Global prize for Teachers

[tiffinboys]

Canadian teacher wins Global prize for Teachers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39292000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[piggys]

Great article, thanks for posting. I have read about the Inuit and their very high suicide rate before; there is a similar problem with the First Nation Indians in the US and the Aboriginals in Australia. What price Colonialism?

IMO more teachers should be recognised and acknowledged, but IME an awful lot of people - including some on this board - feel like they own a piece of their DC's teachers and have carte blanche on dictating the way they should do their job. Personally, I fall over backwards to thank my DC's teachers. My two are in the state sector and benefit from staff who are hugely dedicated, highly trained and who work extremely hard. And unlike George Osborne they can't get an extra job on the side where they earn £650k p/a for one day a week as an 'advisor'.

Many people criticise teachers but the stark reality is that without them you would be utterly you know whatted.

[loobylou]

IMO more teachers should be recognised and acknowledged, but IME an awful lot of people - including some on this board - feel like they own a piece of their DC's teachers and have carte blanche on dictating the way they should do their job. Personally, I fall over backwards to thank my DC's teachers. My two are in the state sector and benefit from staff who are hugely dedicated, highly trained and who work extremely hard. And unlike George Osborne they can't get an extra job on the side where they earn £650k p/a for one day a week as an 'advisor'.

Many people criticise teachers but the stark reality is that without them you would be utterly you know whatted.

Absolutely. I am so appreciative of my dc's teachers who seem so dedicated and enthusiastic. The standard of teaching that they receive is so much higher than I did at school (at one of the Bucks grammars that I think must also have improved its teaching since my day )

[Yamin151]

Great article, thanks for posting. I have read about the Inuit and their very high suicide rate before; there is a similar problem with the First Nation Indians in the US and the Aboriginals in Australia. What price Colonialism?

IMO more teachers should be recognised and acknowledged, but IME an awful lot of people - including some on this board - feel like they own a piece of their DC's teachers and have carte blanche on dictating the way they should do their job. Personally, I fall over backwards to thank my DC's teachers. My two are in the state sector and benefit from staff who are hugely dedicated, highly trained and who work extremely hard. And unlike George Osborne they can't get an extra job on the side where they earn £650k p/a for one day a week as an 'advisor'.

Many people criticise teachers but the stark reality is that without them you would be utterly you know whatted.

Teachers can be, and many are, absolutely fantastic at their job. I am a big fan of many. Friends, my son's teachers and al.

I do have to (smilingly but I'm all for fairness) say that you are NOT "you know whatted " without teachers. You are if you want your child to be educated in a group situation and have a teacher skilled in teaching a group (no mean feat!), that requires a lot of skill, people management and knowledge - but there is nothing, even in the secondary sector, that cannot be learnt at home with enthusiasm and a parent to learn at the same time when it is only one or two studnets. Plenty of homeschoolers have children reaching university without any input from teachers whatsoever. This is not to put teachers down as they do a great job, but its in the interests of balance that I say people are not 'sunk' without their skills.

[piggys]

True enough Yamin151 but I am sure we will agree that the vast majority of people cannot afford to give up work in order to home ed which means they are reliant on their dc's schools to educate them.

[Yamin151]

True enough Yamin151 but I am sure we will agree that the vast majority of people cannot afford to give up work in order to home ed which means they are reliant on their dc's schools to educate them.

I wasn't suggesting for a moment they should or could (and neither could I) - I wasn't suggesting it as better or that people should do it, just that teachers deserving a reward and us being totally reliant on them is not due to an inability to gain the education required for careers otherwise, as that can also be done succesfully in the home ed environment. The thing I admire teachers for, the many good ones, is their ability to inspire, guide, be the learning partner for a class of up to 32 pupils all in one go and still get them to GCSE/A Level. That is amazing.

[Tinkers]

Most people think they know what's involved with teaching because they went to school themselves. We even see that in this forum, with some parents thinking they know HW to teach better than teachers, simple because they have managed to teach their own children.
I'm not a teacher, although I have taught adults basic maths skills in the past. I know there was a world of difference between teaching one child and a small class of willing cooperative adults (who all wanted to be there and learn) all at the same level for 2 hours a week.
The difference between teaching one child and a class full of very different children will be much bigger again.

[Yamin151]

Most people think they know what's involved with teaching because they went to school themselves. We even see that in this forum, with some parents thinking they know HW to teach better than teachers, simple because they have managed to teach their own children.
I'm not a teacher, although I have taught adults basic maths skills in the past. I know there was a world of difference between teaching one child and a small class of willing cooperative adults (who all wanted to be there and learn) all at the same level for 2 hours a week.
The difference between teaching one child and a class full of very different children will be much bigger again.

Yes, which is exactly what I said. I believe the difference between teaching a class as a teacher and teaching a single child at home is not the lack of knowledge or training, but the build up of skill a teacher makes, very quickly, in imparting that knowledge and in motivating and keeping together such a big group. That is a massive skill and deserves reward!

[Amber]

Yamin, have you come across the work of John Gatto? Grist to your mill perhaps.

I think he did actually win some kind of teacher of the year award once, which is kind of ironic. One thing he says which I like is that it is impossible for schools and education ever to be the same thing.

I have to admit to thinking that primary school is largely a waste of time in terms of what is actually achieved. But it is rather useful to keep children amused and parents sane (and employed).

http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/john_gatto.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (a piece which gives you an idea of where he comes from) and a famous book called "Dumbing us down: The hidden curriculum of compulsory schooling' .

(Stumbled over this while looking for something else entirely and thought of you).

[russet]

Teachers are people and like all groups of people there is a variety; some good some not so good at their jobs. IME, I have found a whole spectrum of ability. The worst are those who have the attitude that they are the professionals, you are just a parent, so why are you questioning things. The best are those who go out of their way to try to cater for each child.

The main problem though, is not the teachers but the present school system. It is impossible to differentiate for all abilities in a class of 30+ children. The outliers do not get catered for. With the technology available today, it would be easy to cater for these students.

Also home education is not full of rich parents. It is amazing what parents will give up when faced with the school system failing their child, or what bazaar hours of badly paid work they will take on.