Is it time the staffroom nolonger appeared in active?

[Changerofname987654321]

Inspired by previous threads. Are there any teachers or ex teachers out there who think MN should stop the Staffroom from appearing in active thread? Positive and negative responses please.

When we get some responses we can I/we can report the thread to MN and ask them to look into it.

The flouncer on TES had a citrus cardigan, didn't she?

Yes! That totally rings a bell!

Wasn't Lilyofthefield the one who had Les Dawson dressed as a woman as their profile pic?

I do just shrug a bit when people who are clearly not teachers chip in with opinions. Like piggy says, the problem is people joining in as though they are some sort of authority

Ah right, so unless a poster has a dog they aren’t allowed to comment on a thread about dogs if it’s in The Dog House. If they haven’t had a child they can’t comment on half the posts on the site? If they’ve been a student but not a Student Parent then don’t give your opinion there either as you are not informed. If you have not personally been affected by DV do not comment on a thread related to it.

Don’t you see how that just doesn’t work, especially on a parenting site where teachers issues may generate opinions from parents and their dcs school experiences or even other professional people’s work experiences.

If you have problems with trolls on your teachers forums campaign to resolve them, expecting to discuss a topic on a parenting site and wanting to ban parents from contributing is unreasonable.

Not a teacher. Have learned so much for reading posts in here. Very helpful.

But you are choosing to contribute in a section that is entitled staffroom Wings! So don't be surprised if teaching staff aren't particularly interested in your views on the subject! There are other sections of the Education area where teachers may be interested in parents opinions, as we said, like Primary/Secondary education. This particular area is basically for staff to discuss specific topics that affect them. And no - to be honest if someone with a Doberman was asking for advice on how to stop it chewing the furniture I wouldn't feel the need to chip in with my tuppence worth. I've no fucking idea because I've never owned a Doberman. Similarly I reckon most parents asking for advice on how to stop bed wetting don't really want suggestions from someone who's not yet a parent! Teacher issues that only affect teachers - ie the ones they are generally discussing in the staffroom - don't require an opinion from other sections of society.

"Similarly I reckon most parents asking for advice on how to stop bed wetting don't really want suggestions from someone who's not yet a parent!"

I think you're wrong about that, as there are HCPs, nannies and others with relevant experience on here.

Automatically discounting so many other people's experience on every aspect of teaching that might come up is a rather limited start point.

I think all posters should be able to contribute to any thread they want to, and their post be taken on its merits.

After all, a non-dog owning vet, or a zoologist with lupine interests might have very valuable things to say about Doberman and should be able to say so whatever topic a doggy enquiry is posted in.

There are lots of Sen queries in the staff room that I think parent input is helpful on tbh - thats what I was primarily thinking of.

Take your point winnie but I am not sure who a comparable expert would be on a teacher's forum who wasn't a teacher?!

A parent of Sen dc in Sen queries?

A salt on Sen queries? Or ed psych etc etc

On the recent school nursery ratio thread maybe people working in other nurseries/preschools would have useful input?

True, Winnie but again, we're in Staffroom, so generally teachers are asking for advice on coping with teaching workload/difficult classes, etc. I perhaps didn't choose particularly brilliant examples, but honestly - unless you're a teacher I don't really see how you could give advice on aspects of the job that only affect staff. I am automatically discounting your experience of 'teaching workload' if you've never worked as a teacher. As you say, posters can contribute to any thread they wish to. I shall feel free to not find it particularly helpful in the staffroom section. However, as you point out people can post where they like and others can simply ignore it.

Tbf the examples you give cat should really be in SEN not staffroom. I haven't actually seen many SEN threads in staffroom.

I can give an example of a moan I posted about open evenings in two consecutive weeks which got launched on by someone we all concluded was an ex teacher and maybe now a bursar. She soured what was otherwise a supportive, handholding thread.

