Parents, what makes a good primary school teacher?

star29

I am a primary school teacher and recently have been talking to a few relations/ neighbours about their child's teacher. Some where saying they were great teachers other's saying they weren't happy with them.
At the time I wasn't able to ask why they thought this but it has been playing on my mind.
What makes a great teacher then parents of primary school going children?

muckisluck

I once sat at a parent teacher meeting and the parent beside me complained about how little interest the teacher took in her personal appearance. She made the point that someone that dull could only promote dullness in her pupils. Couldn't wait for her child to move on to another class. There was no question of the teacher not actually being able to do the job. Initially I was gobsmacked by the attitude but down the years since I wonder did she have a very relevant point. Teachers are role models and do we really want our children modelling this lack of interest/personal awareness. ( I'm gonna run now before all the teachers start throwing things!)

echo beach

muckisluck wrote: »

Teachers are role models and do we really want our children modelling this lack of interest/personal awareness. ( I'm gonna run now before all the teachers start throwing things!)

True, but on the other hand do you want a role model who spends half her day and all her money on make-up and clothes?:D

Parents may not be the best judge of what makes a good teacher. We find it too difficult to be objective about anything that affects our children.

byhookorbycrook

Yes to role model,no to fashion models.

CajunPenguin

Speaking Irish, I speak it fluently because of the Gaelscoil I went to and my friends from other schools came into secondary with their knowledge extending a little beyond "cáca milis", "madra" and "liathróid".

BostonB

Someone who communicates regularly with the parent on the progress of their child.

byhookorbycrook

Boston B, define regularly?If there is no concern with regards to the child's learning, should the teacher be in constant communication with the parent?Do you mean, if there is no issue, more regularly than parent -teacher meetings and end of year reports?

BostonB

How does the parent know if there's no issue, if theres no communication?

Should a parent only find out there is a problem, or there areas to improve at the end of the year when there's nothing they can do about it?

aisher

My pet peeve is when a teacher uses the withdrawal of PE or Art as a punishment for the class - I feel they are both subjects on the curriculum and should not be used to excert control on a class. Also the idea that if some children are misbehaving in class then the whole class will be punished with extra homework and that 'they have so and so to blame'. I can appreciate teachers need to have sanctions etc. but I am more in favour of sorting out the individual and not the herd.

kippy

aisher wrote: »

My pet peeve is when a teacher uses the withdrawal of PE or Art as a punishment for the class - I feel they are both subjects on the curriculum and should not be used to excert control on a class. Also the idea that if some children are misbehaving in class then the whole class will be punished with extra homework and that 'they have so and so to blame'. I can appreciate teachers need to have sanctions etc. but I am more in favour of sorting out the individual and not the herd.

Well I suppose there is a valuable lesson there in that the behavior of one person can impact on the lives/behavior of many. I find the best teachers know the most appropriate methods of classroom management to use at the various times and can mix and match this type of thing depending on the age/personalities of the kids.
As BostonB said, the teachers than communicate with the parents when there is an issue (even if it is via a homework diary) are appreciated more.
As for the fashion, that's just nonsense. The majority of primary school teachers care an awful lot about their classes and the kids within them and try their best to improve the experiences of the kids in their classes, worrying about how they look is down on the list of priorities.

BostonB

An awful lot of stuff gets passed on in class and doesn't go in the homework diary. We only hear about it from other parents or kids. I think some teachers assume information, even directed at a specific child gets passed through to home. But often it doesn't. Just to be aware of that.

byhookorbycrook

Boston, of course I don't advocate not sharing info, parents are ,after all the primary educators of their children. I would hate to see our system go the English way where the teacher is swamped in paperwork ,deciding if every single child has has reached some tiny target every ten minutes.

Our school has an open-door policy, parents are welcome to make an appointment to meet with the class/support teachers at any time.We also use text-a-parent and newsletters and of course the homework diary.

As to missing PE, unless a child is a danger to themselves or others, I don't think this should happen.

silverharp

interesting question, never thought about it before. My default position is that I assume the teachers are good and that most things are organised depending on how the school is structured.
In our case we sent junior to school able to read and numerate to boot so after a while the teacher said that he could bring in his own books and even asked me to put question folders together for math so I do appreciate that the teacher in question allowed junior as much as possible to go at his own speed.

