Social services onto me about not having child in nursery! Advice needed

poet123

Generally speaking I don't think teachers do initially require tons of life experience to be good teachers.

However, in my experience of interviewing young teachers for NQT positions the PGCE route does turn out some very impressive young people, teachers anyone (most people!) would be pleased to have teaching their children. The last time we interviewed we had so many excellent candidates from the local PGCE college it was very hard to pick a winner. I came out of the interview thinking teaching was safe in their hands. I just hope that enthusiasm, passion and committment is not knocked out of them by their experiences at the hands of parents.

daisiegg

poet123 wrote: »

Generally speaking I don't think teachers do initially require tons of life experience to be good teachers.

However, in my experience of interviewing young teachers for NQT positions the PGCE route does turn out some very impressive young people, teachers anyone (most people!) would be pleased to have teaching their children. The last time we interviewed we had so many excellent candidates from the local PGCE college it was very hard to pick a winner. I came out of the interview thinking teaching was safe in their hands. I just hope that enthusiasm, passion and committment is not knocked out of them by their experiences at the hands of parents.

I am a few years past being an NQT now and still genuinely love my job. The nice parents far outweigh the horrible ones and besides, the horrible ones just make you feel like you want to do the best you can for the poor child that has a horrible parent! If anything is likely to knock the passion out of a young (or old...) teacher it is 'the system' rather than the people. I do feel frustrated when I have to spend more time doing paperwork and hoop jumping than I do actually planning and teaching lessons, which is my job!

Also, I don't necessarily think coming straight out of uni to teaching means you don't have 'life experience'. I have worked in a variety of jobs whilst studying and I have travelled, volunteered, come into contact with lots of different people and had to function in lots of different situations. Besides, my partner is not a teacher, nor are my parents or immediate family or lots of my friends - so as I don't actually live in a school, I do know what 'the world' is like! People always like to say that other people don't live in 'the real world'. Why is a school not 'the real world'? It's not imaginary! My husband-to-be works in the City in finance and people always say of him 'oh but it's not the real world' or 'it's not like real life' etc. Again, why not?!

Most of the best, most respected and successful teachers I know have always been teachers, and I think that is do to with it being a real vocation and the only thing they have ever really wanted to do, which means they do it well because it is their passion. Conversely, some of the worst teachers I have known are people who have become teachers after doing other jobs for years and getting ever so much 'life experience' - in those cases they tend to have fallen or drifted in to teaching somehow and it is not what they REALLY want to do. That can make for a not so great teacher. I think I'd prefer my child to be taught by someone who is passionate and really WANTS to be teaching, even if they have come straight out of uni, rather than a 40 year old ex banker (or whatever) who retrained as there wasn't anything else they could do.

jayII

Thank you daisiegg, for a wonderful post! My children were lucky enough to be taught by a selection of teachers who were, in the main, as passionate about teaching as you are. They are incredibly lucky to have had that.

A love of learning, plus feeling liked and valued for hwo they are, is one of the best gifts an adult can give to a child.

johnnyl

daisiegg wrote: »

See, I think that is where we differ, because my default status is respecting all human beings until they give me a reason not to.

I think there is a misunderstanding here over what I mean by respect.

Im not talking about the basic respect for a person or being respectable, I am talking about respect above and beyond that. For instance, you might single out certain people or groups that you respect in particular. That might be someone who had made something of themselves despite starting from nowhere; it might be someone who isnt successful but has dedicated their life to helping others. It might be a profession such as being a doctor etc etc. For me, I dont automatically default to that high level of respect for teachers.

quinechinoise

daisiegg wrote: »

I am a few years past being an NQT now and still genuinely love my job. The nice parents far outweigh the horrible ones and besides, the horrible ones just make you feel like you want to do the best you can for the poor child that has a horrible parent! If anything is likely to knock the passion out of a young (or old...) teacher it is 'the system' rather than the people.

This is generally the case, amongst those of my acquaintance. I hope you'll always feel like you've found your vocation.

It is not a completely homogenous system though. If you become disillusioned with your present school, I hope you'll remember there are other options. I wouldn't promote Waldorf to anyone but I do like Montessori. Or, at a more general level, state versus private or secular versus faith. It doesn't remove the burden of paperwork... but it might ring the changes.

quinechinoise

johnnyl wrote: »

I think there is a misunderstanding here over what I mean by respect.

I think you are making it worse, hun.

Shall it suffice to say that you require to be convinced of the merits of any school system, before you condone it? And that you do not actually dislike teachers on principle?

Your esteem may, of course, be reserved for anyone you particularly admire - even whole categories of people. Perhaps it will not be reserved for me as I admit to having butted in here because I don't like to see people quarrel. And I duly apologise to both of you for my interference. And for furthering the off-track nature of this thread!

johnnyl

quinechinoise wrote: »

I think you are making it worse, hun.

Shall it suffice to say that you require to be convinced of the merits of any school system, before you condone it? And that you do not actually dislike teachers on principle?
!

yes........

bestpud

mrcow wrote: »

In my experience, bad parents register them with a school and let them attend, but don't enforce it or care whether the child actually turns up or not. So their offspring are out and about causing havoc in the community, or staying at home doing nothing in particular (or are off school "sick" at the drop of a hat) whilst officially they are in state education.

Not home educated then...?

bestpud

Honestly, the ignorance on here about home-ed and abuse!

I challenge any of you who are quick to say how it is terrifying to think home educators don't need to register with the LA so long as their children don't attend a state school to find fact and figures that show any real link between home-ed and abuse.

The vast majority of children who are abused are known to authorities. What part of that has missed you educated people?

I know most people are completely ignorant about home education, blinkered as they are but the system, but get a grip and stop spouting emotive crap!

Geez!

jayII

bestpud wrote: »

Honestly, the ignorance on here about home-ed and abuse!

I challenge any of you who are quick to say how it is terrifying to think home educators don't need to register with the LA so long as their children don't attend a state school to find fact and figures that show any real link between home-ed and abuse.

The vast majority of children who are abused are known to authorities. What part of that has missed you educated people?

I know most people are completely ignorant about home education, blinkered as they are but the system, but get a grip and stop spouting emotive crap!

Geez!

I don't know about other people, but I personally wasn't referring to or linking home education and abuse. I commented on the vulnerability of children who are outside any official radar, either by parents who move accomodation frequently, or because they are never registered anywhere in the first place. In fact I specifically commented that home educated children are the lucky ones in such situations. I'm sure I'm not the only person here with similar opinions and experiences.

Do you have evidence to support your statement that the majority of abused children being known to authorities? I wasn't aware that there were definitive statistics either way. I'm genuinely curious.

Myself and several others have stated that we have an open mind about home education. Other people have said they are strongly for it or against it, such is the way of forums.