Monday 3 August 2020

Teaching.



I know there are several ex-teachers who read this page, and I salute them. Teaching isn't easy, and most teachers show extreme dedication to their profession.

I would never call myself a 'teacher', but I have taught in two schools and acted as visiting lecturer on a few other occasions.

My first teaching position, in a girl's private school, was a total waste of time. They wasted my time, I wasted the pupils time, and the whole department could have closed down and no-one would have noticed.

The fault lay with the head of department. A woman of retirement age, who considered cleanliness and tidiness to be far more important than quality of work. My hands were tied, and I became no more than a 'child-minder'. At the end of the year, the headmistress asked (almost begged) me to stay on, which I was prepared to do as long as the incumbent head of dep't retired, and I could totally transform it into something of which the school could be proud. The elderly spinster refused to quit; so I left.

The school was very well known, and many of the girls came from famous backgrounds; one was the daughter of the then Irish Prime Minister. It was St Trinians without the bad behaviour. Lacrosse, Hockey, and Greek dancing seemed to be the school's obsessions. There was even an outdoor amphitheater where the girls would prance about in 'ancient Greek pleated dresses' (imitating illustrations on an Etruscan vase) for the benefit of bored parents. It was all so old-fashioned, it was laughable.

My next position was a totally different affair. A co-ed Prep' school that after 'Dragon' was reputed to be the best in Britain. The whole atmosphere was one of relaxed gentility. The children were all charming, my fellow teachers all dedicated, and the all-round quality of education and extra-mural activities was without flaws. I loved being there, but my position was only for one year, to replace the regular teacher who'd taken a year off to attain the same qualifications that I already held.

During the Easter holidays I drove down through France, and bought a big old farm. My teaching career thus came to an end.

42 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. And in certain cases 'de-formed'.

      Delete
    2. Daniela Camara.
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      Delete
  2. I would consider it a narrow escape. I can't imagine anything worse than working with children and other teachers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most of the children I taught were extremely pleasant, but there were a lot of delicate egos amongst the teachers.

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  3. Your first experience sounds just like my friend Morris's last job in Scotland. She quit and says she has now given up teaching art for good. At her request I used to send information from the contemporary exhibitions I visited in London. When the head found out she told her she was not allowed to show the material to the class because it was too modern and they were to concentrate on landscapes.

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    1. Especially in Art Education, children should be introduced to everything. It's counterproductive to deny access to what's going on in the world.

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  4. You would have had a totally different life. A lucky escape!

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    Replies
    1. I enjoyed my time teaching, but I had never intended to make a life-long career of it.

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  5. 'Fair' - the mark I would give to my art teacher!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mine was a wonderful guy; but very severe.

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  6. I loved my teaching career Cro - mostly in the sameComprehensive where I started a year before Comprehensive began so that I helped with the planning. It was all an innovative and exciting time. As the years went on I did become aware of flaws in the system but I loved every minute of it. Taking early retirement to be with my husband who took retirement from the Civil Service (he was ten years older than me) was equally enjoyable and we had six glorious years off world travel before he died.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a wonderful career choice, but it can be very short-lived if one works in a really disruptive school. I've known teachers from inner London schools who were forced to give up; the children were too unruly and 'dangerous'. I enjoyed my time teaching but I think a couple of years was enough for me.

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    2. Morris taught in East London schools for three years before she went to Mexico. It was alway head teachers and staff rooms that she couldn't get on with. She had no problems with the children.

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  7. Whether they are best teachers in the world is unknown to me but the dedication of all teachers who I know has no bounds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have great admiration for really dedicated teachers; they make such a difference.

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  8. So you ended going down the other leg of the Trousers of Fate !!
    Art teachers are good if they promote expression and thinking..unlike my daughter's O level teacher..marked her down so hard because they didn't agree..and it took the external examiner to insist that she got top marks. Thankfully as she now is a graphic designer for an organisation as well as freelance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Education should provoke questions rather than just provide answers. That usually is the sign of a good teacher.

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  9. I never exerted myself in art at school. I might have done if the teacher had been allowed describe the fundamentally contrarian nature of art to us younger pupils (as he did to those who specialised). It was a long time before I worked it out for myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was lucky in having had good art teachers all through my school days, which is probably why I ended up with a good (1st Class Hons) degree.

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  10. In the USA, the teacher's union and school superintendents largely control the public schools. Individual teachers can be stuck between a rock and hard place. Typically, costs rise every year. Art is often the first thing to cut if spending becomes an issue. This might all change with COVID. I am hopeful that something good will come out of the pandemic. Private schools have more latitude (in my view) and overall function better. Middlesex School and Concord Academy are a few examples of great private schools.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are good and bad schools, in both the state and private systems.

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  11. I survived almost forty years in teaching and I have got the T-shirt to prove it. I gave so much of myself that at times it seemed there was nothing left. Most of the last 25 years were in a tough urban secondary school that largely served a sprawling council estate with all of the associated issues. Fortunately, I was paid to do this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My teaching was in private boarding schools, so we were obliged to be there at weekends, and often late into the night. I occasionally had to dress in a tracksuit, and pretend that I knew the rules of Football. I used to say "Let's play without the offside rule today".

      Delete
  12. Clean and tidy doesn't really go hand in hand with art.

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    Replies
    1. That is why I was so horrified by that woman. I don't think she knew anything about the subject. With the older girls she used to do sewing or tapestry; they must have been bored stiff.

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  13. I loved teaching (9 years), but there came a time for me to move on. I needed more money and I was getting burned out. When I look back at it now,though, they were lovely years.

    Today, our president wants all children and teachers to go back to school during this terrible time of Covid. I believe that this is a death sentence for many and the biggest spread of the disease possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is the same in the UK; back in September, but Pubs must close. I'm not sure what the relation between the two venues is supposed to be, maybe they imagine the schoolchildren going to the Pub for lunch!

      Delete
  14. Daniela Camara.
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    ReplyDelete
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