BostonB

byhookorbycrook - I'm not sure how you went from "parent -teacher meetings and end of year reports" to "swamped with paperwork" or "every ten minutes". Thats a gigantic leap from one extreme to another. My only point was that there shouldn't be just communication about progress (or lack of it) once a year. Report card, at the end of each term perhaps.

kippy

BostonB wrote: »

byhookorbycrook - I'm not sure how you went from "parent -teacher meetings and end of year reports" to "swamped with paperwork" or "every ten minutes". Thats a gigantic leap from one extreme to another. My only point was that there shouldn't be just communication about progress (or lack of it) once a year. Report card, at the end of each term perhaps.

There usually are "reports", albeit informal, throughout the year and in a lot of instances, where the teacher knows what they are at, no news is good news..

meoklmrk91

I am not a parent yet but just wanted to throw my two cents in from what I remember was lacking in some of my primary teachers.

One was how they dealt with children who were having difficulties with learning, especially those from shall we say a from a not so wealthy backround. While I understand teachers can only do so much and it is vital for parents to play a role, looking back it feels like some of my teachers gave up far too easily when it came to some of these kids than they would if it were a child where the parents were more involved. After a while it just felt like they were left to their own devices, there may have been many reasons for this but I don't think giving up on a kid completely is an option.

Secondly is discipline, I was in primary school in the 90's, the choice method of disciple in almost all my teachers as far as I can remember was shouting, I vividly remember a a teacher screaming inches from my face, this was terrifying and embarrassing. Also saw the effects of punishing the many for one students crime, not only did that student have to deal with the punishment they were also alienated from their peers. I think there are much better ways of dealing with such things.

Finally just a bit of understanding from teachers goes a long way I think, while we would like to think that all children go home to lovely parents, in a lovely house and life is perfect etc. for many this is not the case and at any time who knows what issues they may be dealing with, having an adult in their lives who perhaps takes the time to try and understand what is going on is what they really need. I remember many kids who were going through a tough time at home having behavoural issues or began to have trouble with certain subjects like maths particularly if there was a lot of absenteeism. I also remembers some of them being admonished which will obviously just make things more difficult for them and maybe even leave a lasting mark.

Anyway like I said just my two cents

byhookorbycrook

Boston B, I'm not sure why you seem to think that I am in some way opposed to regular communication between educational partners.However, if a parent is interested and monitors homework ,then they will have a good idea where their child is. In my 25+ years of experience, I have found Irish teachers on the whole to know well where a child stands and communicate any issues to the parent as soon as they can.

Back on topic as to what makes a "good teacher", now that we have ascertained that good home school links are important.

BostonB

I didn't say you were. You specifically asked me to define how regularly. so I am. My opinion is once a year isn't enough, and I explained the logic of my reason for that. If you only find out at the end of the year there isn't an opportunity to address any issues. Thats my experience as a child, and I find its the same as a parent.

My current experience is that the amount of communication varies a good deal between teachers. In my opinion the better teachers communicate more. Which is why you notice it when a different teacher doesn't do that. That said they are still kids and it shouldn't be all about results when they are so young. So I'm not pushing for that. Interestingly enough those that communicate more, are also those happiest to give you a couple of minutes for a chat at the start or end of the day.

My point is simply that once a year isn't enough. Maybe I'm labouring the point.

But tbh I have nothing much else to add as my opinion of a teacher is primarily limited to my communication with them. The only other way I find out is by feedback from the kids (minimal) and from other parents, thats probably the main way. Other parents can give you a much broader comparison of their experience with various teachers. As usually an extended family may have a number of kids in the same school, and so your hear about everyone's experience, and usually its experience of kids with a broad range of ability.

seavill

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

I am not a parent yet but just wanted to throw my two cents in from what I remember was lacking in some of my primary teachers.

One was how they dealt with children who were having difficulties with learning, especially those from shall we say a from a not so wealthy backround. While I understand teachers can only do so much and it is vital for parents to play a role, looking back it feels like some of my teachers gave up far too easily when it came to some of these kids than they would if it were a child where the parents were more involved. After a while it just felt like they were left to their own devices, there may have been many reasons for this but I don't think giving up on a kid completely is an option.

Secondly is discipline, I was in primary school in the 90's, the choice method of disciple in almost all my teachers as far as I can remember was shouting, I vividly remember a a teacher screaming inches from my face, this was terrifying and embarrassing. Also saw the effects of punishing the many for one students crime, not only did that student have to deal with the punishment they were also alienated from their peers. I think there are much better ways of dealing with such things.

