Scottish teachers to be balloted about strike action

[ourweeschool]

Feeling strangely worried about this (am a teacher).

I don't know if we have public opinion with us.

rolls eyes

"It was okay in the past" is something that gets my goat.

"deaf and dumb", "spastic", "mongol" etc are all things that were used in the past...

But you aren't in the past anymore, and you're an educated person, isn't that one of the reasons you want more pay after all?

And if parents weren't interested in their child's education or care in school, you'd complain about that too. If parents weren't interested, it would surely make your jobs even more difficult.

So a parent engaging with their school, regardless of reason, is still more positive than a parent who you cannot get a hold of at all.

You won't get sympathy or support if you can't even use the correct terminology and show that you aren't as professional as you claim to be. You also show disrespect to parents and wonder why you aren't respected in turn?

Stranger, the term "it was okay in the past" wasn't used.

On the whole people in education work really hard to get their terminology right and act with professionalism in their interactions with parents. What people say in an open online forum may not be a true reflection of that!

Whether there is a case for change or not, the ten schools specialising in additional support needs in Edinburgh are called Special schools, that is the official categorisation not some term an outdated teacher is using. Don’t know what other councils use. I pull kids up often for saying “mongo” and (patiently, for the most part!) explain why it is not acceptable. Nothing used on this thread has been in that category at all.

I do support any strike for pay but I agree that it’s a broader, bigger problem than pay - workload, the threadbare IT, book, and support resources. The PSAs in the dcs’ primary are wonderful and supporting the kids needing extra help better benefits the whole class but it’s a horrendous juggle.

If anything I’m less sympathetic to the pay argument than the terrible conditions and lack of investment - I’m private sector, in a firm that’s not doing great, years of worrying about job loss.

Much bigger tax rises are needed to deliver better pay and conditions and the SNP have no honest plans in this direction (or labour and certainly not the tories).

strangerthongs you seem to be misunderstanding my post. These are not things that I have said but common statements in the media.
I am glad your parents ensured that you were able to go to university umpteen times. But again this is not what I was talking about. You are not a teacher so are not aware of the types of endless queries from parents trying to tell us how to do our jobs.
Please tell me what wrong terminology I have used. I s. Neither disrespecting parents nor parents - just pointing out what teaching is like for many people nowadays

One of the problems about conditions is the inclusion agenda. It is so difficult to argue against that without being portrayed as people who want to segregate children into special schools to give themselves an easier life.

The rise of 'attachment theory' and that eejit Paul Dix hasn't helped- there is a small group of teachers who have fallen for the inclusion agenda hook line and sinker and they're really quite vocal, especially on FB and social media. (I think the universities aren't helping either.) These people are effectively championing the right of the one individual over the education of twenty seven others.

And it's very difficult to argue against sad home life stories.

Inclusion is like curriculum for excellence and learning through play, well intentioned, heart in the right place stuff, very hard to deliver with large classes and minimal support and resources

Yes all these things are well intentioned.Experiencesd staff know they won't work but are shot down in flames for suggesting this and made to feel like dinosaurs. Thankfully I won't still be teaching when the powers that be hold up their hands in horror at the decline in standards

So..any new thoughts now the ballot is about the new pay offer not strike action?

In my school we all seem to be happy with the offer. Our HT had a meeting today with our support staff to tell them some of them would be losing their jobs.
Tbh when people who earn very little for the work they do get treated like this, I would feel very uncomfortable going on strike

Others being treated like crap isn’t caused by teachers striking. I don’t see the logic in that. A successful campaign by one union can add strength to others when it’s their turn in fact.
It’s a shite offer. Inflation will run near to 3% so don’t expect to see the benefit of the third year in your spending ability. This year’s 6% is actually 3.77 for the past year due to the staggered dates involved. It’s not restorative - we are 25% down from ten years ago! It won’t attract new recruits or retain teachers. It’s a bit insulting really, and to take a full year to easy this point is taking the utter piss.

Sorry you asked for thoughts, I gave you mine.

I haven’t said you aren’t entitled to your thoughts

I agree with you misressiggi. I won’t be accepting it as it is barely above inflation. If we take it we will be told we have had our 12% and get nothing again for ages.

The strongest argument on pay is the 25% decline over time - the running under inflation argument doesn’t look so good when most people aren’t getting 3pc rises this year and haven’t for some years.

Now a strike for the PS being let go would be worth doing.

But the whole reason there is a 25% decline is because we have had no rise, or well below inflation rises, for years!

yes you want to get away from people mis-characterizing the debate as 'they want more than 3% this year' which by itself could seem unreasonable.

I am torn and every time I think I've made my mind up I swing round again.

I don't think it's what we deserve or need. However in the context of Brexit and all that uncertainty, I'm loathe to strike for 0.5%. I know we asked for 10% in one year but I don't see us going from 3 + 3 + 3 to 10.

However the thought is in our school is that COSLA will be keen to settle pre-Brexit.

I feel pretty much the same, Ourwee.

What do you mean, strike for 0.5?

I am finding all the percentages very confusing at this stage - I know you can’t add two years together like Swinney has done to make the rise look better!

So...the SSTA have accepted the deal but the bigger EIS hasn’t. Wonder where that leaves us?

With a ballot of EIS members for industrial action. One Union can’t accept on its own, and as you say the one who has rejected is the big one

From a selfish perspective as the parent of a son away to sit higher I really hope a strike doesn’t happen. I say this as a “victim”of the teachers strikes of the 80s when I was in my O grade year-my school was massively targeted as we were in the constituency of the then education minister-we were only in school on a Monday and a Friday for months.

HOWEVER, I do believe that teachers have a really shitty deal, and are massively taken advantage of by their employers.

My degree subject is in demand amd I could actually go and do a post grad year for teaching, amd be paid through it, amd I did think absolutely it it seriously for about minutes.

I work in the public sector, and am similarly taken advantage of, but what really pisses me off is that so many people seem to have the attitude that if you have a shit attitude from your own employer, that makes it ok for other employers to treat their staff like shit. NONE of us should be treated so badly!

Education is needing a massive overhaul, But not in a curriculum for excellence way, but to allow teachers to do what the majority of them do well, and that is to damn well teach! I don’t pretend that I know the answers but for a lot of years I’ll admit I was a bit “yeah yeah teachers moaning again”, but when I look at the salaries and what’s expected for those salaries, it’s no wonder there’s a recruitment and retention crisis.

Thanks Judgerinder that’s really nice to read (I really need to stop reading what’s on Twitter about it!) if your son is doing highers this year I wouldn’t be alarmed - an industrial ballot still has to happen and (if it passes, it may not) then dates set - there isn’t that much teaching time left after the next month is past.