[marki]

Originally Posted by Mliss

Thanks for sharing that link Mark. I really enjoyed reading it and have shared it on facebook.

I don't deny teachers have it tough, they certainly earn every penny! It doesn't take long before you see these parents in the classrooms making a fuss. Heck, i wouldn't want to deal with them either.

I sympathise with the 'good' teachers.

Hi Mliss.

I dont think we have it tough, the pay is good now, career advancement opportunities are plentiful and working with developing minds is a great honour. I love teaching and will go on despite all the hiccups because everyday always different, everyday I learn something new and it is the greatest adrenaline rush and fun ever if somewhat exhausting at times. Nothing beats that sparkle in a kids eyes when the penny drops and they understand something new and complex, their excitment and joy is contagious. I was lucky as a graduate in that my mentor and department head who had been teaching for forty years still got excited to be walking into a classroom full of kids and used to bounce out of the office and skip off to class with a huge grin on his face. I hope to be the same at his age. My only intention in posting this thread was to highlight some deeply held misbeliefs where parents actually think they are helping their kids against evil teachers who are out to persecute their students. This is not the case, help us help your kids, it is the single purpose of education and if we all work together the outcomes can only get better. In the UK teachers at some schools used to get paid danger money (a very tidy sum each pay) just to turn up to work due to abusive and violent parents and students. A quick look at any performance tables will show how far below par that system is performing against other developed nations and it has become a system where parents have to spend large sums of money to send their kids to private schools to be properly educated. Education is essential to life success in an ever more demanding world and the only way we are going to keep up is if we all work together and don't get caught up in pointless bickering. The parents are the primary educators of their children. Your childs success is just as much your responsibility as it is the classroom teachers. Children will not learn effectively when in a disruptive environment and any parent worth their salt should do all they can to help stamp it out, especially if the disruptive child is their own. I must just be lucky myself as I said I have not encountered a great deal of parental discontent with my teaching ability or methods of classroom management but many of my co-workers who I know to be excellent teachers are dealing with it on a regular basis and it is driving them out of the system. This will be a sad loss to all involved.

Mark

Mark