Finally just a bit of understanding from teachers goes a long way I think, while we would like to think that all children go home to lovely parents, in a lovely house and life is perfect etc. for many this is not the case and at any time who knows what issues they may be dealing with, having an adult in their lives who perhaps takes the time to try and understand what is going on is what they really need. I remember many kids who were going through a tough time at home having behavoural issues or began to have trouble with certain subjects like maths particularly if there was a lot of absenteeism. I also remembers some of them being admonished which will obviously just make things more difficult for them and maybe even leave a lasting mark.

Anyway like I said just my two cents

Schools and teachers have changed massively since the 90's I don't think judging now on something you have no experience of yet based on you own experience 20 years ago has any benefit really.

Also question was what makes a good teacher not lists of traits of bad teachers. (a few posters have gone down this line)

Saying all that if those teachers do still exist today some of your points I do agree with, however I do believe the majority of these types of teachers are long gone from my experience.

BostonB

Dunno one of ours had a teacher who was much like one I had, in being far too laid back.

byhookorbycrook

But no-one is saying you should hear nothing until the end of the year,that why many schools hold the parent teacher meetings early in the school year and as I've already stated, if there is an issue on either the school or home side it needs to be addressed asap.

A good primary teacher to me is one who recognises the individuality of each child and does their best to help each child reach their full potential.
Good primary teachers should also be flexible.If the class are particularly interested in an aspect of the curriculum, the teacher should go with it (within reason.)If some approach isn't working, try something different.
Primary teachers should not be afraid to admit that they don't have all the answers and that pupils can learn much from each other.

BostonB

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

But no-one is saying you should hear nothing until the end of the year,that why many schools hold the parent teacher meetings early in the school year....

First I've heard of it, this thread or otherwise. my experience is there's only one meeting per year and usually in the latter half of the school year. I wouldn't know about other schools.

meoklmrk91

seavill wrote: »

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

I am not a parent yet but just wanted to throw my two cents in from what I remember was lacking in some of my primary teachers.

One was how they dealt with children who were having difficulties with learning, especially those from shall we say a from a not so wealthy backround. While I understand teachers can only do so much and it is vital for parents to play a role, looking back it feels like some of my teachers gave up far too easily when it came to some of these kids than they would if it were a child where the parents were more involved. After a while it just felt like they were left to their own devices, there may have been many reasons for this but I don't think giving up on a kid completely is an option.

Secondly is discipline, I was in primary school in the 90's, the choice method of disciple in almost all my teachers as far as I can remember was shouting, I vividly remember a a teacher screaming inches from my face, this was terrifying and embarrassing. Also saw the effects of punishing the many for one students crime, not only did that student have to deal with the punishment they were also alienated from their peers. I think there are much better ways of dealing with such things.

Finally just a bit of understanding from teachers goes a long way I think, while we would like to think that all children go home to lovely parents, in a lovely house and life is perfect etc. for many this is not the case and at any time who knows what issues they may be dealing with, having an adult in their lives who perhaps takes the time to try and understand what is going on is what they really need. I remember many kids who were going through a tough time at home having behavoural issues or began to have trouble with certain subjects like maths particularly if there was a lot of absenteeism. I also remembers some of them being admonished which will obviously just make things more difficult for them and maybe even leave a lasting mark.

Anyway like I said just my two cents

Schools and teachers have changed massively since the 90's I don't think judging now on something you have no experience of yet based on you own experience 20 years ago has any benefit really.

Also question was what makes a good teacher not lists of traits of bad teachers. (a few posters have gone down this line)

Saying all that if those teachers do still exist today some of your points I do agree with, however I do believe the majority of these types of teachers are long gone from my experience.

Well I was in primary school up until 2003 which was just 9 years ago so certainly not 20 years. I was just listing things that I thought were wrong to make a point but just to recap.

I think a good primary school teacher should be able to identify difficulties that students may be having, be able to communicate with the parents and regardless of whether they choose not to listen, do everything in their power to help and support the child.

Be capable of dealing with behavioural issues or just general bad behaviour without loosing their temper or using in appropriate punishments. Reward charts etc can be very good motivaters for good behaviour. One of our teachers have us stars for good behaviour, these stars could be cashed in when you had enough to get a homework free day.

