What's Your View on Teachers

[asmidir]

The title pretty much says it all. Over the course of your education you're bound to come into contact with a variety of teachers. What sort of views have you developed regarding teachers? Do you consider it a highly regarded career? Do you respect them or do you hate them?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I think that a lot of people don't give teacher's the respect they're due. A lot of parents see them as glorified, overpaid babysitters who don't have to work summers. My mother is a highschool teacher, and she'd tell you to piss off if you said that to her.

First off, teachers are a vital part of society. Would you rather have people home educated en masse? You could end up with generations of misconceptions being passed down, never perpetuating learning, but rather bastardizing it.

The stuff my mother does as a teacher goes beyond just sitting in a classroom and telling students to pay attention to what she's saying. She still has to take courses in order to hold new classes, she also is an unofficial support counselor for a number of the students, and she hosted numerous extracurricular activities such as sports teams and aiding with school productions and trips. At least she did before this stupid job action BS started. (Ontario crap)

 

[Keoul]

I think of teacher as I think of shoes.
They all do the same thing and yet they're all so different and give you a completely different experience.
They're invaluable to society no doubt about that but again depending on the actual teacher they can either be an angel that will actually motivate students into learning or a curse that'll forever leave students hating education as a whole forever and ever.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Um...there are good teachers and bad teachers, just like people in every other profession.

Except Reality TV stars, who are all awful

 

[Vault101]

I think that a lot of people don't give teacher's the respect they're due. A lot of parents see them as glorified, overpaid babysitters who don't have to work summers. My mother is a highschool teacher, and she'd tell you to piss off if you said that to her.

overpaid? HAHAHAH HAAAAAAAAAA not paid enough if you ask me

I'd say they are some of the craziest Motherf***ers to have such a job, spending their time around shit headed teenagers constantly reminded how unimportant their existance is due to "they are the future"

EDIT: and dealing with shithead parents too

 

[NightmareWarden]

They are usually underpaid, crazy (or extremely unreasonable) in at least one aspect, and they get way too much crap from everyone their work helps. I've heard that the best way to describe the majority of college professors would be "overpaid and uncaring", would anyone care to refute or agree with this idea?

 

[triggrhappy94]

My Dad's a high school English, my Aunt is a special ed teacher at an elementry school, and my cousin is studying to become a teacher (both on my Dad's side). I'm an Econ major, business admin minor--considering teaching in my future.

I've had my share of good teachers and bad ones. I think the school system in general is underfunded.
It's always easier to sell SRAS policy than LRAS policy.

 

[triggrhappy94]

They are usually underpaid, crazy (or extremely unreasonable) in at least one aspect, and they get way too much crap from everyone their work helps. I've heard that the best way to describe the majority of college professors would be "overpaid and uncaring", would anyone care to refute or agree with this idea?

Professor are just like normal teacher. If they didn't have a legitamate passion for teaching than why would they.

 

[Professor Lupin Madblood]

The stuff my mother does as a teacher goes beyond just sitting in a classroom and telling students to pay attention to what she's saying. She still has to take courses in order to hold new classes, she also is an unofficial support counselor for a number of the students, and she hosted numerous extracurricular activities such as sports teams and aiding with school productions and trips. At least she did before this stupid job action BS started. (Ontario crap)

Ontario: We slash the public sector and then complain when it goes to shit!

OT:

Teachers vary wildly in quality and dedication. I've seen teachers who taught from textbooks and went about their days with the same enthusiasm as McDonald's employees and I've seen teachers who showed up each day with nothing but a grin and a stick of chalk. I've seen teachers who make Walter White seem like a nice person and teachers who seem merely to pull lessons from some vast inner font of knowledge and wisdom.

Point being, some teachers will inspire you to change the world and others will leave you jaded and bitter. In my experience, it varies way to much from person to person to make any kind of generalization.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The stuff my mother does as a teacher goes beyond just sitting in a classroom and telling students to pay attention to what she's saying. She still has to take courses in order to hold new classes, she also is an unofficial support counselor for a number of the students, and she hosted numerous extracurricular activities such as sports teams and aiding with school productions and trips. At least she did before this stupid job action BS started. (Ontario crap)

Ontario: We slash the public sector and then complain when it goes to shit!

McGuinty Government: Intends to leave the education system in better shape than during the Harris years. Leaves it in shambles as he bamfs out the backdoor.

The thing that bothers me the most is that it is the teachers who are being vilified the most in this, because they are the public face of these talks. The public doesn't like them because they aren't taking care of their kids (read, because the Union won't allow them to), the government doesn't like them because they've just spent the past few years fucking them over and are in a fit that the union is standing up for once.

