teachers

[Ajax]

what do you think of our schoolteachers nowadays

[daddycool]

I pity them - kids can be such little "you know what's" and there is little they can do regarding discipline. Having said that their starting salaries seem very high as say, compared to nurses - a good teacher is worth every penny but I think they are few and far between.

[unicorn]

I think they actually do a wonderful job in todays society. I do not envy them.

[Gronnuck]

IMHO they get treated as badly as Social Workers. Whatever they do they're damned if they do, and damned if they don't.
I don't think it's worth doing a three or four years undergraduate degree followed by a year or two PgDip at teacher training college to get landed in a classroom where some of the children are obnoxious and their parents as thick in the heid as s---e in a bottle.

[Sage]

They're fighting a losing battle and are unbelieveably stressed. They cant discipline the unruly kids, are drowing in paper work and teaching seems to be secondary to that.

Dont envy them at all

[flowertot]

I pity them - kids can be such little "you know what's" and there is little they can do regarding discipline. Having said that their starting salaries seem very high as say, compared to nurses - a good teacher is worth every penny but I think they are few and far between.

You think a starting salary of £22600 is a lot after 4 yrs study at university! Pay max is only £36k. No wonder there’s a shortage! Straight from school to a GW job could earn as much in Dounreay with a top line only slightly below that

[ecb]

Some teaching unions are seeking a ten per cent pay rise:

https://inews.co.uk/news/scotland/sc...huge-majority/

It seems likely that there will be strikes in 2019, if no pay agreement is reached with their employers. Councils are not exactly rolling in money these days, in fact some councils are already planning big spending cuts. So as far as I can see, if the teachers get their ten per cent pay rise, that will mean further cuts to council services and jobs.

[ecb]

I was online recently and saw the following local music link about Caithness bands in the nineteen sixties:

http://rgcgraphics.com/OPTrail2/GaleForceEight.html

I noticed Will Murray, one of my old teachers playing a trumpet. Can anyone remember him? He taught Economics and Modern Studies at Thurso High School in the 1970s. He was a first class Economics teacher, he really brought a difficult subject to life. If I remember correctly although he was from Thurso, he left Thurso High School in 1979 to go to work at a school down South.

[stumpy]

I remember Will Murray, used to go to his classes in the huts behind the main block, a good teacher and easy to get on with. He was great with another economics/modern studies teacher, Fraser Smith, if I mind right. Saw Fraser not long after I started work in Edinburgh (late 80s, maybe): he was teaching in a List D school at the time (they don't exist any more, used to be for "difficult" pupils) and was still in touch with Will. Haven't seen either since. I'd forgotten about his trumpet-playing days, nice to see the old photo. Thanks, ecb.

[wicker8]

i would say they have a hard job on there hands

[redeyedtreefrog]

I have a brilliant English teacher at Wick High

[Dog-eared]

A completely unbiased opinion of Thurso High here -

http://uk.ratemyteachers.com/thurso-high-school/23785-s

Personally I admire teachers , especially since they can't give the belt anymore!

[Commore]

Teachers? those would be the barely educated "college drops outs", who in my experience cannot spell, let alone teach.
It is with little wonder our children are illiterate on leaving school.
these will be the same people who cannot command respect let alone attention from their young charges,
and they are the same people who are leaving teaching because, they cannot touch / comfort / discipline a child in their care,
teachers are not what they used to be,
and maybe they shouldn't be, but children do go to school to learn and the very least a parent can hope for is a competent teacher in place.

I have friends who are teachers,
I have relatives who were teachers, but I would not thank them to be in the position of "teaching" my child.

[Gronnuck]

Teachers? those would be the barely educated "college drops outs", who in my experience cannot spell, let alone teach.
It is with little wonder our children are illiterate on leaving school.
these will be the same people who cannot command respect let alone attention from their young charges,
and they are the same people who are leaving teaching because, they cannot touch / comfort / discipline a child in their care,
teachers are not what they used to be,
and maybe they shouldn't be, but children do go to school to learn and the very least a parent can hope for is a competent teacher in place.

I have friends who are teachers,
I have relatives who were teachers, but I would not thank them to be in the position of "teaching" my child.

I doubt your teacher would be a 'college drop out' since they have to be registered with the GTC Scotland and in order to do that they have to have completed (a) PGDE in the subject you graduated in, (b) a Bachelor of Education (BEd), or (c) a part-time or distant learning PGDE course.
In any event it's not an easy pathway to teaching - and the end result? Get slagged off by all and sundry.
IMHO the reason for the decline in education standards is directly related to the decline in discipline and a lack of respect for the teaching profession.

[luskentyre]

the very least a parent can hope for is a competent teacher in place.

I think you'll find that the best that teachers can hope for is a competent parent in place. People are quick to blame teachers for their kids poor performance, forgetting that they are the ones who developed the children's attitude and behaviour, long before they set foot in a school. Education doesn't begin (or end) in the classroom.

Of course you get bad teachers but at least they have to spend time getting a recognised qualification before doing their job. I don't think any blame should ever be placed firmly on one side or the other.

One thing is for sure - I would never teach.

[mike.mckenzie]

Teachers? those would be the barely educated "college drops outs", who in my experience cannot spell, let alone teach.
It is with little wonder our children are illiterate on leaving school.
these will be the same people who cannot command respect let alone attention from their young charges,
and they are the same people who are leaving teaching because, they cannot touch / comfort / discipline a child in their care,
teachers are not what they used to be,
and maybe they shouldn't be, but children do go to school to learn and the very least a parent can hope for is a competent teacher in place.

I have friends who are teachers,
I have relatives who were teachers, but I would not thank them to be in the position of "teaching" my child.

What a ridiculous, illogical and ill educated post this is. College dropouts? Have you been watching too much American TV? Our teachers have to pass a degree in a relevant field and then study intensively for a PGCE, fight for a placement as part of the course and then hope to get a job at the end of it, there are no guarantees.

You're making a badly thought out sweeping statement based on a little knowledge of a certain cross section of your experience. Your bad experience is not a microcosm of teaching across a nation, what an absolutely preposterous statement.

Your lack of thought is bordering on offensive.

Also, your comment leads far too easily to comment upon the standard of your English. Not up to much is it? Any "barely educated college drops outs" (sic) would be able to take a red pen to it and sign it off with a big "See Me".

Also, I'm not a teacher.

[mi16]

There is a saying
Those that can, do.
Those that can’t, teach.

[ecb]

There is a saying
Those that can, do.
Those that can’t, teach.

Some people add another line to that saying "Those that can't teach, write books about it!"

[ecb]

Here is a photograph showing some teachers (as well as pupils) from the Thurso High Reunion fot pupils who started in 1977:

https://www.facebook.com/20041019332...660267/?type=3

[moureen]

Mr Nelson...Tongue Primary School and Mr Joyce....Golspie High School.Best two teachers ever!.