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AIBU?

To say that telling teachers

95 replies

Nomama · 26/03/2014 18:13

...that they are striking for pensions and holidays is fucking insulting?

Would I make it worse to add that if you believe the above is true you really do need to think again about your sources of information?

Could I make it easier to understand by repeating - as many posters have said this on the other threads - we are striking because the Goviots are wrecking your child's education? Whilst doing that they are blowing smoke up your arse by telling you that we, the teachers, are complaining because they are asking us to do a fair days work for a fair days pay etc etc.

Nope, we're not! We want to remind you all, and The Goviot, that we are being hammered by his stupid, ill though out and utterly unsustainable 'good ideas' whilst simultaneously being robbed of our rights to have a say in something we are the experts in. Add to that the fact that we are being financially shafted too and you might get the idea.

But I can honestly say that whilst the headline / legal reason we strike might be pay and conditions the real reason, in our hearts, is the continued dismantling of your kids education.

Sadly that isn't a legal reason to strike! That needs you, as parents to stop being side tracked and swallowing the 'all teachers are lazy bastards' press and to work out that The Goviot is seriously threatening your child's educational development.

Trust me, not all of you have the kids in the top 25%, academically. Most of you have the poor little sods that are being branded as failures because they cannot be 'above average' - only a small knowledge of maths is required to understand the the absolute truth of that point, Mr Gove!

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meditrina · 26/03/2014 18:16

Can yo be more specific?

I get that you don't like Gove as an individual. But this is surely about more than individual personalities?

What exactly are the problematic policies? And has he Opposition yet announced (given there's only a year to go) which bits they are continuing, and what is their alternative for the bits they want to change?

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Nomama · 26/03/2014 18:22

More specific? Sorry, but have you been living in a bubble?

Start here, it is a good general round up

www.theguardian.com/education/2013/sep/30/michael-gove-destruction-of-school-democracy

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ICanSeeTheSun · 26/03/2014 18:27

I think teacher are on rubbish pay.

Average teacher is on around £21,000 a year divide that by 52 then divide by 5 it's around £80 a day.

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Nomama · 26/03/2014 18:30

Oh, and I don't know Gove as an individual, so I have no opinion of him as a human being. But I do have an opinion of him as an Ed Sec - he is extremely dangerous, a politician with an agenda, with a plan and no idea of or care for the consequences.

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mindthegap01 · 26/03/2014 18:34

YANBU. Im also a teacher and couldn't have put it better myself.

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Amiawake · 26/03/2014 18:39

YANBU. I am not a teacher, but I have nothing but admiration for teachers. I have friends and family who teach and I know how difficult their job can be and thats before having to contend with Gove and his agenda.
Striking is a right not everyone has, those who are able to do so to change their circumstances at work and raise awareness should.
My son isn't at school yet but I'm concerned for what the future of education holds.

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GertTheFlirt · 26/03/2014 18:41

Bored with the whole fucking thing. Did anyone actually strike today? one out of 83 teachers where I work managed to strike.

Three whole year groups given the day off...

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meditrina · 26/03/2014 18:43

I'm aware of many changes (actual and soft).

I was asking which you think are the ones, secificaly, which are directly behind the strike as you suggest in the opening post. And what the Labour (any other party that is a serious contender for Government) is promising to do differently.

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Oubliette0292 · 26/03/2014 18:44

ICanSeeTheSun - your calculation is wrong. Teachers pay is pro-rata which autocorrect keeps trying to change to pro-rats so although they get paid during the holidays they don't get paid for the holidays (at least not all of the holidays - obviously the laws regarding paid leave apply to them too). And while I don't think they get paid a huge amount, the average (FT) teacher certainly gets paid more than £21k.

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Nomama · 26/03/2014 18:44

Then be bored. I didn't strike, not the same Union. But when mine go out I do too.

I can't be bored when apparently sane people are being successfully distracted from what is happening in schools by being incited to hate us, the poor sods trying to function as teachers.

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Topseyt · 26/03/2014 18:45

I fully agree with the OP. There have been various attempts over the years to suggest that one-size-fits-all education is the way to go. Gove is the latest twat, but I think he takes the biscuit really.

There is this assumption that ALL children should be capable of hitting the government targets, if only the teaching were good enough.

