To think teachers' kids have all the advantages

[thepogues]

Bit tongue-in-cheek but a significant grain of truth.

Wherever my kids have been in classes (whether at primary or secondary), the kids of teachers always seem to do unusually well. Of course, some kids will be naturally super bright but statistically you'd assume their IQ/potential to be spread (bell curve and all that) plus, anecdotally (though I've known lots) most, anecdotally, do not appear more sparky or intelligent than their peers. But perhaps they work harder as they all seem to excel, particularly in terms of home work tasks but also when it comes to certain exams.

What is the reason for this? Is it because the teacher parents (or grandparents/relatives, for that matter), know how to teach or is it because they are able to find out about upcoming tests/similar tests or because they know the ins and outs of what is required to achieve certain grades (in line with the curriculum). Or both?

Would love to hear your views/comments.

As a sweeping generalisation, teachers probably:

• Value education so encourage their DC to work hard, along with things like reading to them from a young age.
• Have an idea how to motivate/teach their kids at home, plus have an awareness of how schools work. Of course this will depend on age and subject, but some of it will be transferable
• Have friends/colleagues they can ask for advice in areas outside their remit.

But I don't think this is all exclusive to teachers. Other professionals can do similar, with slightly less awareness of exactly how schools run.

I am not really a fan of having teachers have their own children in the school they teach in and certainly not the class.

They might have academic advantages but socially it’s awful.

Maybe these genetically bright kids are also pushed to not show up their parents

Not in my experience. Teachers' DC were quite run of the mill.

Cultural capital.
Value on education.

I’m at sahm but an ex secondary teacher. My oldest is in year 1 she isn’t exceptional bright but has a summer birthday and is toward the top end of the class in an affluent area.

She reads to us every evening and we always read to her. We visit places, do activities, talk about politics at the dinner table and other things. I had no idea how to teach little ones so lockdown was a learning curve like most parents and it was hard with a difficult baby in tow but we kept trying with it.

Because teachers value education and know how to motivate their children. And they know the curriculum so know what to focus on.

I agree with this.

My sister is a teacher. 20+ years.

My son is a high flyer - always has been. However I don't "teach" him at home.

That said, being a teacher I couldn't help but be constantly aware of certain points e.g. the importance of installing a love of reading from a young age. I read to him pretty much every day and have done since he was a baby.

He is a naturally logical thinker and is able to understand new concepts quickly and has a fantastic memory - he will remember a fact after hearing it just the once. These natural traits fit in perfectly with academics.

I do encourage him to pursue his interests (trains 4 times per week in his favourite sport and loves reading certain authors) however I don't "push" him academically. I don't want to be one of those parents that pushes their children to breaking point. I simply instil the importance of education and explain that he should make the most of it.

Agree with value on education and relatively contemporary knowledge of exams or curriculum.

I think what is seen in the home environment, around the kind of work a teacher does, also counts. Lots of marking, exam season, and a 3-term rhythm that works roughly for parents as well as the children, without some things like busy financial year ends, AGMs, or similar. Some things woven into (drummed into) the day-to-day childhood things you do (the maths/engineering of playground equipment, or your bike, or Christmas trees spring to mind for me).

I have a few teacher friends. Their dc are pretty normal. Some have a few issues, some don't, some are popular and bright, some aren't.

Most teachers are exhausted, I hear the same sorts of complaints from my teacher friends that me and my social work colleagues complain about - being burnt out and giving your emotion reserves to other people's dc rather than your own.

I'm a teacher and my kids are both v academic. It's the expectation that they work really hard and always value school. They don't really get a choice in this! God knows what will happen when they are teenagers and they decide to rebel.

I come from a family of teachers. DM was a retired teacher and looked after my DC for 1 or 2 days a week.

Her games involved letters and numbers so both could nearly read before starting school.

We have also done the 'right' things to encourage a love of learning, because family know what the right things are!

I'm the child of a teacher and headteacher, albeit a long time since i was at school. We were never helped with homework or formally taught ANYTHING at home. We were never organised or supervised in the way I have had to supervise my DSs.....
But our parents obviously valued education and we were praised when we tried hard at school- academically or in sports, drama, music etc.

