Re: Teachers leaving the profession

Fair enough. I'm sure you will tell me that Comrade Corbyn would sort it all out!

Re: Teachers leaving the profession

Maybe it's the attitude of the ex teachers that are at fault ?

Jeeeeeeeeeeezus where did that come from ?

Re: Teachers leaving the profession

Hi

The answer to everything is not to raise the status of everything and everyone.

We have good teachers and bad teachers, hard working ones and lazy ones.

We are not delivering the goods when it comes to educating our kids, in my mind, there are two issues involved.

We are constantly changing the system, far too much time spent pratting about on this instead of spending time on actual teaching.

The second one is a cultural thing.

There is a quite large % of parents who do not value education and who do not support either their kids or their teachers.

The kids turn up in Reception class having been parked in front of a TV with cartoons with a packet of crisps just to keep them quiet.

They have no social skills and the parents are often at the schools shouting and swearing if the little pillock is ever disciplined.

Nadia, my pretend Grandkid, arrived at school able to write her name, read a little, add up and with an understanding of science in a fun way.

Mum and Dad had read to her every night, she knew how to add up, she knew about colours, we used to make ice cream, mixing blue and yellow to make green ice cream.

She had planted seeds, watched them grow, knew they had to be watered.

She had cooked with mum, made biscuits, made bread with me.

Kids are little sponges, education starts at home, it is not a state responsibility.

Discipline is also taught at home, she knew right from wrong.

She is not unique, many like her, but in a class with others who have not had these advantages, and the entire class proceeds at the speed of the lowest.

I am no expert in teaching, I listen to my family.

My sister is a Teaching Assistant in an Inner City School, many of those arriving , born in the UK, do not speak English, a nightmare.

One of my brothers was Deputy Head at a Secondary which took some from the Riddings, the one shut down.

He has had to take knives off pupils and deal with drugs gangs operating in the School.

Raising the status of Teachers is not going to solve this.

Re: Teachers leaving the profession

I would agree with a lot of what Swim says!
Parents seem to view school as a daytime care centre for their kids, rather than a place where they can learn. They send children to school, because they have too, but soon rush in to complain when the child is disciplined.

Children can learn a lot, in the first 4 years of their lives, and if they learn the wrong things at home ( like bad manners or expecting to get their own way), how can a teacher stop them without some form of discipline.

A teacher I know saw a teenage boy running down the corridor, at school, and knocking people over.... so she placed her hand on his chest and made him stand by the wall, while she explained why running in school was not allowed...... A week later she was called to the head's office and told she must apologize to the boy and his parents for this action... as they were claiming it was abuse! How could she ever gain the attention , and even respect, of her pupils when that story got round the school?

Teachers are leaving the profession because they no longer have the right to control their pupils, by means of reasonable punishment!

Re: Teachers leaving the profession

I don't think teachers have a low status, they are very much valued by society. I have a number of friends and relatives who are teachers. They are all very dedicated and hardworking. They are constantly frustrated by government meddling and having to jump through numerous hoops instead of a sensible approach. Everyone knows that the problem is with too much political meddling rather than teachers themselves. Too much emphasis on targets and not enough on outcomes.

Many kids are very enthusiastic about learning, they just need to be given a chance. The internet, texting, technology all negatively affect the development of the brain. If you can add up and spell at the click of a button on the phone how is it possible to learn to do it in your head?

Re: Teachers leaving the profession

That's been the case for decades, but they are leaving now.

Re: Teachers leaving the profession

All the parents I meet are the exact opposite and want the best for their children .
There are a plethora of tuition schools all over the place that parents pay to send their children too .
The stereotype sitting in front of the box with a packet of crisps is not the norm .
In fact parents are accused of being too pushy and overwhelming their children with too many out of school activities .
Children are children they have to sit down and do nothing some of the time .

Re: Teachers leaving the profession

It takes time for the effects of actions, that remove a teachers ability to control their classes, to make people leave the job they have trained to do!
It also takes time for children to learn that they can now push their luck a bit further...but it only takes 2 or 3 pupils to disrupt the running of the class, when they have learned.
A teacher is only as good as the pupils they teach... but you can't teach children unless you are in control of their learning environment

Re: Teachers leaving the profession

I quite agree .
Disruptive pupils disrupt everyone .
But children have so many problems these days ADD etc and are full of additives and over stimulated it's no wonder that some can't concentrate .
Also
So often people judge children by girls .
Girls are generally quicker than boys to read as their brain develops differently
So giving examples of clever well behaved little girls doesn't give the true picture .
Boys by nature have lots of energy and some are slower in the early stages of their life to read . They catch up later -some experts such as Dr Steve Biddulph ( raising boys ) advocate that boys should start school a year later than girls as being unfavourably compared to girls does then no good in fact leads to a loss of confidence .
I could read before I went to school I was a blooming little clever clogs . my two brothers could not yet my mother a full time Mum spent the same if not more time with them .
Now mothers are so often harassed they juggle work with children in order to pay their reduculous mortgages and of course the children suffer . It takes time and patience to rear a child and make it ready and receptive for school .
A teachers job is to teach how can they if time is wasted trying to control disruptive elements .

Re: Teachers leaving the profession

So people are leaving the profession because their own standards are low?