Polly Donnison & Warwick Mansell

Cartoon by Polly Donnison

New respect for educators as parents feel the strain

Warwick Mansell is a freelance education journalist and founder/writer of educationuncovered. co.uk

IS there any upside for teaching staff of the multi-faceted, ongoing nightmare that is coronavirus?

At the time of writing it seems hard to imagine one, especially with many teachers still facing the prospect of time in school, with institutions staying open for the children of key workers, even as the virus strengthens its grip on the UK. Only today I read of a head teacher dying from the virus.

Any positives, then, have to be put into this gloomy context. Nevertheless, I wonder if one shaft of light – when, and if, we get through this – might be a greater appreciation, from at least a large swathe of the population, for the sheer hard work that goes into teaching.

As a father of two primary-age children, I’ve had extra respect for classroom practitioners more or less since the arrival of our daughter, now aged eight, and son, seven.

The relief I used to feel, for example, on getting the two of them safely secured into their double pram so we could put behind us the mayhem of breakfast time and head off out the door to start our day, remains etched on my brain. As they have got older, parenting has remained as challenging as ever, particularly for someone who is inclined to ponder quietly in the corner.

So the thought of someone standing in front of up to 30 little ones and somehow not just keeping order, but actually getting them to learn, provokes a sense of something verging on awe.

That went up a few notches after Covid-19 school shutdowns meant home education kicked in for us and millions of other families around the globe. By mid-morning on day one, with my daughter screaming that it was “too cold to go outside for PE”, but no, she would not put on a coat, and the responsible adult somehow finding no other appropriate reaction than to screech back, even as his wife tried to smile through a work conference call, my respect for the teaching profession was off the scale.

I’m making light of this, but there is a serious point. It’s often said that people – perhaps those with experience of other careers – who are new to teaching don’t appreciate how challenging it can be until they try it. Well, now millions of parents are getting a taste of at least some aspects of it, the feeling must be that this will build an understanding for the rigours of the role.

Of course, the heroism of professionals even to be getting in front of children as infection spreads should also be appreciated.

As ever, there are alternative scenarios in terms of public perception. A contact writes of local schools “threatening students if they don’t work” while at home. There was also talk on social media of some schools emphasising uniform requirements for the children of key workers. Whatever the merits or not of this approach, critics among parents will see this as more in line with a sense of confrontation than of togetherness between family and school.

But we are all feeling our way through this. Overall, I think this crisis is likely to provoke, in many parents, a sense of solidarity with the profession. And that, at a time when we all need to look for positives, can only be a good thing.

A COALITION of organisations, including the NEU, acting in defence of the remaining 389 maintained nursery schools in England, handed in a 25,000-signature petition to 10 Downing Street on 2 March.

The petition said: “Nursery schools give 40,000 children the best start to school. The majority of these schools are located in the poorest parts of the country and for many children this is their only opportunity for early education.” Many maintained nurseries have had to close due to chronic underfunding in recent years. Stop-gap funding announced last year runs out in April 2021. “Maintained nurseries continue to survive hand to mouth, with many under threat of closure,” said NEU joint general secretary Mary Bousted. Photo: Rehan Jamil