The advantages of having a teacher in the family?

[curiousthatsall]

I hope I'm not sounding too envious (although I am ), but does anyone else ever wonder whether there is a difference in attainment between those kids who have a teacher in the family (e.g. parent, grandparent) compared with those who don't?

I'm not referring to the Lockdown, but more broadly? I've anecdotally come across lots of people who had a teacher parent who, although clearly able, have not struck me as naturally more intelligent than others but nevertheless seem to have come through the education system with vastly superior grades (primary, GCSE/A-level, degrees) etc.

I'm sure it must make a huge difference having a teacher who knows the system inside/out in terms of assessment criteria and who have access to online tools for creating exam questions not to mention being able to explain topics in view of what they will be assessed on.

Any thoughts? I'm just curious...

My parents were both teachers - one secondary, one university lecturer.

Both are struggling with the way things are taught now and think it’s far too challenging to even work out what the set task is, never mind so it. (Based on 10 year old DD’s set tasks.)

Luckily DD is bright and will find her own way of doing things. And I’ll support that to my dying breath.

DH is a secondary teacher. He is absolutely not cut out for teaching our primary age kids.

I don't think there will be any benefit to them when they are in secondary, he doesn't have any inside information or know anything anyone couldn't find out if they wanted to. Practice papers are available all over the internet.

The main upside is we didn't have to pay for childcare in the holidays.

@TitsOot4Xmas That's great. I do think there are a lot of parents who are teachers who would know, though, and have access to online info that others don't.

Also, just having a grandparent who is able to help in any way is a great advantage, teacher or not (though ex teachers would presumably be better teachers, even when it comes to new topics than non-teachers). I definitely know people who have parents or grandparents who spend hours in the week helping their kids/grandkids.

I don't have this support so help where I can but my DD are very independent and don't want my help anyway.

I’m a secondary teacher...I’m useless at every subject other than my own. I’m far more impatient with my own child and I can’t be bothered to do anymore after a long day at school with marking and planning.
I’d say it’s a disadvantage in my house.

How old are your children OP?

Things have moved in massively with online resources and most GCSE and A level students know where to find past papers and resources to aid their studies and revision.

I think you mean the focus on education and the system rather than the teacher teaching.

I think they are absolutely at an advantage as they have the contacts within the education system who can help fill any gaps, they have the resources & of course will always place a huge emphasis on education. Most teachers kids would be in top streams I would imagine & would go on to do very well for themselves. However on the other hand, the teachers I know are very smug about the fact too..

It’s more the inside knowledge eg that passing exams has everything to do with the exam criteria. A laser focus on that can elevate grades significantly.

Both my parents were teachers & I was highly academic.

A big part of it is that they massively instilled a love of learning & encourage curiosity. If I ever asked them how something worked/what something was, the answer was always “what do you think it is” or “shall we go find out”.

They were both primary school, so things were different once I hit secondary, but those concepts helped rather than actively teaching me subjects etc.

I’m a secondary school teacher. My 14 year old dd won’t let me help her with anything🤷🏼‍♀️

I agree that certainly secondary teachers know that meeting exactly what the markscheme requires, is one of the big keys to exam success...they know that applies to every subject and so are more likely to ensure their child has access to that information and looks at it.

Teachers know about good and less good option choices for university places etc. They know about the university application system. Again this will be secondary teachers. They should know about things like outside courses available which can help students get into popular courses.

You’d expect teachers to value education and when children are small to spend time with them doing the basic such as daily reading and that they would know the right questions to ask at parents evenings and to read between the lines to understand what bland reports often mean.

If their child was at a school which was under resourced, you’d expect them to be able to find out from a colleague which books might be useful and to buy them for their child.

Most teachers will manage to help their child with homework in primary school and in most subjects to a certain level of secondary.

But also, lots of teachers work extremely long hours and often their own children do t get as much input as they would like to give,

My mum was a teacher and, as PP says, instilled a HUGE love of learning. She taught science and we spent many afternoons doing kick samples etc in the pond. House was always full of books as well and I was (and am) a voracious reader. Coupled with being academic, and a background that prioritises education, I was pretty well set up.

