Heavy Handed Teacher of Seven Year Olds.

a veneer of modernity lightly covering some very retrograde practices and practitioners.
That is a very perceptive observation. Progress in the modern world isn't always about improvement and advancement, very often the steps we take aren't necessarily for the better. Particularly in schools where moving forward often centres around results and unrealistic expectations.

How depressing - teachers terrified of head teachers and apparently so powerless that they resort to behaving in ways that could damage a child's confidence and make school a fearful place.

I thought the modern teacher and head teacher had a more holistic and nurturing approach to teaching but apparently I was wrong.

There were a few bullying teachers when I was young but, on the whole, school wasn't frightening. In fact, despite traditional methods such as rows of desks and learning tables by rote, I feel I and most of the children in the class left junior school with a very good basic grounding in English and, with help from a kindly teacher, a vast improvement in maths.

We seem to be falling behind and going backwards in this country in so many areas of public life - a veneer of modernity lightly covering some very retrograde practices and practitioners.

I would complain or at least find out if my child had misunderstood the actions and motivation of the teacher.

You don't have to write something for every piece of work in every child's book every day, Mollygo. That would definitely be an unacceptable work load.

lizzypopbottle

Learning objective: Today we are working on presentation.

Two stars and a wish:

?Lovely handwriting (child's name)!
?Well done for remembering capital letters and full stops.
?Try to remember to leave a line between your title and the beginning of your story.

What's wrong with that?

Tearing the page out is unacceptable whatever the cause. He should have asked them to turn over and start again.
The quote at the top from Lizziepopbottle made me laugh.
Lots of marking schemes have come and gone whilst my DC and DGC have been at school including 2 stars and a wish, but let’s all sit down and write those lovely comments above 30 times.
Sore wrist?
Now repeat those phrases with slightly different words for the maths books and the topic books -or whatever the school calls them-that’s 90 sets of 2* and a wish per day. He should have asked those three to start again.

I would definately have a word with the head teacher. That was uncalled for and cruel.

After half a dozen pages I'm afraid I can't sit on my hands any longer without putting in a good word for a large number of headteachers. It is a very lonely and unenviable position in many ways, the responsibly is huge and the buck always stops with the person in charge. The majority of heads want the best for their school and their pupils, but having to juggle the demands of the curriculum, the staff, the parents, the governors, the budgets etc. etc. is enough to cause many a breakdown in heads too.
I am saddened to hear some comments here, and I cannot understand any head wanting to make their teachers' lives a misery.

My boss is a good sort... head screwed on/has young children himself. Its a refreshing change after working with a complete dick in the past!!

It happened to me, trisher...

Daftbag1 wouldn't that be lovely! Sadly I've known too many heads who have chosen to make their staff's lives a misery. Sometimes it's them all, sometimes a few and sometimes just individuals. It drives people to breakdowns, makes them doubt their abilities and sometimes even to leave the profession (and it happens to some excellent teachers).

Reading this I'm shocked, firstly at the teacher who should I'm my opinion apologise to this little girl (it would a) reinstate her confidence, & b) teach her that even people in authority make mistakes), but I'm totally gobsmacked that head teachers instill such fear into their staff, surely the way to manage staff should be through leadership and guidance, in other words support!

I'm a secondary school teacher and I would never do this. Nor would my colleagues I hope. This is unprofessional and harming behaviour. Didn't leave a line? Really? If it's that much of a bother, just ask her to try and get it right next time! This teacher needs to attend a behaviour management course - to put his own behaviour right!

My only relief with this appalling behaviour is that some others were treated silimarly. At least she wasn't singled out.

“. Make a formal complaint to the head in writing, and send copies to the governors.“. Would that be immediately without investigating the incident further . May I just ask you to read my post of 12:21 today ?

Magrithea is right - this is the sort of thing people got away with sixty years ago - but it is totally unacceptable now. I had a teacher who tore up my arithmetic book into tiny pieces because one day I got several sums wrong . She shouted at me and threw all the pieces into all corners of the room. I was eight and terrified - and although I had been coping well with the 3 'R's up until then, I lost it with anything to do with figures after that. Such loss of control can cause real damage.
Make a formal complaint to the head in writing, and send copies to the governors.

Learning objective: Today we are working on presentation.

Two stars and a wish:

?Lovely handwriting (child's name)!
?Well done for remembering capital letters and full stops.
?Try to remember to leave a line between your title and the beginning of your story.

What's wrong with that?

Don’t think there were any remarks from boys, just the adult in charge !

Lucca, I'd expect a teacher to nip any remarks from the boys in the bud, to set the standard that it's none of their business if you can see the girl's knickers, when they wear leotards and do gym and do handstands or cartwheels you can see the same amount of cloth for longer [daughter did sports acro for years, seen many a display] . Maybe suggest that they tuck their skirts into their knickers so they don't get them over their faces, but they shouldn't be harrassed for showing knickers for a few seconds. Eventually they won't want to and that will happen naturally

eazybee I just saw this
My friend still blames the Reception teacher for her grandson's dyslexia because she wrote comments in his work book in red ink, twenty years ago
How awful and dreadfully ignorant. Yes 20 years ago there were (and there still are) teachers who wrongly criticised dyslexic children. My youngest DS went through the system (well until he was 14) and there were teachers who were wonderful with him and teachers who weren't. But his dyslexia is a disability and wasn't "caused" by any of them. His brain simply works differently. It's something I struggled to understand being an avid reader,but I now appreciate he is never going to read for pleasure. He is still a wonderful and creative person who is very talented.But really a teacher causing dyslexia, would your friend blame the teacher if her DGS was deaf?

GrannyAnnie2010

Lucca

Ah well I tried.

I hear you, Lucca. Keep up the good work.

Don’t think anyone else reads anything but the OP and then make their comment.....
Check out the other possible side of the story !!!

Bullying and unacceptable. But I also agree go in gently.....

I would imagine that this kind of behaviour from a teacher (and the negative consequences for some children) would be at the very heart of good teaching practise guidance on what not to do.

It may have been done very differently to the way this is being interpreted. As in, "We're in Y6 now, and this is the beginning of a new school year. Let's start again with a beautiful clean page and no mistakes." Not necessarily bullying behaviour by anyone. As someone else said, who wants to look at a glaring mistake in a brand new book.

As an ex-teacher, I do think people over-react to these things. I used to find that Y3 children could be much more sensible and mature at school than given credit for at home.

Yes , sometimes teachers do get it wrong, so do parents and grandparents and children .

I’m nearly 70 but remember being caned by my teacher for the same crime. After being caned I fainted and banged my face on my desk resulting in a black eye. I was so ashamed of my ‘bad’ conduct, I did not tell my parents that my teacher had caned me. This incident has affected me so much so that I always double check my work for fear of making a mistake.

I still shudder thinking about my first day of school and was yelled at by the teacher when I left my chair to pick up a pencil she dropped on the floor. I hated school and often wonder if the incident played a part or maybe am ( and still am) too sensitive