Education is not Childcare and Teachers are human too!

As a teacher of 33 years increasingly I am seeing consistently, attitudes of children and parents to education being minimised to the priority being that of childcare and not of learning. I had thought that after this experience their might be a glimmer of hope that appreciation of the professionalism and skills of a teacher would be celebrated but reading the previous comments sadly this does not seem to be the case. Teachers are working as hard or harder in these circumstances, they have continued to work, they have had to quickly deliver a digital platform, they have their own families, their own worries, they are carers for elderly relatives, they have underlying health conditions themselves or caring for family who do, they have lost loved ones but they are still everyday doing their very best to provide the best education experience they can in an extremely difficult situation. There has been a teacher shortage for years now and it is getting worse. Don’t think for one minute there will be enough staff to support both digital and school based learning. Please also remember the majority of teachers are woman, who will care for their children when they return to school, it’s a complete can of worms! I would keep schools closed till August, a fresh start. Defer the August P1 and use this as an opportunity to model the Scandinavian system of starting formal schooling at 6 years. Cap class sizes at 25 with areas of deprivation at 20 or less. Focus on developing apprenticeships, not everyone needs to continue their learning at University, promote learning on the job as this is often the best way for many. This links to mental health and promotion of the trades we do desperately need. Use this tragedy to get things in Education right for the next generation.

Why the contribution is important

I think it is important to use the current challenges as an opportunity for growth and development.

by Springdale31 on May 08, 2020 at 02:11PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.0
Based on: 25 votes

Comments

  • Posted by highlandgal May 08, 2020 at 14:21

    Completely agree. Particularly postponing new P1 intake.

  • Posted by monkey3margaret May 08, 2020 at 14:38

    As a fellow teacher I completely agree that children should not start school until 6 years old. Also think that a good idea for pupils to repeat this past year not just last term.

  • Posted by bstrata May 08, 2020 at 14:41

    I think in terms of resovling the long term this is an excellent suggestion. I completely agree regarding deferral. I fear that a break in eduction to August/September will create a system of haves/have nots and some children may even regress despite the best efforts of parents. I think it would be catastrophic to many kids to try and play catch up. However I would wish that Education Scotland would exercise some joined up thinking regarding interim delivery - within the same catchment area we have some schools providing direct interaction between teachers and pupils via software such as MS Teams, while other teachers have been demoted to the status of glorified bloggers. While I appreciate that teachers and schools should have some autonomy - "face time" with a teacher seems like a standard all schools should aspire to!

  • Posted by Tmy May 08, 2020 at 15:29

    If childcare is an issue then it is separate from education and should be addressed by other means. We are educators not babysitters. Teachers have families and health issues just the same as anyone else. Reopening schools has to happen at a safe point but not just because of childcare issues. Also not all schools will be able to staff classes due to shielding.

  • Posted by Julie May 08, 2020 at 16:05

    I am not a teacher but I have read so many comments that treat schools like a childminding service, which it is not. Parents need to make their own arrangements for childcare, as the parents before them did. The focus of schools should be education. Decisions should be made on that basis.

  • Posted by CMcIlroy May 08, 2020 at 16:13

    I hope teaching begins to be valued and that each child is allowed the time they need for their growth in health and intelligence.

  • Posted by Portert May 08, 2020 at 16:53

    Totally agree and children s mental and emotional wellbeing will be crucial when they return. They need time to adjust, build relationships and learn routines. They should all return in August and defer for at least the first term Aug to October where children in nursery or P7 can participate in transitions that they have missed out on. If children are not emotionally secure they will not learn

  • Posted by sjdurban May 08, 2020 at 18:29

    Like the idea of a deferred P1 which will ultimately allow for reduced numbers in primary school buildings for the next year. As a parent of slightly older children, my biggest worry is not childcare but the valuable time missed out on their education which no home schooling efforts can replace

