The Secret Teacher writes an honest letter home

[Maggy J]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-ne...ther_multiline

Depressing but says it all really..

[Mick Fisher]

I remember there being 45 pupils in a class when I attended junior school.

I still managed to pass the 11+.

The place for learning RE is in Church not school.

[Maggy J]

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

I remember there being 45 pupils in a class when I attended junior school.

I still managed to pass the 11+.

The place for learning RE is in Church not school.

Well you had the natural aptitude AND I remember that we were coached to pass the 11 plus...Plus in Junior school the teacher only teaches the same 45 children every day.Not 5-6 classes per day as in secondary schools where you can see a child only once a week in some subjects.

[Lew]

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

I remember there being 45 pupils in a class when I attended junior school.

I still managed to pass the 11+.

The place for learning RE is in Church not school.

You're probably thinking of the Religious Instruction lessons that would have been around when you were in school. Modern RE lessons are about teaching people about different religions, what they believe and why. I don't think that's something you're likely to learn in church.

[Hugh]

He/she may have some valid points, but loses my support with phrases like

The very notion of giving a student a task they might fail is considered child abuse

My daughter is a Teaching Assistant, and she (and we) have a number of friends who are teachers - whilst they find it stressful, with much too much paperwork and oversight, they aren't quite so emotive....

[Mick Fisher]

Originally Posted by Lew

You're probably thinking of the Religious Instruction lessons that would have been around when you were in school. Modern RE lessons are about teaching people about different religions, what they believe and why. I don't think that's something you're likely to learn in church.

A fair cop Lew, it's a long time since I attended school.

IIRC we had no RI or RE classes at my Junior School. I only recollect attending RE, I think it was, at my Secondary school. I also remember that it might have been volantary and I opted out or maybe the subject was discontinued?

I only remember attending once in the first year. Maybe it was like the music class that after just a couple of lessons was demoted to an "After School Activity" ?

[joglynne]

That is a terribly sad letter. The real educators these days are a dying breed and I feel for them. It's a wonder that we have any decent teachers left in the State system considering how frustrated and demoralised they must feel.

[Pog66]

Originally Posted by joglynne

That is a terribly sad letter. The real educators these days are a dying breed and I feel for them. It's a wonder that we have any decent teachers left in the State system considering how frustrated and demoralised they must feel.

Isn't part of the problem that some/half/a majority (delete as applicable) of the time the teachers are having to deal with bad behaviour as parents can't be bothered (generalisation I know but you get the picture)

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by Pog66

Isn't part of the problem that some/half/a majority (delete as applicable) of the time the teachers are having to deal with bad behaviour as parents can't be bothered (generalisation I know but you get the picture)

A generalisation about some parents, but I do agree.

My son was lucky during his education. He was classed as a gifted child and the classes he was placed in seemed to have equally gifted teachers so I have little direct experience of the current problems but I do have friends who used to be teachers and who left that profession feeling that they were being prevented from being able to teach. They were expected to toe the line of which ever 'management' style was the flavour of the month and I can imagine all of them could have written that letter.

One of my friends was threatened with a knife in a class of 30+ children by a student who refused to stop texting and turn off their mobile phone. She unsuccessfully asked that the child be removed from her classroom and was told to just ignore said child as he was from a 'difficult family'!!!!!! He was 16 and well over 6ft and she is a tad over 5ft and had been teaching for over 20 years when she threw in the towel following that final incident.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by Lew

You're probably thinking of the Religious Instruction lessons that would have been around when you were in school. Modern RE lessons are about teaching people about different religions, what they believe and why. I don't think that's something you're likely to learn in church.

I would still have Zero interest in even that generalised a subject which it has now become, and I think my signature says it all with regards to any religion.

[Maggy J]

Originally Posted by Hugh

He/she may have some valid points, but loses my support with phrases like
My daughter is a Teaching Assistant, and she (and we) have a number of friends who are teachers - whilst they find it stressful, with much too much paperwork and oversight, they aren't quite so emotive....

The number of times when covering a staff member for some time I've been made to move along with a topic although I KNOW not everyone in the class has picked up the salient facts or skills.Not such a biggie in say RE but enormous when it's Maths,Science,English,Geography.It's not what I signed up to nearly 40 years ago either.The lack of wiggle room within some schools is depressing..
I've also met some petty tyrants put in charge of evaluating staff at the 'coal face', whose own teaching skills are nothing to be proud of who bully and hound through evaluation.
To my mind those doing the staff evaluations should be the staff that have worked their way upto being super teachers and have earned their merit.Sadly there are too few in our schools to pass on their skills.