I had teacher parents and I think it was valuing education that made me do well and having respect for teachers helped too. I was brought up in an environment that valued gaining knowledge and we did quite a bit out of school like museums etc
my mum didn’t teach me her chosen subject directly at home so it definitely wasn’t that. If anything she had less time to help me with homework because she was always working in the evenings

I'm an ex teacher (although still work in education, not formally as a teacher and with little children instead of secondary).

I really value schooling and education and think that runs off on my own kids. We spend time making the most of homework, we talk about what they're doing in lessons at school. If they're doing a certain topic, I might look for opportunities to deepen their understanding - like visit a museum, town. They talk to me if they didn't understand something in lesson (usually in my subject - I'll do this with friends kids too). I help them revise effectively, I make sure they've always got the right equipment.

My kids have always done well at school. Doing well at school doesn't necessarily reflect true inherent intelligence and I know hundreds of children who were bright but didn't get the same support at home.

Family member is a teacher. In fact, we have many generations of teachers in our family.
One child is doing well, not the absolute top of the year but ahead of most. This child works hard in school, reads lots at home but otherwise doesn't do much academic work at home. Only primary at the moment so no homework issued really.
Other child quite obviously dyslexic, works on lots more things at home with parents but still probably behind their peers.
Both children know that they need to work hard to achieve things but it just comes easier to one than the other.
Both excel in other areas out with school and get a lot of confidence and enjoyment doing that.
I think a lot of "doing well" probably has to do with having the right attitude. If their parents help them see how valuable it is to work and pay attention.
Most importantly they are being brought up to be kind, helpful and confident in themselves without putting others down.

They also have parents who work very long hours for less pay that other people who work similar hours.
They also have parents that probably cant attend any school events during school hours and may not be able to do regular drop offs and pick ups.
So its not all good

Is it because the teacher parents (or grandparents/relatives, for that matter), know how to teach or is it because they are able to find out about upcoming tests/similar tests or because they know the ins and outs of what is required to achieve certain grades (in line with the curriculum). Or both?

Do they cheat, is what you're asking, isn't it? Of course they don't. A teacher would get into huge trouble slipping a test to their own kids before it was sat. But they can probably get hold of old test papers to help them revise and fill in any gaps in their learning. My OH primary teacher can also help our DC (now secondary) with their homework to a level I can't as non-teacher. So it's not preferential treatment, just additional support.

And if it makes any difference, my DC are not top of the class! They do fine, but they're not the cleverest.

Yes, agree with this, good points.

Of course, lots of non- teacher parents encourage their children to read, value education and visit museums etc in the holidays but it's hard knowing what 'good looks like' in the same way a teacher will know the curriculum inside/out or ask colleagues for advice or pick things up at school (no, I'm not talking about cheating!).

But if you ask my kids, they don't. Teacher's kids have all the disadvantages.

My daughter would say...

• she can't get away with anything (I would say she can't bullshit me that she's doing / done enough revision for the exams, or that she's doing what everyone else is doing)

• teaching at the same school means if she plays up, or doesn't hand work in, I get told more quickly than when other parents would.

• she can't get away with anything. I always know when the reports are due out / there's parents evenings / what she's supposed to be doing. At secondary, other parents doing check SMHW or go to parents evening as much...

• All of her old stuff ends up at school. Don't need that book any more? Great, I'll put it on the bookshelf at work.

But her biggest beef is that holidays are always educational. Her other friends with teacher parents are the same. Never two weeks lazing on a beach doing nothing. When she studied GCSE history (Nazis) we had a trip to Berlin etc... or even a holiday to Greece will involve going to the historic sites.

She would say there's more negatives than positives!

This^

I’ve taught lots of teacher’s children. They’ve all been very varied academically but the one thing they have in common is that, bless them, they’re always a wee bit neglected.

Not in a serious way at all but in a ‘parents work very long, inflexible hours’ way.

With regard to cheating, no, really frowned upon!

Being quite assertive, respectful, on the ball, and curious - that behaviour was reinforced (not saying that would always work, but good if it does).

I get that your post was fairly humorous @mommandme but don’t you think that must get really stifling for her?

I think the points on value around education are really what's behind it, but I also think there is an additional pressure on teachers kids to do well, especially if they attend the school their parent teaches in!

Never taught my own and never had inside knowledge to help them. Successful in their own field and refused to go to university despite offers and good a levels.
Think they’d argue I wasn’t always at school events to watch them during the day despite others such as grandparents going in my place.