You might be surprised how many teachers have children with sn, or in nursery. Double whammy. I do think it should stay in active to net as many passing teachers as possible, but other posters who troll or offer pointless, irrelevant observations should be treated accordingly.

Personally, I mostly don't notice what topic something is posted under. I look at Active threads and read the thread title, rather than the topic. I think that's one reason why you end up with non teachers posting.

The other reason is that, sometimes, the issues posted under Staffroom can be quite general and relate more to being a working parent than to being a teacher, so they will obviously attract a wider audience. I wouldn't click on to a thread about something very specific to teaching, but would be more likely to read a thread about work-life balance/feeling burnt out/asking about alternative careers, which are sometimes posted by teachers in the Staffroom section but are also relevant to other people.

I think - keep it in active, but put a bit more explanation in the text at the top of the conversation.

I am an ex-teacher and there used to be such a relief in being able to talk to someone who 'gets' it, where you don't need to go through the whole saga of explaining the work that falls out of hours, the preparation, the differentiation etc etc...

There have been a few MN teachers over the years that appear to delight in popping up on workload threads and explaining how easy they find it all - but there is quite possibly a bit of goadiness at work there!

I shall feel free to not find it particularly helpful in the staffroom section

Which is reasonable, everyone is free to ignore posts they don’t find interesting in any thread or section, but it is unreasonable to want to ban posters from posting in one section on an open parenting forum.

November, I presume you feel parenting a dc with sn enriches your contributions to threads on sn in the staff room. Can't see why comments from parents on those threads wouldn't have value. I am a frequent nc but often post on sn threads - have done work in schools but not as a teacher, parent of dc other sn and have taught but in post 18, so feel I have useful views to offer.

Go ahead and post; let’s find out if knackered and besieged teachers asking for support from their colleagues find your observations as useful as you feel they are.
I’m all for this section staying in Active, nothing irritating a non-teacher can say that I won’t have heard a dozen or more times before.

I think - keep it in active, but put a bit more explanation in the text at the top of the conversation
Yes. I think we need a bit of text like the top of relationships has.

Maybe a politer version of this:
Welcome to the staffroom. This is a place primarilly for those working in education to discuss the highs and lows of the job. If you plan on being a goady fucker and are only here to tell us we have too many holidays, need to stop complaining, whine about how teachers are saints on Mumsnet or suggest our experience is wrong because on your child's 217th day of year 2 5 years ago you didn't like the teacher telling your child to get on with their work, please kindly fuck off.

November, presumably people aren't always asking for 'support' sometimes they want actual info.

With regard to the sn threads a common theme of the last few is teachers/TAs posting saying they haven't had the training they need in school.

It could be useful to have helpful comments from parents on what their child's school are doing as well as from teachers.

"so generally teachers are asking for advice on coping with teaching workload/difficult classes, etc. I perhaps didn't choose particularly brilliant examples, but honestly - unless you're a teacher I don't really see how you could give advice on aspects of the job that only affect staff"

That assumes that all threads here will be that narrowly focussed. Looking at thread titles, it really isn't. Training, inspections, phonics are all well represented on the first page, table back further and there are more subjects, any or all of which could attract useful comment from those with non-schools based experience.

Ditto other things - a parent with experience relevant to the thread at hand posting about what was useful and what was just irksome can be an immensely valuable insight.

Then again, I'm the sort of heretic that thinks all medical students should spend 2+ days in a curtained bay bed on a busy ward, hooked to to a drip and not allowed out until they been scanned on a portable unit, had a full blood count, had a physio assessment and been reviewed by the registrar with no special treatment to hurry it along. So they see what it's like from the other side.

The last 100 thread titles. One is referencing sn, autism and picking your battles. I’ll pop back and check how many are on help, can’t cope, SLT and school issues and insider stress.

Isn't this one also in top 100?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_staffroom/3066171-SEN-in-secondary

35% directly linked to the bad stuff about teaching.