NUT strike

[katel]

Brilliant post magwich - you really have a gift for comedy!

[zorro]

My daughter goes to a special school as she has moderate learning difficulties. Her teachers are on strike today and I fully support them. They are very dedicated and work with disadvantaged and challenging children. They thoroughly deserve a pay rise.
DS's primary school has only Y1 and Y2 out.They are both newly qualified teachers well aware of salary structure and teach "nice " children mainly middle class with supportive parents. They don't have my sympathy in the same way.

[NotionPotion]

I think we we agree the high value of education. Lets hope the government agree to value it to the same degree by awarding the teachers a decent pay rise.

[allegra]

Wow magwich (and katel I think) you are truly shocking. This is the NUTs first strike in 21 years, and only because teachers have effectively had a pay cut for 6 years in a row. It does not benefit our children, or the state of education in Britain, if the teaching profession is so run down it fails to recruit good people. Would you work so hard for so little? Shame on you! And as for your comments about suits and gowns - a snob as well.

[magwich]

I do find it annoying when I post what is a perfectly tenable argument and people resort to personal abuse instead of attempting to rebut what I have said. Everyone is entitled to express a view and I do think the constant refusal of those involved in education to call a spade a spade actually makes the current dreadful state of education even worse.
I am not a snob; I do not judge people by how much money they have, my father was a long-serving shop steward and I used to lecture on industrial relations so I am not against trade unions either.
What I think is perfectly reasonable is to expect that any professional who is in charge of something so vital as education is attired in professional clothing and can speak and use grammar properly.
After all you would not expect the assistant in John Lewis china department to be uncouth, unable to speak the Queens english and to look as though they've just come in from doing the gardening!
What exactly is wrong with academic dress???
I certainly dislike the NUT and almost all the teachers I have ever come across would not dream of joining it. The ATL is seen as much more moderate and with no hidden left wing agenda.

[Guest55]

Wearing an academic gown is a H&S issue - it gets caught on door handles and is a tripping hazard on stairs. It is not designed for women's bodies even over a suit.

Even ATL has taken strike action in the past -

[allegra]

But why should they wear suits and gowns on a demonstration? And as for the other teaching unions, why did they not see fit to ballot their members on whether or not they were happy with the pay deal? How do we know how those teachers feel? Might they too have voted to go on strike, given the chance? Or should it be left to the union bosses to decide things for them? Hardly a democratic way to go about things, wouldn't you say? I do not mean to be abusive to you, but I find almost everything you say offensive. God knows what you said in your lectures, I shudder to think.

[Ed's mum]

Absolutely Allegra. I belong to another union and I was not asked whether I wanted to strike. Most of my friends in other unions feel exactly as those members of the NUT. Unfortunately, we were not given the choice to strike.
Magwich, if you feel that people are getting at you... maybe it is due to your highly offensive comments about teachers. I feel thoroughly got at by you. Your comments are often extreme, therefore you can perhaps expect to receive equally strong replies. Just a thought...
I am too tired, having worked hard for long hours at school today - with more to do before I can relax - to find examples of where your comments are perhaps quite extreme or offensive.

[teacher]

Totally agree, Ed's Mum. Previous comments from Magwich verge on the abusive and as another teacher who has been in school from 7.30 am to 10.30 pm I am tired of 'coming across' them; they are rather difficult to avoid when one is trying to read the more constructive comments on a forum. I teach infants and wear what is comfortable and practical.
I often wonder why those who disparage our profession don't take it up themselves if they think the job is such a cushy number. Try skipping from teaching Music, Long division, African art, Netball and French in one day to a group of children who are having home/health problems and then no lunch break because you are on duty and then having a parents evening until 8pm. That's not a moan- I love my job- but there are some people who just make you want to explain what the job actually entails!

[KES Parent]

Very few people know what is involved in other people's jobs, and it is not just teachers who work long hours unseen by the general public. I work in a school myself and I do know that most teachers work very hard. But I would have to agree with Magwich about the calibre of some of the NUT members who were interviewed while demonstrating during the recent strike. Their grasp of English grammar and pronunciation was absolutely woeful - I don't think I heard one interviewee that I would have been happy to have teaching my child. Fortunately, as you will guess from my user name, that is not a problem for me, but it is obviously something that must concern many parents who were watching the news that evening.