"MatSav" wrote in message
...
"Yowie" wrote in message
...

snip a tale of a young girl studying a traditional 'boys only' subject

...our stories show just how much effect teachers - both good and bad -
can have on people's lives long into adulthood.

At my secondary comprehensive ("high") school, we had to make choices at
aged 14 (for me, that was in 1975) about what subjects to study to GCE O'
Level or CSE (the standard qualifications, at the time, for 16-y-o's in
the UK). These choices were constrained by the timetable planners, and
some subjects were compulsory.

It was compulsory to study English, Mathematics, at least one science, and
one foreign language. The 'options' usually forced the boys to take one of
three technical subjects as well (Technical Drawing, Metalwork, Woodwork).
The timetable planner (yes, ONE teacher!) hadn't even considered there may
be some pupils (such as my older brother) who were absolutely useless at
the technical subjects, but were also very bright and got excellent
results in academic subjects. My brother was the first to force a change
in this rule, and was able to study all academic subjects instead. A
friend of mine wanted to become a dentist - which meant he would have to
take three sciences (chemistry, physics, biology) - but Mrs. Annan, who
planned the timetable, had never even considered the possibility that a
pupil from our school would be bright enough or have enough ambition to
study those three subjects. Fortunately, his mother was also a teacher at
the school (she taught Remedial English for pupils who had problems with
literacy), and was able to force some changes to allow this as a possible
choice.

So yes, indeed, teachers have a great influence (both good and bad). At
16, it's just not possible for a young adult to understand exactly how
many different careers are available, and teacher's advice tends to stick
with traditional options - such as engineering, banking, nursing, etc...


Eventually I pleaded so much to give up the sewing classes that I was
allowed to take woodwork instead. It's been far more useful to me. I can
make wild bird nestboxes which are used every year and hen runs and stuff
like that, far more relevant to my life.
Sewing is a no-no, if anything needs repairing either I ask my aunt to do it
(as she likes sewing) or I throw it away.

Some of the teachers I had would have been in serious trouble today, they
often bullied children who didn't have an aptitude for their subject. A
maths teacher we had would often pick up 11 yr old boys by the ear if they
got a sum wrong and would also throw the board rubber (which had a wooden
base) at us. One day he asked me in front of the class if I was
illegitimate. I didn't know what the word meant at 11, so I went home and
asked my mother.
Some teachers have a strange agenda around why they want to work with
children and looking back he was certainly one of them.
Tweed