NO. NOT true. Some children are academic, others are not. There is a wide range inbetween too. I have three daughters. The eldest and the youngest are very bright and academic, more than capable of hitting and exceeding the targets. Their middle sister is not particularly academic though. If I was asked to judge I would say she is more practical than academic. She is not daft at all, but below average in many areas despite good teaching and regular efforts. She has no particular special educational needs, but she could stay at school through her twenties and further and probably still not hit the targets in core academic subjects. Where is the provision for people like her in Gove's proposals? Nowhere. She and others like her will not count because they cannot fit his "good" ideas. He wants to make the school day even longer, he will increase the focus on academic targets without consideration to individual circumstances too.

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Ecclefechan · 26/03/2014 18:47

I don't want to pay 15% of your salary into your pension pot.

If you don't think you can teach until you're 68 then make plans for another job after you've had enough.

I'm aware that my DD isn't in the top 25% but I'd still like her teachers to teach her maths effectively.

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CelticPromise · 26/03/2014 18:47

I think you are perfectly entitled to go on strike over pensions and working conditions. I would support that as I support the strike over wider issues. Unions are there to protect your interests after all.

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ICanSeeTheSun · 26/03/2014 18:51
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Nomama · 26/03/2014 18:51

meditrina, I am not sure I want to give you what you want from me.

I started the thread not because I want to get into the nitty gritty of any specific policy, there are plenty of other current threads on those. I want to shout STOP, THINK. Don't hate the teachers, look beyond the soundbites and think about the ramifications of Academisation, Free Schools, etc.

I want YOU non teachers who dislike us for the reasons stated, to think beyond the cosy meeja you may have been cosied by.

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motown3000 · 26/03/2014 18:53

One of the problems , teachers have in expressing themselves and their
grievances, is that people will hark back to the old days.

This is a problem , because after people have read/heard the propaganda( The Mail has run a Teacher Story for 5 days on the run). People believe that teachers and teaching standards are the same as 30 years ago and that teachers , regularly go to the "Pub" at lunchtime . They also believe that they are in teaching, for the "Holidays" ,9- 3.30 Work Day and because of a "Power Trip" , Hence the expressions "Your'e Like A teacher" or "Stop Lecturing Me" when people think they are being spoken down to.

Sadly this perception of Teachers, Teaching Profession is evident in society even amongst some educated and bright people.

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BoneyBackJefferson · 26/03/2014 18:55

"one out of 83 teachers where I work managed to strike.

Three whole year groups given the day off..."

That number doesn't tally.

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Nomama · 26/03/2014 18:55

Ecclefechan, did you not read all of my OP or did you just decide continue to spout the pension crap anyway?

But, if that is all you can focus on then fine, don't pay into our pensions, put it back into our salaries, where it would have been if the government hadn't made TPS compulsory!

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Flyingducky · 26/03/2014 19:05

Yanbu OP and have expressed it very well.

Goviot. I'm nicking that.

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Nomama · 26/03/2014 19:12

Thanks Smile

To be sure of full usage please note:

Goviot = any politician or bureaucrat that helps shove through ill thought out polices in education (but may gain wider usage)

The Goviot = reserved for the man himself - may also encompass Sir Wilshaw when you forget his name, as in The Other Goviot.

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Joysmum · 26/03/2014 19:14

I think anyone who is trying to explain and persuade, is best placed to do this from looking at the objections of the objectors and debating it on their terms.

Your OP is yet another presentation and not likely to engage or challenge so is very limited in it's effectiveness.

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Nomama · 26/03/2014 19:19

I can't debate it in 'their terms' I am not lazy, greedy, stupid, entitled, lucky, a drain on the public purse....

And this is AIBU! I have an ongoing reasoned debate elsewhere.

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Ecclefechan · 26/03/2014 19:23

Yes, I read the OP.

You are striking about pay and pensions. None of the other teaching unions are striking with you.

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meditrina · 26/03/2014 19:24

What I would like is your views on which of the educational policies of the Government is the real motivation behind the current strikes (as suggested in OP) and how any serious contender for the next Government proposes to handle those issues.

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BoneyBackJefferson · 26/03/2014 19:27

meditrina

For both parts of your question it would depend on the individual teacher.

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