Work - The pros and the cons... - The Bear and Badger

tin_robot

regmcfly wrote:

Skerret wrote:

Don't be kicking the uni bois reg

So you get to management level and it's not blame that we look at , but problems, and the problem is that the first placement is poorly timed. This can and could be easily resolved.

To be honest, from your previous post it sounds like the issue is that mentors receive no pay, no meaningful training, no additional time or resource, and are probably burnt out anyway. The timing sounds like it's merely the icing on an already shitty cake. I get the impression the mentors aren't to blame, but rather that the system itself is fundamentally broken. Which is probably less easily resolved than a bit of scheduling?

(I'm also guessing it has pretty much always been thus, and so the people mentoring Tempy and his peers probably had a similarly shitty experience?)

The Daddy

I don’t think you can remove all blame from the mentors. My wife quit the Pgce because of unrealistic expectations put on her by a mentor that clearly didn’t grasp what the expectations set out by uni were. Perhaps this was down to lack of training but I think there’s room for some common sense too.

My mentors were generally decent when I did it, but it did seem to be luck of the draw. Having done the Pgce mentoring for a few years I’ve seen it from both sides and it does sound like Tempy’s mentors are not taking into account his lack of experience very well. If you haven’t got the time or wherewithal to do the mentoring then don’t do it.

regmcfly

As to both post above, I absolutely am not, but there are more sensible decisions that could be taking place at the top level.
Right now, like as in today, is the worst time of year for a teacher because of all the things I mentikned, - UCAS, prelims, reporting, long term, everything. Surely a better system could be figured out so that those who chose to mentor can be better supported.

Here's a wild one -

What if a pgde begabe in may / June and then finished earlier?

tigersgogrrr

But tha wouldn't fit in with the traditional education structure that leaves the summer free so people can help on the farmstead.

tigersgogrrr

The Daddy wrote:

I don’t think you can remove all blame from the mentors. My wife quit the Pgce because of unrealistic expectations put on her by a mentor that clearly didn’t grasp what the expectations set out by uni were. Perhaps this was down to lack of training but I think there’s room for some common sense too.

This is true.

It's easy not to be a dick, no matter how stressed you are. Easy.

regmcfly

This assumes it's easy to be unstressed.

poprock

No it doesn’t. He said ‘no matter how stressed’.

cockbeard

regmcfly wrote:

As to both post above, I absolutely am not, but there are more sensible decisions that could be taking place at the top level. Right now, like as in today, is the worst time of year for a teacher because of all the things I mentikned, - UCAS, prelims, reporting, long term, everything. Surely a better system could be figured out so that those who chose to mentor can be better supported. Here's a wild one - What if a pgde begabe in may / June and then finished earlier?

I hear what you're saying but from my albeit brief time in that sector there's always an excuse, there will always be something pressing. Exams entries, results days, census days, resits, timetabling. The School year is structured in such a way that all these huge drains are moderately spread out over the year, but while schools are judged like businesses, and therefore loathe to spend resource on something like mentoring (which let's be honest they have no direct benefit from, the teacher isn't certain to work at that school) then they won't spend that resource

I think tin has it on the money there. Spend real money on genuine assessment rather than simple league tables that can be gamed and schools will be funded on what they provide, the intangibles which are so important can be taken into account, rather than running stuff on a shoestring because everyone is trying to keep up with the Jones'

tigersgogrrr

Tempy, regarding what you asked earlier...

Spoiler:

Long story short - I was regularly put close to tears by my mentor despite being a fucking stand-out trainee in every damn respect other than not doing things how she did them.

Not all mentors are good.

Tiger is good. Listen to tiger.

Tempy

Well I totally fucked it by cracking under a feedback session from the faculty head and after doing my best to explain why the lesson plan ended up being submitted in the period before the lesson (because I was told to revise it on the spot a period earlier) I got frustrated and said a dumb thing about not getting paid to spend all my free time working.

It got as poor a reaction as you could expect. I will be apologising tomorrow, but I do feel like i’m in a pressure cooker right now and i’m about to explode.

acemuzzy

WE BELIEVE IN YOU 10p

tigersgogrrr

I didn't write a lesson plan for my first observation... Had to pretend I'd forgotten it (lol). That didn't end well.

