why would you teach in any school in Australia

[TOONGA]

I just read this wonderful bit of news from North Albany High in Western Australiax

Police investigate Facebook threats

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/na ... k-threats/

Police have taken over an investigation into defamatory and threatening comments made on Facebook about staff at an Albany high school.

More than 200 hundred students are part of the North Albany Senior High School Facebook group which named teachers and made violent threats.

The Education Department first announced it would conduct an investigation but has since handed the task over to police. Albany Detectives say they will try to determine whether any criminal charges can be laid.

Last week, the WA State School Teachers Union said the professional reputation of teachers could be destroyed if students misuse social networking sites.

The union's President Anne Gisborne said it has a huge impact on staff.
"For teachers to be in a position where they may feel that they can wake up one morning and find themselves defamed to the world and I repeat, to the world, is something that is of concern."

At the same time, the Education Minister Liz Constable said that those responsible should be punished.
"I think it's appalling behaviour and one of which we are working very hard in our schools and particularly North Albany to ensure this behaviour is minimised and even stamped out."

PPPFFFFFFTTT

Liz Constable is a numpty who couldn't find her way out of a shoeshop

the people/kids responsible will get a slap on the wrist and councilling, the teachers who were defamed and threatened will get nothing, they can go on stress leave but will probably find themselves replaced by a younger cheaper to pay teacher who has no idea about managing a classroom and will end up burnt out after a year.

trust me I would rather clean toilets for 12 hours a day on a mine site than have to put up with a pack of feral fashion victims ever again.

TOONGA

[steptoe]

Thankfully it is only one school in many....so far. Once upon a time a teacher in Australia would last on average 18 months after retirement, before carking it. Like many other professionals and trained workers out there, there a a lot of 'former' teachers, nurses and coppers out there! Some new laws need to be implemented to cover any sort of defamation by anyone on this wonderful www

[AlpineRaven]

there was something like that but it was a workplace bully related to facebook... i didnt pay attention - does anyone re-call?
Cheers
AP

[TOONGA]

sadly it not one school in many we must have a monopoly on crazy young people in WA

YAY

the school I was posted at had a large contingent of "wasters" and i mean large, who ever was their "supplier" must be rather rich.

my younger brother had a similar experience at the school he was posted at knife fights at lunch and large gang populations

not teaching long term in a secondary school ever again

TOONGA

[steptoe]

First post? Get the impression they are the toughest as no one with any seniority/choice takes them on and the kids know it. Knock back first offer, the second offer once you get to the end of the list again may be harder still.

[TOONGA]

not my first post been teaching for 8 years this year and the kids have gotten worse every year, the year 8 students in the school I was in were the worst in 10 years one of the HOLAS went on long service leave and never came back decided to take early retirement.

I don't need to be harrassed, sworn at and ganged up on by students any more
I will let some other mug take all that

TOONGA

[El_Freddo]

Yeah I don't like reading this shit since its in the "industry" that I'm getting into... At least I would be if some teachers were chucking sickies every so often so I can jump in their place for a little bit

Not much we can do. We can't touch them, give them a negative comment etc etc. We rely on their parents to do something at home so the student toes the line at school - all good so long as the parents have a vested interest in their childs education and isn't using the education system as a day care facitility...

I'm hoping to find a good school to settle into or we're headed to the UK next year (hopefully) where I'll really get my teeth cut...

Cheers

Bennie

[TOONGA]

Bennie I wish you luck in the UK, I concidered a job there but a guy I know has a daughter who is a teacher there. she has known no other job since she got her degree recently she got pregnant and continued to teach you would think a primary teacher wouldn't have many problems but a 10 year old boy kicked her fairly in the womb she nearly lost the baby.

now this guy is ex special forces and saw deployment in quite a few places that America and Australia were involved in some before I was old enough to walk properly, some before you were born I can't even begin to tell you how he reacted but I will say it took every member of his family his friends and his ex commander to talk him down his daughter still teaches but only in schools that have strict behavior policies

be careful Bennie it is a fantastic job but it also opens your eyes and if they get opened too wide you end up like me wanting to teach, but by my own deciding, for my own sanity, my family and the kids that want to learn- no longer teaching because a small element of kids in the room make it impossible for me to be a teacher

Bennie as term one goes on you will get more work as teachers take days off for PD or simply because they need a break from the classroom. I applaude those that realise they need to step back and recharge.

TOONGA

[steptoe]

Then there are those kids with special needs in special schools who have recognised mental and or physical conditions who appear to lack the nastylilshit ability who can be rewarding yet tiring to work with. I can take them in small blasts, one or two at a time - feels good to help someone who needs it. TOONGA , some of your charges sounded beyond help

[TOONGA]

not so much beyond help as not caring about the consequences of their actions

some of the kids i've taught have had adhd, dyslexia, aspergers , manageable autism even tourettes . (not all at once)

Sadly these kids want to learn, it is a small percentage of the mainstream students that make it hard for them the other students and their teachers

I know I sound like an old man here but mostly it is a case of having no respect for any one and only thinking about what is in it for them

TOONGA
TOONGA

[TOONGA]

another facebook group in Queensland

Facebook need to get their $H!t together and get some moderators that can shut this sort of stuff down

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/br ... -bullying/

TOONGA

[El_Freddo]

Hey Toonga, I hear your pain mate, and I too hope that I don't have an experience where I turn and not want to come back. So far I've been too chicken to apply for public school CRT work due to the behavioural issues and the "day care" attitude of some families that have their child(ren) attending...

