I'm just curious, do private schools use graduate teachers or only experienced teachers? We live in rural Victoria, and my kids attend the local state primary school. My four have all attended there, and the two middle ones have had a lot of trouble with reading and spelling. I knew they were a bit behind, but about 2 months ago, the headmaster told me they're both approx 1.5-2 years behind where they should be. Both have had eye and ear tests and neither have dyslexia or any form of learning disorder.
However, they were both taught by a graduate teacher, using the "whole word" method. This teacher had poor English herself. Quite often the notes that came home with the boys contained spelling and grammatical errors (which I corrected in red and returned). They did not do any phonics at all, and had no idea how to sound out words. They would look and guess.
The boys are having 20 minutes per day of reading recovery 1:1 at school, along with a few other students who have not grasped reading.
My 11 year old son, who is in grade 5, asked me how to spell "this" and thought it started with "v"!!
I've started using the Fitzroy Method at home with all three boys, the two who are struggling and the prep who is doing well ( I taught him the letter sounds before he started school)
I guess I am annoyed because this wasn't picked up much earlier, and even though my kids go to school, I have to homeschool them! Is it too much to ask that kids don't fall through the cracks?
I'm annoyed the school used a graduate teacher in the early years, and think that only experienced teachers should teach the littlest who are just beginning.
My husband thinks I'm being unreasonable and that graduates have to start somewhere...but I'm pretty sure they don't start at the Grammar School!
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9 Replies
Actually I've worked with graduate teachers in private schools.
Graduate teachers can work anywhere, but private schools can be selective with who they choose to employ so quite often get the best of the best of those teachers graduating. I dont think the issue was as much the teacher was a graduate, but rather one that had poor english herself, and possibly the school curriculum which she was implementing?
Graduate teachers can bring a wealth of new knowledge and strategies for learning, behaviour and technologies that are based on the most current research. I would suggest looking at the particular school and ensure you are informed of their curriculum programs and philosophy in teaching and ensure it matches with what you are after, and always speak your mind throughout the school year if you feel something is not right.
You can get a teacher that isn't right for your child at any school. Have they had a speech pathologist assess them? Language disorders can be a bit tricky to diagnose. Playing educational games with your children is normal in my social circle. You are your childrens advocate and you are responsible for not letting them slip through the cracks. The grammar school in my area does very little for below average students. 1:1 reading recover every day sounds like your children are getting the help they need.
I couldn't agree with you more. Your situation sounds identical to mine. I have 3 children in a rural public school and none of them have been taught to read and write properly. They've all had young graduate teachers in the earlier years. My eldest son is now in year 4 and has a very experienced, traditional teacher and he is improving in leaps and bounds. The difference is massive. During our parent teacher interview his teacher asked a lot about the type of homework he'd been getting in previous years and said she couldn't beleive how little he'd been taught. I think she was as frustrated as I was that children are coming in year 4 so far behind. I also have a 4 year old who will start school next year so I am teaching her to read now. I have also started teaching the middle two phonics myself as well. They seem to be learning a hell of a lot more from me than their teachers. I don't think its the graduate teachers fault- it seems to be the way they've been taught to teach.
My children learn more from me than teachers as they are my children. I spend weekends mornings afternoon and school holidays with them. Different styles of teachers work with different children. I consider it my job to know if my child is in the best class for them - if not I move them.
Yes children spend more time at home than at school, but the majority of the time spent at home is either at night sleeping, getting ready for school, eating dinner or weekends- when kids should be free to be kids and not have to do more school work!! And unfortunately, being a full time working parent, they don't get to spend school holidays with me. My parents didn't have the time to do extra school work with me at home when I was growing up- they didn't even have time to help me with my homework- but I still ended up doing really well at school because of my fantastic teachers. Yes my children learn important life lessons from me but I expect them to at least learn basic reading and writing at school, otherwise what is the point of sending them. Making sure my children are doing well at school is also very important to me, but unfortunately our school doesn't allow children to change classes just because their parents aren't happy with the teacher- I've tried, and no we can't change schools because it is the only one in our town. It's great that teaching has become so popular, but unfortunately with quantity comes a reduction in quality and when you're stuck with a not so great teacher for a whole year, then it can be seriously detrimental to a child's education.
If the school doesn't allow it document it and go higher. Make sure you have said why, tell the principal what you intend to do. No child should be stuck in a class unsuited to their education. I also work full time during term but I do drop back to .5 for school holidays. We play educational games on the weekends, learning through play makes it fun for all. An increased number of teachers would give the schools more choice.
Apologies for the long response. But I'm am a teacher and currently am working in a k-12 school. I may have completely read ur post incorrectly so I apologize if I sound completely stupid :(
Now, our school is not in rural Victoria so conditions are very different however, a graduate teacher is not to blame. All teachers are graduates at some stage before they enough gain experience to go from conditionally accredited to proficiently accredited. However, being conditionally accredited does not mean u are not a good teacher in comparison to a proficiently accredited one. Unfortunately, some children do fall through the cracks no matter how hard the school tries or the teacher tries to prevent this from happening. Personally, I think the issue is more the fact that the school or the classroom teacher did not keep you informed of ur children's progress etc on a regular basis. A goal for all teachers is to determine where their students need to go and then to devise a strategy as to how they will get them there. Students that fall behind are common. What's actually crucial is that the school/teacher communicates to the parents on s regular basis and keeps them in the loop of different strategies they are trying to help their children reach a certain level or standard. Some teachers who have been teaching for years may not do this when graduate teachers would. The point I'm trying to make is that I don't think that being a graduate teacher has anything to do with it. In fact, graduate teachers are better known to be better equipped with new and improved teaching strategies than the older teachers. Another thing to consider is that every school choses to use a certain teaching strategy and would prefer their staff to use it on the classroom. So if u as a parent have found a better way that works well for ur child it would be worthwhile meeting with the school and having a chat about it.
Yes they test teachers on the poor kids and if they are good enough private school hire them.
Unfortunately your children might not be up to the private schools standard. They have interviews and tests unless you have a decent cash flow.