To think too much is expected of teachers these days

Teachers should be well paid but they aren’t the only people who have a hugely stressful job although you wouldn’t think it to listen to some of them.
That is so true TwiceasNice.

Mmnn, my “excellent “ girls’ grammar school education in the early 70s involved middle aged spinster teachers undermining any sense of self confidence and self worth that us girls had. My parents were very proud that I’d passed the 11+ and got into that school.

Teachers are expected to teach things that parents should teach. Too much is put on the shoulders of teachers. I had a brilliant education....teachers were allowed to teach what was expected....reading writing and arithmatic

Ellianne

^Teachers should be well paid but they aren’t the only people who have a hugely stressful job although you wouldn’t think it to listen to some of them.^
That is so true TwiceasNice.

It happens every time!

There's always a poster or two who seem to resent attention being focussed on a particular section of the working population.

If people are so concerned about other people having stressful jobs why don't they start a thread about it instead of indulging in whataboutery?

Dare I suggest that if all parents did a better job, there would be less for teachers to take responsibility for? The attitude amongst many these days is that everything, , from teaching children to communicate, to toilet training , is the job of the teachers.

Teachers are constantly being asked to jump through more and more hoops whilst also having to educate to target rather than educate children. There should be a total wrap around system with education, social work and health working together. It was supposed to be there when I was teaching but sadly there were too many children with needs and too little funding in the system to make it work. I reported a child to Social Services. In my opinion that child was in serious danger but, although sympathetic and accepting of the danger involved, the social worker couldn't do anything because her list was so full and it was all she could do to help children who were in even more danger. The same when the SENCO referred one of my class to behaviour specialists. Yes they accepted there was a problem but no they couldn't help because they just didn't have the man power or funding to take on another child so he went on a waiting list and his needs weren't met. The system needs money pumping into it and specialists to be trained. It's not fair to ask teachers to do even more than they're already doing just because successive governments have been too tight with money/uncaring to allocate the appropriate funding.

If you are a middle of the road child you are fine, but it's not just Special Needs children that are not being catered for but also the bright children who are not stretched. My son who is above average intelligence was always getting into trouble for being destructive in class, he was bored. After being called in yet again I insisted that class tutor was at meeting and son, we discussed why he felt the need to misbehave answer from him " I'm bored and had already done the work." So I asked the teacher if they could provide him with extension work, she was put out as it would mean she would have to do extra work. My answer " then do not call me in school when my son is misbehaving and under no circumstances do they blame him for it." My goodness did they provide him with extra work and we never got called in once after. Its wrong that you have to keep having to fight for what is wrong with a little thought. I'm not saying that mixing childrens abilities in class are wrong, but the facilities, staffing and time are also needed to cope with it.

There's always a poster or two who seem to resent attention being focussed on a particular section of the working population.

Maybe Maizie it's good to have a poster or two to say it as it is from a different perspective sometimes.

Not unreasonable to expect teachers to know about special needs. A few PPs have mentioned a ‘golden age’ as schools in 50s and 60s. Not what I remember. I have a physical disability and my parents had to fight to get the local education authority to admit me to a mainstream primary school. The assumption back then was that if you had a physical disability then you probably had reduced mental capacity too and the education in what were then known as ‘special schools’ was very basic and designed to keep kids occupied rather than teaching anything.

In 1969 I was ready for secondary education and again mum and dad had to fight firstly to allow me the right to sit the 11 plus exam and then to get me into a mainstream school. In addition, I had to take an IQ before the LA would make a decision. Thankfully once it was recognised that I didnt have learning difficulties, I got a great education, but I shudder to think what was happening to those kids whose parents weren’t equipped for the fight. Thankfully we’ve moved on from this and I think it’s really important that teacher training covers recognition of learning difficulties so that children can be referred on and get the help they need.

There was a thread on MN a little while ago from a parent who was indignant that her child’s teacher didn’t know when her birthday was, and genuinely thought that teachers should know so they can make a fuss on the special day. I think teachers have enough of a difficult job just concentrating on fulfilling the educational needs of their pupils without introducing this kind of entitled twattery !!!

