Schools where pupils call teachers by their first names.

[LynetteScavo]

I've heard it's usual in Finland...does it happen in any other countries?

Did you go/do your DC to a school where children call teachers by their first name?

What do you think about it?

My little brother & sister did (state, catholic school with a very forward thinking ethos) - they loved it. Didn't seem to cause any issues ito respect or discipline.

I find it weird this doesn't happen more often.
It's the only remaining place in modern life where first names aren't used.

Deepdarkwood - was in in Leamington? I'm asking because DS is going in Sept, and I'm nervous.

In my experience this is the norm in special schools.

I have pretty much always been called by my first name in school.

I like it and have had a couple of lovely moments with children where they realised the social convention of using my (and my TA's) name.

Family kids in east London went to a primary with no uniform and teachers called by first names (they later brought in an optional uniform). Kids got a great education and loved it.

My dd's go to a school where all teachers are called by their first names and there are no issues with it, there is still a lot of respect.

My son's school does this. There seems to be no more trouble with discipline than elsewhere. It's very relaxed. I like it. It suits my son.

I went to a school in Herts where teachers were all called by their first names except one set of houseparents who were a bit eccentric that way.

There was ime a great deal more respect because we felt that we were all part of a community. The school was self governed as well though which also helped.

I loved it there and other old scholars and I have discussed often lately how lucky we were and how special the school is.

here in Spain it's completely the norm. My DD has asked me my teachers' names and it was weird that I couldn't tell her!

Ooh, lynette - yes it was But it was a while ago (my 'baby' sister is now 25...)
But they absolutely loved the school - had a great time, and made wonderful friends, and both got good results and went onto good unis. But as I understand it, school was changing quite radically when they left - so suspect it's very different now... (my sister's intake was not very catholic in make up...)

My mum taught at a local primary school, and was also very impressed with the school at the time, but i know she felt the ethos had changed somewhat...

Thanks deepdarkwood, that's good to hear as we don't live in Leamington, so don't know anyone who goes/has been there.

Normal in Sweden. Not incompatible with a respectful attitude if the general culture in the school/community is one of respect. I also wore jeans and clogs to school and, from age 9, was allowed to leave the school grounds in my lunch break. It didn't make us disrespectful because we had no reason to think these things were connected with disrespect.

I working in such a school in Derby - no uniform, first names - no issues.

In fact it was strange going back to being called MISS -- yuk.

It's normal here in France in some primary schools. My DC call their primary teachers by their first names but the formal form of "you" (vous) is encouraged from 6+ and expected from 9+. It isn't universal though, some schools prefer the old fashioned Maitresse/Maitre.

In secondary school it becomes Monsieur X and Madame Y.

I went to a 'progressive' (ha ha) co-ed boarding school where we called the staff by their first names. Think it was meant to point up the lack of unnecessary hierarchy and the mutual respect in which staff and pupils held each other (more hollow laughter).
It didn't seem that odd at the time; you got used to it very quickly. In fact it was probably one of the least weird things about that place

I don't know of any schools that have gone down this route, only rumours of schools so am not going to comment on them. However, there have been occasions when a TA has encouraged children to use a first name and they had no authority with the children. I always recommend friends who begin work within school to make sure the children call them by their full name. It might be different if all the staff were known by their first name.

I like being called by my full name because it doesn't happen anywhere else

Deepdarkwood when did they go cos I went there too - think they have changed the non uniform to uniform recently.

Worked in a special school where this was the norn - lovely. Now in mainstream, don't understand why it has to be different. Wouldn't bother me at all. Would trade being called by my first name by the children as a sign of disrespect for the actual desrespect of being lied to or sworn at - by the parents, TBH.

soapboxqueen - summerhill/dartington/similar??

interesting. i've worked with kids plenty and never been a 'miss', or had discipline issues.

sungirltan-I wasn't saying that they didn't exist but there aren't any where I teach so therefore I cannot comment.

I can only comment on the experience I have had and it did have an effect.

This is the norm at our school in Ireland, first names/no uniform. The Board of Management/ School Govenors are parents and we have a lot of say regarding the ethos and running of the school. It is a fanastic school with a great atmosphere of mutual respect between children, parents and teaching staff.

This is not the norm for all Irish schools which are normally under religious patronage and run on traditional lines, but there is a growing movement of schools like ours which is a good thing IMO.

babyicebean - my sister is 25, and my brother is 2.5 years older - would that overlap with you? They were introducing uniform as my sister left (she escaped, but was deeply unimpressed at what she saw as a betrayal of the schools principals )

Fwiw, lynette, I went to 'posh' private school in Warwick (KS), and think that my bro & sis had an overall education that was about the same. They both talk very very positively about the school, and particularly the teachers. And my parents (a teacher & a lecturer in education) both really rated it.

soapboxqueen - surely the point is that is a TA does it in a school where 'normal' rules apply, making a point of being called by first name sets you up as having a different set of rules - therefore totally different to a scenario where first names is normal. I also suspect that the sort of person who would choose to do that in a 'normal' school might have a particular agenda that would lead to a less disciplined approach.

Another one from Spain -DD 's small rural school teachers all use first names apart from one stuffy visiting music teacher who insisted on being called maestro until the headteacher told him otherwise...

deepdarkwood- I did say that it might be different if all of the staff were called by their first name. I also said that this was 'my' experience of it. At no point did I say that it was true for all examples.

Of the TA's i was thinking of they did not have their own agenda. They were initially part of another section of the school where the children knew them by their first names and didn't feel it made sense to make the children call them by their surname once they joined the main part of the school. This occured in slightly differing ways in more than one school.