Are Teachers, as a profession, for too sensitive of criticism?

[zanzibarmum]

Perhaps it's because they expect their charges to do what they are told and not to answer back that they find criticism from any adult quarter difficult to take.

No I dont cringe, I try to post very honestly on threads on here. I have certainly never defended bad teaching.

Should I be cringing, I am not sure I get your point.

twinsetandpearls - I wish you were my dcs teacher. You do of course do a fantastically important job often with inadquate resources.

It is a thread about her own thread though.

lol zanzi I am the one teacher who has said she is oversensitive. I cry in assembly FFS.

Stay frosty. I post on education because I am interested in it; far more important than recipes etc - but I do bake a mean fruit cake.

I probably post in education more than anyone else, I bet my fruit cake is better zanzi. Dont you dare disagree I may cry

Aha, so a profession that requires a good standard of education, plus intense commitment to the job, plus wisdom and compassion, plus tolerance of low status and pay is OVERLY SENSITIVE OF CRITICISM.

Wonder why.

I dont have to put up with low pay or status.

Aren't teachers just pig sick of being blamed for the ills of the nation - shit teaching, shit control, nanny-control of lunchboxes, craply-behaved kids who don't seem to know anything - I mean, I don't blame them for being a tad sensitive (if they are).

Janeite - what's the APP website. What fun are we missing?

I'm thinking of that odd article in Alphamummy the other day, twinset.

When I was teaching, I felt respected - but I think the questioning in the media is often done by people who think they could do a better job. And I would love to see them do it.

Janeite, I do actually get quite excited about APP - KS3 assessment that works for English, clearly identifies targets for both student & teacher AND speeds up marking? Love it.

I cry at Reception assemblies, especially Nativities.
I am going to be just a puddle on the floor when it's my ds!

I dont feel blamed for the ills of the nation either, maybe I dont get out enough to be insulted.

Zanzibar - are you a teacher? The APP site would not be at all exciting for anybody other than English teachers, I don't think!

All jobs are criticised, but of course everyone who is a parent (and who doesn't home educate) eventually has a teacher assigned to their child, so everyone's going to have an opinion. It's a profession which seems to attract more ill-informed rent-a-gob opinion than most. Which is perhaps why teachers are sensitive to it.

I've heard an awful lot of crap about what teachers supposedly do and don't do - and I've read a lot on here as well.

twinsetandpearls - your fruitcake is probably better than mine - last one I made it only sold for £5.00 at the school fair!

OK a question for you. What three things would you like to change in the school(s) you are most familiar with to improve the education of the children.

What is APP?

Zanzibarmum - APP = 'Assessing Pupil Progress'.

It's being rolled out in core subjects (English, Maths & Science).

For English, it basically means that instead of marking a piece of work & giving a general level, you look at specific assessment focuses (eg. paragraphing), but over a range of work.

It's very precise & evidence based, but it's also cumulative, so that it informs your teaching as you go

(eg. 'OK, very few of my year 7s used paragraphs for effect, I'd better re-visit that')

Probably only fun for sad individuals like myself & janeite...

Assessing Pupil Progress - it is a taught lesson, followed by an assessment, that really focuses on specific English assessment skills so easily identifies what individuals/a class then need as their next learning areas. Tis very good indeed.

Happy to tell you more if you're interested!

And can also be used more generally, as Raven describes.

Janeite/twinsetandpearls - thanks...

...increasingly high-profile following the -overdue- sad demise of KS3 SATs.

OP: charges

I don't have charges. I have girls, pupils, students...

I don't have to babysit. Maybe that is where the problem lies. Too many people regard us as nothing more than babysitters. They believe that they know best. Hmmm.