LivDiv

I wouldn't apologise. You were reprimanded for doing as you were asked.

I understand what reg was saying earlier about when the course starts etc but some of the things you are posting have fuck all to do with training or start dates.

Contradicting themselves, mocking hobbies and passions, general attitude of putting people down rather than being constructive. Honestly I'm shocked that teachers can act that way given the profession.

Tempy

Nah this guy is they faculty head and I absolutely need to apologise to him, no two ways about it.

LivDiv

I've shouted down a director before. Dont give a shit about title, treat me like a cunt and I'll do the same back.

cockbeard

I shouldn't ask this, but do you think it might have anything to do with being English??

Just a lot of what you've described seems from their attitude rather than your competence, maybe a little from your confidence, but still mostly from their attitude

cockbeard

LivDiv wrote:

Ive shouted down a director before. Dont give a shit about title, treat me like a cunt and I'll do the same back.

Yup, me too, no one likes a sycophant and if they do then it's because they know their days are numbered, and want folk like that around. Anyone successsful wants to be challenged, it's the only way to grow

Tempy

cockbeard wrote:

I shouldn't ask this, but do you think it might have anything to do with being English??

Just a lot of what you've described seems from their attitude rather than your competence, maybe a little from your confidence, but still mostly from their attitude

I don’t think so, other than assumptions of my background maybe.

Roujin

That shit sucks Templeton, do what you think is best with your boss, but if you do want to apologise don't make it a big thing, just a quick sorry about yesterday should suffice unless he's a complete twat. If he doesn't dismiss your apology as being not required given the circumstances, then you can confirm complete twat status at least.

GooberTheHat

cockbeard wrote:

I shouldn't ask this, but do you think it might have anything to do with being English??

Just a lot of what you've described seems from their attitude rather than your competence, maybe a little from your confidence, but still mostly from their attitude

I had the same thought.

cockbeard

Glad I wasn't totally alone there. I hate anyone 'playing the race card' and the funny thing is it's really difficult to see from the inside. It's only happened to me a couple of times and it took a colleague to ask me whether it was that before I noticed

But on topic, sounds like you've a very difficult placement Temps, and I really hope it doesn't sour your view of the industry, you've spent a lot of time and effort in putting yourself in a position to want to give something back, and maybe the folk around you should take note of that. Yes they've all done it before, but that's easy to forget. My final posting was at Lichfield helping to train recruits, and I definitely think I asked more of them than was reasonable, but that was because I was expecting them to be better than me. We all do, we want the next generation to improve upon us, and a few years into a job it's easy to forget what a culture shock doing anything new is

equinox_code

I have been asked to manage and grow the social media profiles for my place of work. As someone who isn't active on any social media (besides messenger to keep in touch with friends) I don't seem the obvious choice for this role. However, I could really use the extra pay. I'm just finding this really far outside of my comfort zone. I really hate instagram, hashtags, and all this other nonsense- I actually find it quite embarrassing. I'm a bit worried I won't be able to do it at all.

Not sure there is anything anyone can say to help. Just wanted to get it off my chest.

EvilRedEye

Think of it as being a social media manager rather than just mucking around on Twitter. It's not just about hashtags, it's about establishing objectives and creating a strategy to meet them. There are absolutely tons of great online resources on social media management. Once you've done some research and started to get down on paper what you're trying to achieve, you might feel a bit more comfortable.

Syph79

#strategy

cockbeard

Also no need to be embarrassed by it. It isn't you you're representing, it's the business

poprock

I reckon the best people to run social stuff for brands are the people who find it all a bit cringeworthy and embarrassing. Pretty much guarantees a no-nonsense approach and avoidance of cheesy hashtags, crap banter, etc.

EvilRedEye

I did a marketing role for a few months, a large part of which was social media, so I understand the anxieties. But social media marketing is a different kettle of fish to social media for personal use and depending on the company the #wanky #hashtag #kinda #stuff wouldn't be appropriate. And there are so many free online resources - it's surprising how effective following good practice you've researched can be compared to doing just whatever.

Lord_Griff

Put zeds at the end of everything #millenialz

Tempy

Crit lesson in 5 minutes

Had my panic vomit there so we’re good to go!

Lord_Griff

Good luck.

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