Be empathetic and supportive of their students, at all times but especially if they know or suspect that there is something going on personally for the child. Be available to listen to the child if they need an adult to talk to.

TeresaDarling

I have 1 child just finishing his first year in secondary school and a senior infant, the one thing I think is very wrong is the fact that the child in the class with the SNA that is disruptive, plays up and distracts the class.......gets taken for treats if they behave

My son has always been a very good well behaved student, by 5th glass I was called in as he had been playing up for a whole day along with the other good kids, their reckoning was if they were good the next day they would be taken to MacDonalds or the cinema too

My 6 year olds class has twice as many kids as my sons did, a lot of them not speaking English as a first language, teachers and resouces have been drastically cut, I really admire her as her job is mainly crowd control yet our kids have a very high standard of education for their age

For me a good teacher is one that brings on the shy children, reins in the hyper children, teaches kids to respect each others views and differences and manages to get them interested in learning, spots if a child has not grasped a concept and stops any potential bullying before it gets out of hand

Even with the cutbacks, we are very blessed with our school the teachers really care about the kids and having seen the end result I am very proud with the way my son has turned out a lot of it thanks to the teachers who let him embrace his inner swot without being teased for it

My 6 year old...............is still a work in progress lol

Mr.Wemmick

Even if a school has an open door policy and welcome parental involvement, it is not always upheld by individual teachers as BostonB has written

I have had the misfortune to come across 2 defensive and arrogant teachers who felt they did not have to fully explain how my child was doing with regard to the curriculum and/or social development. Being fobbed off is something I have experienced from both teachers and being disingenuous is by far an uglier and damaging trait than dressing poorly. My child understandbly did not make much progress while being taught by either and was bored senseless in both classes.

Fortunately, as a parent, I know what a good teacher is and have seen my kids thrive when under the care of any interested, conscientious, confident and knowledgeable teacher. When a teacher listens and takes control of any concerns you might have and monitors your child's progress, informing you as they go, you can relax as you know you have a good teacher. I do think there are more good teachers than bad but when you get a couple of poor ability teachers in close succession, it's hard going.

The UK has made great strides in taking control of how teachers behave/conduct themselves/ represent a school, and the paper work was originally put in place to stop rogue teachers doing whatever they pleased which is usually as little as possible.. and besides paper work has no real bearing on how a teacher communicates with parents and helps to resolve problems in a classroom.

Feeona

Mr.Wemmick wrote: »

Fortunately, as a parent, I know what a good teacher is and have seen my kids thrive when under the care of any interested, conscientious, confident and knowledgeable teacher. When a teacher listens and takes control of any concerns you might have and monitors your child's progress, informing you as they go, you can relax as you know you have a good teacher. I do think there are more good teachers than bad but when you get a couple of poor ability teachers in close succession, it's hard going.

I think confidence is very important for a teacher. If you have a teacher who doubts his/her ability to develop and instigate a teaching plan for a class, then problems arise. Once confidence in a teacher is dented, he/she either tries to please parents often to the detriment of their own plans which they are fully qualified to design and implement, or they go the other way and become brusque and confrontational. Too often teachers are plagued by doubt because of a comment from one parent eg my son gets too much homework, my daughter was upset coming into school today etc. Teachers need to take a step back and realise the comment is not aimed at them, rather it's a comment coming from a parent who is merely concerned for his/her child's progress. With such realisation comes the confidence to implement a learning plan with a clear vision for the class, while at the same time being open to comments and ideas from parents.

Easier said than done though

Big Bag of Chips

BostonB wrote: »

First I've heard of it, this thread or otherwise. my experience is there's only one meeting per year and usually in the latter half of the school year. I wouldn't know about other schools.

Our meetings were in October. And we are regularly being told that we can make an apt at any time to see the teacher to discuss our kids.

For me a good primary teacher should be capable of recognising different levels of ability, and try to encourage kids at their own level... And not just work to the "average".

I have a very bright child. Acknowledge by both his teachers, but not really encouraged to do anything above what the rest are doing. (I understand in a class room of almost 30, it's not easy) At this stage I've stopped asking and just encourage him at home, visit the library, look up websites etc. He's only in senior infants and teaches me all about nebulae, and the birth & death of stars!

Did you know in 2006 it was decided that Pluto was too small to be considered a planet, so it was reclassified as a "dwarf planet"!!