Cycling UK Forum

francovendee wrote:The OP was 'Do we need teachers?' I think the answer is of course we need teachers but the best teachers are not always found in the classroom.
At the age of 16 I had to start work due to family circumstances and started as a dogsbody in a small engineering firm. An old boy who, was a time served engineer, took me under his wing and I learnt mote from him than all my years in school. The skill needed as teacher is to engage the pupil's interest, difficult in some schools even for the best of teachers. I'm sure successive governments have had their own take on this, Gove is just the latest.

That's just proof of something we all know anyway. Qualifications count for little, if you've got the enthusiasm for the subject be it engineering, teaching or eating rice krispies you'll figure it out and pass it on.
The problem with teaching ime is that most of it is by rote and by people who have little interest in the subject (or disguise it well).
As I said though, teaching isn't unique in this. There's virtually no occupation that doesn't have the cruisers, just that public services in general have always seemed to protect such folk.

kwackers wrote:

francovendee wrote:The OP was 'Do we need teachers?' I think the answer is of course we need teachers but the best teachers are not always found in the classroom.
At the age of 16 I had to start work due to family circumstances and started as a dogsbody in a small engineering firm. An old boy who, was a time served engineer, took me under his wing and I learnt mote from him than all my years in school. The skill needed as teacher is to engage the pupil's interest, difficult in some schools even for the best of teachers. I'm sure successive governments have had their own take on this, Gove is just the latest.

That's just proof of something we all know anyway. Qualifications count for little, if you've got the enthusiasm for the subject be it engineering, teaching or eating rice krispies you'll figure it out and pass it on.
The problem with teaching ime is that most of it is by rote and by people who have little interest in the subject (or disguise it well).
As I said though, teaching isn't unique in this. There's virtually no occupation that doesn't have the cruisers, just that public services in general have always seemed to protect such folk.

I presume you are a current or a recent school student,based on the informed remarks you make.It is nice to see a high level of expertise has been developed in a relatively short timespan.

gnvqsos wrote:I presume you are a current or a recent school student,based on the informed remarks you make.It is nice to see a high level of expertise has been developed in a relatively short timespan.

Who mentioned expertise? I thought it was obviously anecdotal, but don't let me stop you putting your own spin on it.
As an anecdote it's based on my experience through the school system (and higher education which seems to be almost entirely populated by ex-industry cruisers) along with knowing several teachers - who to be fair are actually quite enthusiastic teachers but don't seem to have much enthusiasm for their subjects, something I've always found a bit odd.

All IMO, anecdotal and probably wrong. Feel free to use it in your coursework (assumption here) to demonstrate the ignorance of the masses.

kwackers wrote:

gnvqsos wrote:I presume you are a current or a recent school student,based on the informed remarks you make.It is nice to see a high level of expertise has been developed in a relatively short timespan.

Who mentioned expertise? I thought it was obviously anecdotal, but don't let me stop you putting your own spin on it.
As an anecdote it's based on my experience through the school system (and higher education which seems to be almost entirely populated by ex-industry cruisers) along with knowing several teachers - who to be fair are actually quite enthusiastic teachers but don't seem to have much enthusiasm for their subjects, something I've always found a bit odd.

All IMO, anecdotal and probably wrong. Feel free to use it in your coursework (assumption here) to demonstrate the ignorance of the masses.

I cannot realistically add to your own contribution to that goal,except to say you would make an excellent writer for the Daily Mail or even a UKIP manifesto,although I suspect your tongue is in your cheeks.

Do we need teachers?

Are cycling instructors included in your definition of teachers?

If so, the answer is yes, because we most certainly need cycling instructors! The more cyclists (and motorists) that undertake Bikeability training the better...

Lawrie9 wrote:I look at all these striking teachers who seem to be so sad and I think do we need this lot. I think you practically take someone off the street to teach most things within a fornight. With so many excellent tutorials online I think teachers may go the way of 35mm film and vinyl records and become largely obsolete.

You are joking, right? I almost believed you were serious for a moment.

By the way - your first line is missing a question mark. I guess you missed that 'on line' tutorial for punctuation?