  • Posted by VCloud May 08, 2020 at 21:34

    I don’t think the majority of parents are teachers or school as babysitting but many parents are working full time and struggling without the added benefit of having their kids be at school for 6 of the working hours and many parents rely on grandparents for additional child support and that has also gone. Parents are feeling incredibly guilty about continuing to work and perhaps not giving 100% to their children’s educations. I totally agree that there seems to be a massive disparity in what councils across the country are offering support wise and there is even a difference within the same council are as to what individual schools are offering. My two primary children use see saw and it is endless worksheets from one teacher which can be quite overwhelming for a child and the other does have a teacher who posts voice notes to explain how to do a task but it is limited in its use. There is also very little feedback on how the child has done in completing the task. At a secondary level my daughters cello teacher wanted to do a live class with her as she does one on one at school but she was told this was not allowed?! Yet other schools are offering virtual classrooms. It does appear that many private schools are virtually zooming into child’s home and I really don’t see what this cant be the case for council run schools especially at a academy level. I don’t agree with children repeating years as many primary 7s and 6th years are ready to move on with their lives! I think summer holiday should be reduced to 4 weeks this year or if this year it can’t happen there needs to be a looo at reducing the holidays on the next few years to Make up for this. Many teachers complaining that they will lose their holidays but most people only get 28 days a year and I don’t think there would be anything wrong in brinflging the school year more in line with normal working practices.

  • Posted by cherry May 08, 2020 at 23:02

    I would rather keep my children at home because they would be safer and I would teach them more than they would ever get at school, however I dont have a choice. My husband and I are key workers so they go in to the childcare hub whilst the paid volunteer teachers sits at the back of the class on their mobile and puts on netflix. We then have to teach our child when we come home from work. Doing 2 jobs whilst the teachers are barely doing one. Most of the teachers I know are quite happy with the current situation of a 5 month holiday and educating their own kids who are going to be only ones at the top of the curve. Some of them post the odd worksheet online, but leave the marking up to the parent and wouldn't think to answer any questions from the pupil. The difference in standard of 'teaching' is appalling. Leader of the profession need to step up before the whole profession loses credibility. If it is viewed as childcare then clearly the teachers are not showing their value as anything more.

  • Posted by pwr6666 May 09, 2020 at 00:00

    Why is there a focus on returning children to school in August? This presumes a necessity for a normal summer school break running for 6 or 7 weeks, in 2020 there are no arguements to have this. Reduce the summer holiday to a bare minimum, plan for kids to be back from 1st July. I conpletely agree with a previous (teacher) comment here that the focus is on schools for education, not the home. There is plenty of respect for teachers however that debatw needs to be sidelined to focus on the bigger concerns just now on health of our population and avoiding a meltdown of our economy through lack of work and the real potential for MASS unemployment. Defering children or repeating years is not a credible answer to any of this.

  • Posted by pwr6666 May 09, 2020 at 00:01

    Why is there a focus on returning children to school in August? This presumes a necessity for a normal summer school break running for 6 or 7 weeks, in 2020 there are no arguements to have this. Reduce the summer holiday to a bare minimum, plan for kids to be back from 1st July. I conpletely agree with a previous (teacher) comment here that the focus is on schools for education, not the home. There is plenty of respect for teachers however that debate to be sidelined to focus on the bigger concerns just now on health of our population and avoiding a meltdown of our economy through lack of work and the real potential for MASS unemployment. Defering children or repeating years is not a credible answer to any of this.

  • Posted by MissM May 09, 2020 at 14:45

    I think some people need to think about what they are posting! At the end of the day we are all key workers in different ways. It is not wrong to want to protect yourself and families! Think about how you go into your job/ profession.....we all needed to be taught in some way... by a teacher! If you don’t have anything nice or supportive to say don’t say it at all!!

  • Posted by Bek2020 May 11, 2020 at 20:37

    While I think it is a complete shame that schools are viewed as childcare and not education, I think to say that online classes can replace normal school learning is a mistake. Whether the kids are getting good online classes is currently totally random (or at least in our council area) with a focus on the older children which while I understand, is not fair on those lower down the school. I agree with pwr6666, deferring or repeating years is not a credible answer to this and due to children being low risk, I think that school should return, preferably before the summer holidays but if not, definitely starting in August as normal.
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