My youngest brother's attitude was... different!

But I will agree that I spent a lot of time feeling resentful that the students at my mums school got more of her than I did. So now I'm a teacher...

I'm a teacher and can provide a bit of help... on exams, ucas etc.

Although not to my children, according to my daughter I know nothing... not even in the subject I teach and examine in!

I would probably say was an advantage to my children when they were primary age, that I’m a primary teacher, but no real use now they’re in secondary. DH being good at chemistry, maths and physics has been more of an advantage to them recently than anything I’ve done.

Both of us having been to university has been noticeably helpful as they fill in university applications-just knowing where to start with student loans, personal statements, accommodation has been pretty handy when looking at their friends whose parents didn’t go and they didn’t know where to start.

In the current homeschooling scenario, I'd argue that a retired teacher grandparent is an amazing advantage compared to a teacher parent who will be too busy to help their child with schoolwork.

A technology-conversant grandparent, however, is a massive boon to supporting grandchildren with their schoolwork and I have some lower secondary aged pupils who came on so much last lockdown because they were supported virtually by grandparents.

Of course, this grandparent doesn't have to be a retired teacher. Any well educated and interested grandparent willing to support grandchildren remotely would be a real help.

I'm able to support my children at home during homeschooling & a couple of teachers I considered friends were very condescending at the notion that I'd be able to help them... I thought they would be very supportive... After all a parent is their child's first educator.... But no the ones I know were "be careful because we spend so much of our time undoing bad practice thought by parents"... Really annoyed me, we're in the middle of a pandemic, all parents are trying their best. These teachers are very pushy with their own kids (& with my dc) & as dh said it galls them to think we are doing extra with dc. I replied "a parent is always it's child's first educator" which didn't go down too well...

I agree that having capable, educated and interested parents, who are willing and able to put the time in with their children is the key thing. Being a teacher has some benefits, but the big benefit comes from having interested, capable and willing and able to help parents. That’s where the gap opens up, both when schools are on as usual and even more now.

Teachers of MFL confer huge benefits to their DC and can coach much more than non linguists. Maths teachers are definitely good at coaching their own children. Sports teachers tend to get their children into sports clubs etc.

However the attainment of DC of teachers I have come across have been a mixed bag. Even teachers who are Oxbridge educated have not had the brightest DC by any means. Highly educated parents who are teachers don’t always convey an advantage to their dc over other Dc. It will depend on how bright their dc are and how much they want to be coached.

I think it’s a huge advantage to primary age children at the moment. Secondary age not so much. Parental support, ability, intelligence and willingness to work are not confined to DC of teachers. Also many other parents have very bright dc and understand how to help.

DH a is a teacher. Ironically I’m the one mostly helping the DC with homeschooling (while trying to work full time) because DH is busy teaching on zoom all day.

I was going to say, being a teacher is obviously no particular help to dc at the moment as they're too busy working/mostly live teaching all day and ignoring own dc. In normal times, yes.

My Mum trained as a teacher but only taught reception for a year or 2 before she had me and then 3 other children. Instead she set up and ran a nursery school. This was in the days before nurseries were mainly for childcare and she always focused on early education when children were ready. She had a particular focus on children with special needs.
With benefit of early exposure to education all four of us had good O and A levels and we all have degrees and good careers (one now a teacher herself). She now also has 10 grandchildren who are all bright confident learners particularly the one with special needs who has had amazing support all the way through.

I do think this is down to my Mum's example and focus on early learning so yes there can be an advantage to having teachers in the family.

I do agree also with previous posters that if you have a close relative who is a secondary teacher and knows their way around exam techniques this can also be an advantage irrespective of the content required.

The first 3 years of education are vital and teachers have a good insight into this. Even if teachers teach all day (didn’t they always do this?!) that doesn’t mean they are not around for homework etc at weekends.

I think it’s fair to say not all teachers are highly intelligent. Some are of course. You wouldn’t expect them all to have the brightest dc. Otherwise Oxbridge would be full of teachers children. They are not. Very bright people are in very many jobs and their DC will possibly do well too. Even people who do very ordinary jobs with ordinary qualifications can have bright DC and be great parents!