Yes, for sure. Lots of paperwork and Bix ticking now as well as being expected to take on toles of others, eg social worker and more recently Covid-19 experts too. Better support not just from non teaching staff but from other agencies would help.

*box ticking! ?

It’s always been the case. I taught for 40 years and along with all the other subjects , as a primary teacher, we were expected to teach about health, relationships, citizenship,financial planning and business and anything that cropped up that anyone at all thought that we could deal with in the school day. It’s too much!

Pammiel i was glad to read that thanks to your parents you had a the experience at school that you deserved.

Whatdayisit

Pammiel i was glad to read that thanks to your parents you had a the experience at school that you deserved.

Unfortunately it is still the case though. Parents who are able to fight harder or understand the system better are more likely to get outcomes for their children that are suitable/adequate/good. The system is complicated though and difficult to comprehend and it is how children with undiagnosed needs and lacking in early intervention end up in reception class still in nappies and lacking in executive function. It is far too easy to blame parents.

The thing I remember about my education is that school was fun! I didn’t work particularly hard but I enjoyed myself. However I did gain a lot of knowledge and facts. Geography, History, Biology, Religious Knowledge, Hymns, English Literature, English Language and Grammar, Drama, Art, Music, four Languages - no interest in Science or Maths!! All this has stood me in good stead- plus making friends for life. I have noticed that many young people today really don’t have a good grounding in separate subjects - and general knowledge is rather lacking. I guess they are all very computer and social media literate so you can’t have everything! ??

I had a very satisfying experience with a permanently disgruntled parent in a class that I taught. She decided to take matters into her own hands and went to the LEA to apply for a teaching post that was due to become vacant . She was amazed that primary teachers needed qualifications of any kind and , without so much as a c.s.e. , o level or leaving certificate to her name , she agreed that this course of action to improve our efforts might take a bit longer than she thought.

It did take a lot of hours to do all that Growstuff- I know cos I put them in! Teachers are taking on a lot, but so are nurses , police officers , social workers etc, not ideal but I don’t know what the remedy is.

my grandchildren school does do special needs classrooms and social care.my daughter has greatly relied on them.since the death of her husband a few years ago the children certainly have needed this .

Ellianne

^Teachers should be well paid but they aren’t the only people who have a hugely stressful job although you wouldn’t think it to listen to some of them.^
That is so true TwiceasNice.

What has that got to do with this thread?
I was a teacher as are/were many of my friends, none of them ever ever said teaching is the only stressful job.

This really is not what is being discussed at all.

You might be right Lucca.
But I did not make the comment and was certainly not trying to derail the thread.
I would have pressed "like" if GN had that facility and moved on.
There was no animosity towards teachers in what I said, I was one myself, but I am entitled to agree with other posters that many other jobs are just as hugely stressful.

I meant to quote the original comment that you agreed with.

Yes i agree with you JaneJudge.
I became a parent governor for a lot of years for that reason to try and be an approachable voice for the parents who lacked communication skills or the children who lacked parenting.
Drug use in families is a big problem today that children have to deal with as they grow up.

Whatdayisit every school needs a good school governor like you that can navigate the system

They do say 'it takes a village to raise a child' and schooling has for over a hundred years been part of that raising. School for all children is still quite a recent development so the umbrella is going to get bigger and bigger as we go along.
The UK is still one of the richest countries in the World but the % of GDP that gets spent on education has been consistently less than other leading economies and often less than countries such as Malaysia.
It is a disgrace and it isn't going to get any better in a post pandemic world.

When I was a child pupils were expected to have the basics of civilised life before they started school, toilet training, table manners and a grasp of what is socially acceptable, parents then would have been mortified to send a child to school without this grounding. As the child got older, the parents covered the sex education and morality. Nowadays parental responsibility seems to end at birth, and anyone the parent can pass responsibility to is expected to rear the child. Teachers and TAs are expected to fill the gaps where parents can't be bothered, then vilified when they do not have the skills or enthusiasm to do so. It's time parental responsibility was passed back to the parents, not pushed on to already overworked teaching staff.