h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is a miracle to me that there are such saintly beings as Primary School teachers. My brief exposure to the job, teaching handwriting to six-year-olds in my childrens' school, scared me off, and left me in awe of the patience and endurance required.

Having said that, it worries me that your entry has not been proof-read more thoroughly, if you are a teacher.

End of paragraph 1 you write "is" will become less accurate over time. Typo, presumably, should be "it" will become.....

And "over time" is an unpleasant business-speak term, where the simpler "in time" is perfectly adequate.

In para 16 you have the sentence starting " Learning styles relates..." where the grammar requires that the verb agree with the subject, and should be "Learning styles relate.....", that is unless you imply "( The subject of ) learning styles relates...." in which case inverted commas around "learning styles" conveys your intention.

Finally, it is a worry, ( OK, beyond your personal remit ) that the Literacy strategy teaches children very young to analyse the elements of writing, but does it encourage them to enjoy a good story, and learn to love reading, rather than, say, vegging out in front of the TV or computer games?

Apologies for being such a pedantic old bore. That's the danger of an English degree.

"One of the problems of being a teacher is that everyone has been to school or is going through school and therefore feels qualified to pass comment on the job you do".

Oh, yes. Hear, hear. A truer word was never spoke, and sucks to Chaiwallah, if I want to miss the 'n' off a past participle I will do so. That's the advantage of a German degree.

If I had a pound for every time parents - and even pupils - felt free to tell me how to do my job, I would have.... well, quite a few pounds, actually. Stick to your guns! Power to your elbow! Money to your bank account! Confusion to the barbarians!

Gosh. I didn't realise I felt quite so strongly...

Fair enough, Underhill, sucks taken.

But a) I did apologise in advance for being a pedantic old bore, b) I already acknowledged the extraordinary qualities required of a primary school teacher, and c) a Guide entry is supposed to be impeccable, isn't it? And I wouldn't ( never did ) tell a teacher how to do their job ( esp. as I was a teacher, though not in Primary School, for three years.) Teachers, along with nurses, are among the least valued nurturers of the public good. You should feel strongly about it. OK?

Thanks for taking the time to reply to the posting. I would like the article to be of a high standard, so for that I thank Chaiwallah for pointing out the areas of grammar what I could improve (sic). I was delighted to have struck a chord with Underhill and hope that the pounds soon roll in. We would not have to work if there was a pound tendered in exchange for unwarranted criticism. Perhaps the most outrageous examples of parental/student criticism could be entered here.Perhaps politicians and Inspectors could be added to that too. A teacher whose class I was in was criticised for not having a stack of worksheets in a neat pile. Hmm...
Happy hiking
Cousin Cosmo

Namaste,

I enjoyed the article being also a primary school teacher. It is a hard job to try to condense into a small space exactly what the job entails. Over the course of the day you are educator, philosopher, psychiatrist, social worker, mediator, comic, disciplinarian, sometimes cook, sometimes athlete and always human. I don't feel you article reflects the true drain it is on a teacher bieng all things to all pupils (well trying to!) in one day and how this affects your own life - maybe you could add in somethign about the real hours worked and not the perceived ones.

How about some quotations from teachers? Mine would be "It's the best and the worst job in the world, and that can be the case in just the space of a minute"

Great job, looking forward to seeing it in the edited guide.

Namaste

PS Any websites you coudl link in, maybe OFSTED, QTS, GTCE, NSPCC, HFRAIT ?

I wouldn't bother linking to any "official" websites. Since when did any of them know anything about actually TEACHING, as distinct from talking about teaching?