To think too much is expected of teachers these days

Lucca that's interesting I believe in Japan it is usual for students to assess their teacher. I knew someone who taught EFL and had a class of Japanese students she was very surprised when at the end of their course they presented her with carefully written assessments. These were teenagers so not sure when it starts.

I’m with Eazybee, My granddaughter is Down’s syndrome and schooled in main stream. She makes a darn nuisance of herself and disrupts classes which is not fair on her, the other children or the teachers. I think she would have been more comfortable at a special school, where she would not have felt the odd one out. She is very sensitive and prone to abscond if she gets upset. That’s too much responsibility for a teacher with 29 other children to consider.

trisher

Lucca that's interesting I believe in Japan it is usual for students to assess their teacher. I knew someone who taught EFL and had a class of Japanese students she was very surprised when at the end of their course they presented her with carefully written assessments. These were teenagers so not sure when it starts.

When arranging a foreign exchange trip years ago each student had to fill in a form about their family, hobbies etc. Then there was a section entitled Teacher Comment for me to write something relevant eg he is quite shy . One boy thought it meant he should comment on me...... he wrote “she is quite small and old but I like her because she helps me a lot”. I have rarely laughed so much. (Obviously I didn’t tell him).

That's funny Lucca!
Little children can't really assess their teachers to the same degree, but the greatest compliment is when they come up to your desk and innocently say "Mummy, what is .... ?"

As many posters have said, its healthy that education is so much more inclusive than was the case in the 40's and 50's. But I do think that many parents are over-eager to have any behaviour of their child that deviates from the "norm" labelled and if possible labelled as something that will qualify them for a SEN plan. They see classmates entitled to extra support or longer at tests, and think their child has similar needs. So in the 50's parents were under peer pressure to hide any problems their child had, now the pendulum seems to have swung to any child who isn't popular, academic,sporty & well behaved has to have a label to "explain" this. It must dilute the care and support for children and their parents who have intractable physical, intellectual or mental health issues. Also everyone is different, we're not all high-flyers or all-rounders, having a medical label for your personality quirk must be unhealthy for some. Is it just me that worries about this?

valdali that's an interesting point. I once attended a course about ADHD and the course leader pointed out that a lot of private businesses are started by people with ADHD because they are the risk-takers, so even though one business fails they will start another. He wondered what will happen when todays children medicated with Ritalin grow up. Will they still be the entrepreneurs and risk takers?

That's a different debate though, between ritalin and diagnosis. A lot of the adults who werent diagnosed properly tell stories of lives filled with difficulty often involving prison.

@LovelyLady. What you’re suggesting is that the educational needs of children with disabilities is not as important as those of able bodied children. Thought we’d moved away from these attitudes in the 21st century.