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Friday, February 1, 2013

Teacher phobia

Dave Kennedy sure knows how to put the frighteners on the teacher-bashing brigade - and there are some of those dyspepsics here in the South, that's for sure - and has penned this graceful reply to the witterings of one such belly-acher, who was this morning bemoaning teachers from the comfort of his own blog.

Dave offered this satirical response:

It’s not true, we are masters of disguise and are everywhere. Already at least two city councilors are ex primary teachers and even Jenny Shipley was one. Unbelievable I know, but somehow we can pass ourselves off as ordinary people and get jobs almost anywhere. When I started teaching you could always spot a teacher, the men wore walk shorts and smoked pipes (they did courses in them at training college between the pottery classes and lessons in playing kumbaya on the recorder) and all the female teachers wore plain frocks and sensible brown shoes.

Now, however, you can walk down the street and never spot us. We have infiltrated most of the opposition parties and local government, our plan is world domination. After the 2014 election almost all cabinet positions will be held by ex teachers. We don’t need to bug our enemy’s homes or tap their phones, we have children placed strategically in families across the country who share vital information they glean from their parents during morning news on the mat. Your own children may be part of this spy network.

You can’t kill us off with National Standards, Charter Schools or Novapay either.

That's very good, Dave. I like your chutzpah!

7 comments:

Bioneer said...

That's the only problem with trying to harangue teachers via written media; you're unlikely to find one who struggles with language.

Shunda barunda said...

My children's primary education has been partially derailed by poorly performing teachers. So much so that they tried to stop my boy going to high school this year.

By their own admission, they completely failed my Son, how should I feel about that Robert?

Are teachers the 'untouchables' of our society? should I simply hold hat in hand when they walk past and drop my eyes to the dirt?

robertguyton said...

No, I don't think so, Shunda. I suspect everyone will be feeling bad about your son's problems with 'getting educated'. It doesn't lift teachers to have a problem learner, for what ever reason, so they will, like you be wanting that siuation to be different. I can't advise from a distance, but someone may be able to help. There must be a moderator who can look at what has happened and what the best way forward may be. People adopt an aggressive/defensive pose when things get difficult and that adds to the problem. I suspect the only way forward is for you to take the initiative, lay down your arms and seek a peaceful resolution that best suits your son. Anger against teachers, which you have exhibited time and time again, isn't going to help your boy. You have to do the thing that gets the best result for your son.

Shunda barunda said...

It's very frustrating though Robert, I can't run a business and home school my kids as well.

The 'issue' that caused this was a total shambles by all concerned. Though ultimately it resulted in a teacher getting the sack and not able to teach anywhere else ever again, that doesn't help my oldest son or my younger children.
By the way, I refused to participate in the 'investigation' process (even though I was asked) because I felt the approach they took was completely wrong both for the teacher and the parents.

Teachers shouldn't be able to hide their performance problems due to an inordinate respect demanded from the public. We did that with war vets, and look what happened.....


robertguyton said...

It sounds as though you got a bad deal alright, Shunda. Aside from homeschooling, which you say is not a possibility, have you thought of any other ways to improve the prospects of your son getting the education he needs, following this setback?

Shunda barunda said...

I'm hoping the local high school has lifted its act while the commissioner has been n charge. Reports over the last 6 months seem to indicate there has been an improvement.

Unknown said...

Excellent Blog Post! How to be a Primary Teacher and what is it like to be a primary school teacher in the 21st century? Well, it’s possibly very different to what you remember from school and definitely one of the few jobs in the United Kingdom that allows you to make a difference, and make the world a better place, every single working day.