For goodness’ sake, we are all human. I despair of these efforts to make teachers paragons of virtue, particularly when dealing with the few children who are far from angels.
It seems to me that all the arguments are on the side of children. To tinker slightly with Marshall’s quote, how’s this? “Verbal abuse and disrespect of teachers should not be tolerated, the way people sometimes think it’s okay to shout at teachers and undermine their dignity. Abusive shouting is not respectful and can just make teachers feel angry and resentful.”
Come on, Marshall, it works both ways.
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Diana Campbell
Froickheim, Angus
ATTACKS: So Kathleen Marshall, our newly appointed “children’s czar”, feels that the raising of the voice by a teacher to children offends against their human rights and undermines their dignity.
May I respectfully make a case for the human rights and dignity of Scotland’s teachers? They are regularly assaulted in our classrooms and playgrounds and even more regularly subjected to violent personal abuse and threats from unruly “children”. It is commonplace to be sworn at or to have grossly offensive comments made about one’s personal appearance. I, for one, would be incapable of citing the number of times I have been verbally abused.
Female teachers are especially vulnerable to sexist abuse and comments. Such names as “bitch” and “whore” are bandied about, frequently with impunity. One member of my union had been a policewoman before she became a teacher. She told me she had suffered more personal abuse in her few years as a teacher than in her 10 years in the police force.
A female teaching colleague once showed me her legs, arms and torso covered in livid bruises. These bruises were the result of an “incident” in her classroom.
The General Teaching Council for Scotland, of which I am an elected member, is now treating indiscipline and violence against teaching staff as a priority. Are all their efforts and those of the teaching associations to be undermined by Marshall’s sanctimonious, ill-thought-out mouthings, which, if taken seriously, can do nothing but undermine educational standards in Scotland and drive yet more competent teachers from the profession?
Margaret Smith
Fife District Secretary
Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association