I'll get there. And you're right about the work increasing later. I just have to hang in my vineyard job and hope the work doesn't run out before I get regular teaching jobs

Cheers

Bennie

[ScubyRoo]

I'm first year out teaching at a damn fine school in Melbourne. My kids are awesome, and I can't imagine doing anything else. I grew up in country tassie and went to the district high school, went to an international school in China for three years as a teenter, a select entry high school in melbourne for VCE... my teaching rounds with the exception of a 2 week stint at a private school near me were all in public schools in the Frankston and Dandenong areas (vic members here would know those areas' reputations). My parents are teachers of 35 years in public schools, my sister and brother in law are both teachers too.

So much of what happens in schools seems to be the product of the communities that constitute it, and the cultures that define it, let along the actions, passions, behaviours and abilities of the teachers that play so much of a part of what makes a school what it is. The media loves to paint all youth with the same very broad brush, the more synical and over the top the reports the better. I think there is only so much schools can do... they are one (very big) part of the bigger picture that requires serious contribution from parents, work places, and governments. I think the blame that gets lumped on schools is a result of our culture's increased tendancy to avoid responsibility for its own problems and blame someone else.

Toonga i'm guessing you're getting out of the public system and going private? Sounds like you love to teach and are very passionate - I hope you find somewhere that lets you love what you do and enables you to inspire the best in your students... just one of the many reasons I became a teacher... I agree with what you've said, it makes me feel super lucky to have landed such an awesome school first year out!

Best of luck mate,
Owen.

[TOONGA]

Owen I would love to go to a private school but it isn't that easy to get into a private school down this way

Ive applied to the mines in the kitchens and I actually said to the woman who interviewed me "I will do what ever you need me to do" Im not to sure how she took that but Im hoping I get a job.

at this point in time I think I would only want to teach art in a TAFE or University

TOONGA

[smiles]

Yeah- I teach in Private schools in Perth and the kids are great. I went to a public school myself and the difference between the two is huge. I think I was quite disadvantaged actually because the music department at my school was hopeless, and this is the career I ended up following. If I can afford it, I will send my kids to go to a private school.

[Barry1956]

I got out after 8 years in 1989. At the time I was arguing for 10 foot high fences around the school, to stop free entry for outsiders, and security on the grounds.
Went back for a send off a couple of years ago, and just smiled to myself when I saw the fences. At least there is some chance of keeping outsiders out.
However bad life / work has been in the last 21 years there hasn't been a day I thought I'd have been better off staying.
At the same time my wife loved teaching, and did so right up until illness forced her off work. And she continued to miss it. I both admired her for it and resented how much of her life energy it took. I still think that the stress of under resourced schools, idiot administrators and ridiculous work loads was at least a contributing factor to her cancer. At the same time, the comeraderie she had with and support she received from her workmates was a tribute to what caring people teachers are.
I think it might be a bit easier for women than for men. Women have the 'mothering' angle available to them. Blokes are just 'punching bags' for every young thug to 'prove' themselves on.
If my 14 year old sounds off about any teachers he quickly gets 'what for' from me!
I have several nieces who are teachers, they are dedicated and good at what they do, but I can't help feeling they are wasting their talents. Teaching just isn't valued, either financially or socially, in the Australian community.
(Didn't mean to hijack, sorry. Thanks for the opportunity to sound off about the rough deal teachers get.)

[Barry1956]

Of course one of the reasons that Government schools are now so terrible to work or learn in is that almost anyone who can sends their kids to a private school. Government schools then become ghettos, and even worse than they would otherwise be.
I'm not saying I know what the answer is, but I always saw 'going private' as being as much of a contribution to the broader problem as it was an individual solution.
One of the reasons government schools were so successful in the 1950s - 1970s was that, apart from religious schools and the wealthy, the vast bulk of my generation were educated in government schools.
In the post-war period it was these schools, more than anything else, that provided the opportunity enjoyed by successive generations of Aussie kids.
Then political parties (starting with the Libs) discovered the opportunity to play 'wedge politics' by encouraging ordinary families to turn away from Government schools and become 'aspirational'. The real price wasn't the huge additional costs of duplicating the education system, it was the loss of a common educational experience and the 'ghettoisation' of government schools.

[smiles]

I agree Barry. The private schooling system doesn't help out the plight for the public schools at all. And teachers are very undervalued in this country. I have been teaching in Hong Kong for the last couple of years and earning twice the rate I can here, not to mention the respect and gratitude of the parents and students who work hard to gain every advantage in the highly competitive job market.

[El_Freddo]

Teaching just isn't valued, either financially or socially, in the Australian community.

And that's the base line that only people in the teaching arena can see - this excludes the bean counters (the administrators).

I find it frustrating when talking to people and at some point I get the "teachers have it so easy, look at all the holidays they get" speach. EVERY one I've spoken to that's been an ex teacher says that I'm crazy and that they wish me luck with it.

Cheers

Bennie

[TOONGA]

yep I agree Bennie they say we get plenty of holidays but do they deal with up to 40 teenage children at a time for 5 hours a day.

(trust me no fun on a hot day after lunch)

Only 5 hours a day you say don't forget the minimum prep time of an hour for each class (unpaid normally at home and not cared about by the relevant authorities) just so the little darlings don't get bored and complain to student services that you are not doing your job etc.

I would rather poke lit fire crackers up a bulls arse than deal with some of the students Ive put up with recently.


now theres an image that will stay with you

Bennie i wish you all the best my only advice to you is if you dont have patience then don't become a teacher

TOONGA