I fear a lot of parents never do get that message.

I agree with the moaning to a point - staff rooms can be very interesting and good places to get stuff off your chest... and I'm overwhelmed with supportive comments...

Fairymum, did I mention a gun? Just because someone's a teacher does that give people the right to use their chosen occupation to bash them with? If you'd said know better as a PARENT, but 'as a teacher', why would that make a difference, do doctors make excellent patients? This is what I'm talking about - we're human first, not automated education machines. Also, when DO people hear teachers moaning about their jobs (friends possibly?)? It's another misconception - to a point! Teachers are moany...teachers aren't very good...teachers don't care...

This post isn't about the JOB, or a MOAN about the job, it's a moan about the negative attitudes some people think they have an automatic right to towards the teaching profession and individuals in it.

I think teaching is the BEST job in the world and wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it - there are no guns in most classrooms (yet). But I choose to teach, not to be assaulted, spat at, ridiculed, blamed for societies ills, parent (other's) children, have people think they can be rude or unpleasant to me (because I'm a teacher, if they just don't like me that's fine! ) or do spurious and unnecessary paperwork.

Popsycal - good point, maybe I just shouldn't worry so much, but it is just SOOOO frustrating when sometimes it feels as though the whole media and parental population is on a massive witch hunt with education. Of course teachers want the children to do well and by and large they do (IMO) an excellent job (despite the politicians' best efforts). Guess it's the nearest thing to judging parenting that most people feel comfortable doing...

You know I meant to cross out the bit about telling fibs.

Totally agree about the health visitor bashing. Every so often my profession gets an ear bashing which I find pretty annoying. Just because one teacher / health visitor / whatever says something inappropriate does not mean that every member of the profession is an idiot. Just imagine what the response would be if their were such generalized comments made around race or different religion.

Anyway, off to store my tar brushes now and listen to the kids fibs, there is a lot of good sense on here and if a few experts feel the need to bash on about something they may or may not know a lot about, so be it...

Communication is the key!

I'm not sure that is true. If someone posts about a teacher doing something that is upsetting a child or a parent, people will post accordingly. TBH in many cases I've seen posters respond by saying 'are you sure that's what the teacher said/did, children aren't always reliable witnesses' etc. And people are often told they are worrying over nothing. But of course there will be conflict. Considering how much breast-beating there is on MN about child-rearing, it's hardly likely that a person who is going to have such a huge influence over a child is going to be unscrutinised.

But why so vitriolic - lots of the gut reaction seems to be 'how could they' and 'crap teacher' and then it gets a bit more rational after the first few posts...

OK parenting is emotive and teachers will be discussed on a forum like this, and hopefully to good effect if someone gets the advice they need, and thank you to people who are supportive. My personal experience is outside this forum too, when people think they can get away with saying really unnecessary and unpleasant things just because someone's a teacher. It's almost as though the profession is fair game now.

I usually turn around and tell these people just how they could become a teacher as it's so easy, such a cushy job and the holidays are so long...that soon makes them review their attitude!

A shop assistant once took the pee out of teachers getting extra time away from the kids because of Baker, or inset days as they're now known, which was happening on that day - she spoke as if it were a scandal that she had to make alternative childcare arrangements for these extra days off, how inconvenient - if the teachers were there why couldn't the kids be there too? Not as inconvenient as for the teachers who LOST holiday...Children don't get MORE holiday because of these days, teachers actually had these days taken off of their holiday and most teachers use a lot of the school holidays for planning and prep anyway. But it seems OK to constantly pass judgment on teachers and imply that they're a bit crap or just down right unprofessional, or lazy or whatever!

I don't understand why it's fine to do this - Health visitors, I will endeavor never to post anything unkind about you! My SIL and I both really like ours - they're great!

Hey bb99 - try working in an IT dept! everybody hates you. Or being a builder like my DH Apparently they are all cowboys.

I've lost count of the time on MN that I have explained Baker Days.

Re IT departments. So I'm assuming that the IT dept in a school must make them the most loathed people in the known world!!!

Gawd yes! The lowest of the low

teachers are fair game were i work because they get so much holiday

so yes it must be awful having 2 inset days eating into your holday but you still get 6 weeks to do what you lie with (in my BF's case travel round the US) while the rest of us full timers get 22 days

and you always get Christmas off

5 INSET days.

If you are going to be critical, at least get it right

We are paid, taking the holidays into account. Effectivly we don't get paid for all those favbbo holidays, we just get the amount we would get paidm sans holidays, divided up over 12 payments

Why not join us?

Not helpful but one of my MIL's pearls of wisdom is that teachers never grow up because they've never left school

Mind you she also has some fascinating ideas about nutrition, child minders, breast feeding, finance - oh the list goes on.

Yes, we all live in boxes in school, and come out for the teaching day only. At the end of the day, they push us back in the boxes. Next time she makes that quip, tell her it is what little children think too!

it is a pretty good wage though never kind taking the holidays into account MB!