Students hate them because they aren't allowed anymore extracurricular activities. The conservatives hate them because they view the Teacher's union as a horde of communist pricks, and the Libbys walked out on them leaving this mess behind.

 

[Ryotknife]

I think that a lot of people don't give teacher's the respect they're due. A lot of parents see them as glorified, overpaid babysitters who don't have to work summers. My mother is a highschool teacher, and she'd tell you to piss off if you said that to her.

First off, teachers are a vital part of society. Would you rather have people home educated en masse? You could end up with generations of misconceptions being passed down, never perpetuating learning, but rather bastardizing it.

The stuff my mother does as a teacher goes beyond just sitting in a classroom and telling students to pay attention to what she's saying. She still has to take courses in order to hold new classes, she also is an unofficial support counselor for a number of the students, and she hosted numerous extracurricular activities such as sports teams and aiding with school productions and trips. At least she did before this stupid job action BS started. (Ontario crap)

pretty much this. My sister is a teacher and she runs herself ragged. She works 10-12 hours a day, which is stressful by itself.

Add to this the fact she barely makes enough to live off of (especially considering she drops a few grand every year buying stuff for her students), hostile parents who threaten teachers either with litigation or physically threatens them, kids who have no fear of teachers (heard a story where a kid, a 2nd grader, was STABBING people including her with a knife and legally she is not allowed to defend herself and disarm the kid. they had to call the police. Oh did I mention the kid was back the next day?), and administrations that roll over and play dead the moment lawyers arrive.

And keep in mind this is in a "good" school district.

After all of that, it is no surprise that the veteran teachers are discouraging young people from entering the profession. It is one of the worst jobs in the US right now.

so how do I feel about teachers? I pity them. One of the most important jobs in society, and it is now one of the worst professions to get in.

Worst, now it seems like teachers are "giving up." If they try to actually teach kids something, they will be crucifed.

 

[Angie7F]

I like professors. They have a passion to study their specialty.
Teachers are a fall back career for people who didnt make it in the real job. I have not met one teacher that I likes or cared for.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Ontario: We slash the public sector and then complain when it goes to shit!

Man, I friggin' wish that was limited to Ohio. I have to sit over here in England and hear about how nurses and teachers and the police are all overpaid and lazy so we need to cut their budgets, and then in the very next breathe hear complaints about how shit the NHS is, how all our kids are undereducated and how crime and rioting are rampant.

I swear, some people are apparently incapable of reconciling the thought that if you cut spending to a service, that service is absolutely going to suffer, and that this is in no way justification for further cuts. Most of those people either write or religiously consume right-wing tabloids - those things are more dangerous to your mental health than watching Bambi's mum die on a loop.

 

[Smeatza]

I have a lot of respect for teachers. It must be morally draining to try and educate a class full of little shits that don't want to be taught. The temptation to say "fuck it, I'll stop trying and just let you fail in life" must be massive.

I do however have nothing but contempt for teachers that are stuck in the 50's and think the authoritative, Victorian approach to teaching is still relevant/productive.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

Cool people who give a lot more than they receive. I wouldn't mind going to academics, but it's not a very envious job. Especially teaching in some shitty, American public school. Getting a paid position at a private university would be cush as fuck though. I'd love that stuff.

 

[Comocat]

I like professors. They have a passion to study their specialty.
Teachers are a fall back career for people who didnt make it in the real job. I have not met one teacher that I likes or cared for.

Are you okay with this though? Likely today's youth are spending more time with these people than they are with anyone else so building the next generation by people you consider flunkies, how would you train them differently. I make more as a graduate student than I dd as a first year teacher, there is simply no way to retain talent with that kind of compensation.

OT, i like the shoe analogy above. You don't need them but damn does a good one make everything better.

 

[IndomitableSam]

I'm glad I'm not teaching anymore, I tell you. Respect hardly exists, parents are massive cunts, and the institution works against you. I watched children suffer and was unable to help them due to policy. I did help some, and treated kids the way each one individually deserved (ie, the bad kids got punished) and was let go because of it. Basically, I treated kids the way teachers treated me when I was growing up (in the 80's and 90's) and got in terrible shit because of it.

I miss the kids dearly and hope for the best for them... but I could not work under the terrible constraints and pay ever again. The amount of disrespect recieved from higher-ups and the public is incredible.

 

[Hoplon]

Pretty distant since I'm not allowed closer than 100 foot.