Working as a volunteer in school - challenging the teacher

[Jules2]

Here's a pithy subject for other parents and teachers - I really would like to hear from teachers. I've been volunteering in a Yr 6 class at my daughter's school and every week the teacher has made some kind of mistake - be it a grammatical error, spelling mistake or a mistake in Maths. One example was where she asked pupils to put 4 fractions in ascending order and she gave them the wrong answer. I'm not so quick at Maths myself but thought it was incorrect and worked it out after I left. English is my strong suit - I was a book editor and English graduate - so I do know my stuff. But what should I do? I don't want to embarrass a teacher (and she's not the only one) and this particular teacher can be quite defensive. Should I let these errors go? Or raise them discreetly after class - but when it may be too late? Teachers/parents - have you experienced this situation and what would you advise?

"the questions can be worded in a confusing way (e.g 'give a preposition in line 1' - there are 2 but they ony have 1 as the answer)

I don't see the problem with this. Pupils are asked to give one preposition. So what if there are two in the sentence? They only need to give one."

I know the thread has moved on, Euphemia, but the way I read this was that there were two prepositions in the sentence, but only one was listed as correct on the marking sheet, so pupils who correctly gave the other preposition as their answer would get it marked wrong.

One of the best teachers I know is mildly dyspraxia and has trouble remembering which is left and right. She has various strategies to deal with it but will still make the occasional mistake. She makes a point of telling the pupils at an early stage in the school year and getting them to help: so, where necessary, they get to learn left and right, they get to learn that having a learning difficulty doesn't have to be a barrier, they learn about helping people without laughing at them, and they learn that owning up to your mistakes and problems is nothing to be ashamed of. Total win-win.

Ici - that strategy is perfect, and as you say a win/win.

Icimoi one of the professors I had in uni was very dislexic and asked us to help in a very similar way to the one you described! As you say it made for a relaxed atmosphere where we were ready to support each other and no-one was afraid to speak up, try new things or make mistakes. To this day I look up to that professor

I'm shocked at the number of posters who don't see poor spelling as problematic if you're a teacher. Surely it should be taken as given that teachers possess a basic standard of spelling and grammar?

Saying that, I have up going to A'level English classes, with the blessing of my (crap) school's head of English, as our teacher was so shocking. She revelled in the fact that she'd got an 'E' in her own English language paper... Honestly, I don't know how she managed to land her job (or why she felt the need to share her own appalling exam results, come to that). I remember feeling totally and utterly failed by my school though - I was a bright kid and it was awful knowing that we didn't have good quality teaching. I still got an A, however (thanks to my parents and their decent grasp of English) and that woman had the audacity to come and say well done to me on results day! She'd had zero impact...!

I think it's important to think about the impact inadequately qualified teachers have on their pupils, not just in terms of factual inaccuracies, but in terms of the message that implies. That errors are ok? Shouldn't be challenged? That mediocre is acceptable? That some children aren't worthy of top standard teaching? That's certainly how I felt in the example above - but why didn't the head of department, or anyone else, seem to care? That's the greatest tragedy to me. Total and utter acceptance that we were all in a race to the bottom and challenging the status quo was entirely pointless.

OP - I think you should challenge the teacher, if only to dispel the myth that teachers aren't infallible and give hope to people like my 16yo self!

*are infallible

If I am unsure of teaching something, I always involve the TAs, LSAs or volunteers by checking with them for reassurance, etc. For example, recently on supply I had to teach French and I wasn't sure about my pronunciation so asked the adults in the room (any of them as don't believe in hierarchy myself).
I also once had a maths graduate volunteering and we were working out how many years ago something had happened in history and I went straight to him as I knew he would be much quicker than me.
I try to involve everyone in the classroom in my lessons (adults and children).
The trouble-it might do you a favour to find out a little about the volunteers in your school-they may actually make your job easier!

I like that the children in my class assume they have 2 teachers, myself and the TA. As far as they are concerned, we are both there to teach them. On a professional level, my job is different from hers and the buck stops with me. However, on a personal level there is no superiority therefore she is free to suggest and advise in any way she sees fit. I ask her opinion and respect her judgement. If she noticed I'd made a mistake I would expect her to point it out, as I would if I noticed she had made a mistake. No smugness, no edge, just a case of two heads are better than one. If there is a volunteer or a student in my class then I afford them the same personal and professional courtesy I give my TA. I expect the same in return which of course means that they are also free to make suggestions and point out mistakes.

Teaching is supposed to be a profession--like being a doctor or an architect. Can you imagine if we refrained from pointing out errors that doctors had made because "Well, the doctor might feel embarrassed" or "But being a doctor's a difficult job, you know!"

I think there is a case for politely discussing errors with a teacher.

And yes, I have seen a fair few teachers with pretty rubbish grammar, spelling and maths skills, which really makes me wonder why they are teaching at all.

I'm a teacher. Frankly, your brain has to work very fast a lot of the time, getting the info up on the board, considering who to direct the next question at, thinking of an unexpected "yes, but what if.." challenge question for the more able, etc.

If I make a mistake on the board, my TA will do a big "stage whisper" and I'll jokingly say, "thanks Mrs M - that's Jimmy's fault!" (Jimmy being child in front row) which makes the children laugh. Or if a child notices, I respond, "well done, I was just testing you!" It might sound silly but we have a fab ethos for learning in our class where making mistakes is part of the learning process.

Having said that, the mistakes I make are always just jotting errors - if I made an error through lack of subject knowledge I'd be mortified.

Ugh - no TA, Euphemia? That's a shame. The TA in my class is absolutely fantastic; I genuinely couldn't get it all done without her.