Thanks for the support Frodocious but I have already clarified just how much work is involved for Martial Dad, and he has retracted his earlier views. It is nice to see someone defending us teachers though - BRAVO!!!
My experience with school communications and online forums has been that whenever someone criticizes someone else's graofftopicr or spelling, they have invariably, in the act of correcting, made a mistake of their own. It's a form of cosmic irony intended, I believe, to keep people from being a-holes.
I've noticed many errors in the letters I get from my kids' teachers. If I were an ass, I could have sent a note about proofing their work. Fortunately, as bad as I may be, I'm not THAT guy.
No worries mate! I just get really mad when people slag off teachers for how little work they supposedly do, when I see the amount of time my mum gives to her job and the kids she teaches.
Off topic: do you still train capoeira with Parente? I was looking at starting up classes again but the times don't fit in with my schedule at the moment.
Good teachers, as you say, will work hard and are more than worth their weight in gold.
However for every good one you have several lazy teachers. These people destroy small parts of a childs education.
Trouble is there is a shortage of teachers and as it is reported that the Uk has 17 000 failing teachers with nobody to replace them so they have a job for life.
That is a whole load of kids that leave school with a sub-standard education
If a teacher is in the job because of their holidays (I know of 2 that will openly admit it) then the kids loose out.
I agree with this. Part of the problem in this country is the fact that we are producing too many graduates and that many people are 'forced' into teaching because they have a degree and yes, because they percieve it as an easy job with short hours and long holidays. Many good teachers are leaving because of the stress of the jobs (lack of discipline, lack of respect from the children and parents and lack of support form the authrorities). You cannot train a brilliant teacher, they have to have a gift for it. You can train a good teacher and a bad teacher.
However, falling standards of education in this country are not just the teachers' fault, they are also due to the constant interference from government officials who have no clue about the reality of the situation. There is also the the lack of discipline that many schools have because the children have had no discipline at home and their parents don't care and won't support the school or the teachers, and the fact that many children don't seem to want to learn or put any effort in to anything!
Teachers get a really bad rap out of this, and any problem with any child seems to be blamed on the schools far too readily, with parental responsibilty being totally overlooked.
It's worrying actually how many people I went to uni with ended up doing pgce's because they either couldn't get a job doing what they wanted or because like Frodocious said the long holidays etc when they didn't want to teach.
I even thought of doing it myself when I was trying to get gallery jobs but knew deep down I didn't really want to teach in schools.If I do ever do it I think it would be at graduate level.
I do know 2 people however who went into it later on and they just seem like natural born teachers!
I personally would probably be insulted. However, what sickens me to no end is when a person is required to learn something that nobody in the real world knows. For example, when teachers make kids learn all the US presidents in order, I want to repeatedly bash them with heavy cooking utensils, because I've never had to know that and the only people I know how MIGHT have to know it learned it on their own.
Therefore, I think that if kids are held to certain standards (relatively proper spelling and graofftopicr), adults (their parents in particular) should be held to at least the same standards.
The reality is that many people go into teaching because they can't think of anything else to do. I know, I trained with them.
The reality is that those people leave teaching pretty damn quick for the most part because no-one except the dedicated sticks it.
The reality is that there are a number of people towards the end of their careers who went into teaching when it was a completely different ballgame and who are still there, marking time or clinging on by their fingernails.
The reality is that it's not unique to teaching by any means. Anybody reading this unable to think of someone in their job over 60 who wasn't?
The reality is that teachers get a lot of holidays compared to others.
The reality is that unless you have taught you have no idea of how draining it is. You also should appreciate the fact that kids need holidays. They definitely shouldn't be at school all the time. Guess where they should be learning a lot of their stuff eh?
Finally, there needs to be a realistic appreciation by parents of what teachers are there for.
They are not there to raise your kids.
They are not there to teach your kids good manners.
They are not there to give your kids a stable background against which they can flourish.
They are not there to make your child a decent human being.
Guess who's job all of those things, and many, many more are?
Parents make the diamond before it goes to school. Teachers cut the facets. Parents continually polish it to make it really shine
If you're a parent and send a shist to school, expect different results.
Mitch
Ex college teacher (age 16 to adult returners).
I think that's a fair deal, the problem with us is we are keeping up our end of the bargin and thinking of having to get private education in one or two subjects because of the standard of teaching.
As it happens I think the department of education should pay the teachers £50,000 a year but be really fussy about who the should employ. It is afterall proberly the most important job in the world.
One or two subjects is the key I think. If it's working most of the time, what are the issues in the few problem areas?
It may be the fault of a teacher not finding a way to get through to your child in a class of 30. Anyone teach MA here with the by far more limited range of techniques? I can think back now and recognise occasional teachers like that in my schooldays.
It may be the fault of the parent not spending enough time on that subject with their kids. I remember my dad spending hours in the evenings during my O levels helping with my maths. He'd already taught for a full day, then he taught me, then he did his marking for the day, then he did the same thing again, time after time.
It may just be that your kid's thick or unmotivated in a particular subject. See above for me
Finally it's just possible that they have a bad teacher. Looking back, I did for Physics O Level. I know I tried. I know I actually quite liked bits of it (I read layman's physics books for fun now). I also know the teacher was just plain bad, at least for me.
That will not be a unique experience for your child, they'll have that happen to them again may times in the future.
It may affect their progress in the future.
Help them out for now and then by developing strategies that get round the situation and ensure their progress.
We thought that with languages until he got a Welsh teacher that could speak Welsh.
Last year he was top of the year in history, after his teacher changed he now wants to drop it after less than a term. He hasn't had history homework at all this year, he used to love doing history homework almost as much as he loves maths I really don't know were he gets it from - I blame the omega 3.