PGCE - Current Students Thread

HELP PLEASE!

I am a mixed race trainee teacher and while I am aware that nationally BME teachers are low in numbers I have never felt it was a problem for me.
During a lesson a Y9 pupil asked me where I am from...innocent enough. I responded with my by telling him my hometown and he kept hammering the question - where am i from? I told him that we could talk about that at break but now we'll do the work. From my previous experience this question either leads to two directs: an interest of my family heritage or potential racism.
The next day the same student asked the same questions again except this time he went further and called me a negro. I promptly told him that it was unacceptable language to use and that was the end of that.

The problem is...I found the word deeply offensive and it did upset me, and it made me feel uncomfortable. I know its not PC but I didn't feel i could tell the class teacher because I wasn't sure if she would understand how i feel.

The question is - do you think the word negro is offensive. should i tell the teacher if it happens again? am i making a fuss out of nothing?Do i have a valid point or not. (if you disagree with me - please only civilized responses, no hating!)

You will already have been doing behaviour management, just in a positive way. Try and think of all the reasons WHY the pupils you've worked with before behaved in a positive way, and that will help you get an idea of what you're aiming for.

You certainly shouldn't feel bad for feeling upset about the use of this word. As a trainee or teacher you have a right to work without feeling harassed or uncomfortable due to things like this.Of course, working as a teacher you will have times when you experience things like this, especially for secondary pupils who are very much figuring out what's ok and what's not, including exploring language. So being able to keep calm and try and detach yourself personally is a good skill which you can work on throughout your career. However, that doesn't mean its OK for the pupil to do it, or that it should be ignored. I would certainly tell the class teacher - there may be a specific policy or way of recording the incident that you need to know about. She is a professional, and should deal with the matter in a professional way. It sounds like you handled it really well at the time, so give yourself a big pat on the back for that. The pupil probably knows full well the potential connotations of the use of the word, although there is a chance they don't and have just heard it through family or friends who never mentioned its potential to offend. For an example, I had heard a potentially offensive term for a mixed race person used by a friend, but not often, as a teenager - I come from an area with a very high percentage of white Caucasian citizens. I had no idea that the term was considered offensive for around a year after I first heard it! So it can happen.The most important thing is consistency... If the pupil says something with an intent to offend or upset a teacher, the response should be the same.

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I agree with kpwxx, it sounds to me like you handled the situation really well, considering you were upset by it! So congrats on that, it's probably the one thing that a lot of trainees on my course would struggle with.In my opinion, I wouldn't think that the word negro is offensive... but that's my opinion as a caucasian, and as an adult I accept that my opinion differs from other people. But another opinion that I hold is that being offended by things is a waste of energy, and so I don't often find myself offended by things because I don't want to be (maybe I'm just too lazy!).If something is offensive to you, you have every right to talk to the class teacher about it, if for no other reason than she can give you advice on how best to deal with situations like that. Even if she doesn't fully understand how you feel about this particular incidence, chances are that she has felt similar about something.My advice here is to continue reacting as appropriately as you did - by saying that any language you find offensive is unacceptable, and put a stop to it that way. But at the same time, measure your reaction based on whether you feel that the student is being deliberately offensive, or if they are unaware that they have offended you. And before another situation like this can occur, talk to other teachers about how they handle things that may be perceived as racist or offensive. They have a lot to teach you, and not all of it can be learned by just watching them teach!

I'd say the word negro is definitely offensive and can't imagine that the student doesn't know so as well. You don't get to 13/14 without realising that at the very least it isnt a common word for a black person and should be considering why that is.Combined with the persistent badgering about where you come from, I don't see any reason to give the student the benefit of the doubt.Definitely tell your mentor what happened. It could be that this pupil has a history of behaviour like this that won't be dealt with if no one reports them.I also think emotional things like this come better from an established teacher. As a trainee, you don't need any extra problems that could come from the kids gossipping that "Sir/Miss made a fuss". Whereas an outsider telling them they were offensive can have more impact. It's a disappointing fact of bigotry that often the victims are considered to be oversensitive until someone else stands with them.

For applications would it be bad to have your reference from a head of department at a private school? I have an amazing placement at one where I get supervised teaching with feedback

For applications would it be bad to have your reference from a head of department at a private school? I have an amazing placement at one where I get supervised teaching with feedback

It will be fine but private school experience doesn't count towards the 2 week experience needed for most PGCE courses - it needs to be a state school

Right now I have:
5 days state secondary
5 days state primary
5 days HMC independent
5 days ISC independent girls only
3 days ISC grammar

going to be volunteering next term in state secondary teaching assistants to boost up the secondary experience.

Oxford want 1 day, Cambridge 5-10, Durham 10. Am I lacking in experience in the state area? (I'm applying for shortage subject).

I'd say that you're lacking in state school experience personally just because I don't think you can have a true representation of state school education from 5 days in a state secondary school. My old PGCE pal had 6 weeks in the independent sector and only 5 days in secondary state schools and as part of his conditional offer, he needed to obtain a further 10 days in a secondary state school.

I wish I could get more, I've had loads of offers from state schools to host me but I lack the time as I start my masters soon and have 9-6 lessons everyday, I could only get experience later in the year. I had to put some private school experience in for if I apply to HMC TT schemes otherwise I'd have no experience in that sector either

Just be aware that it could possibly form part of your offer if you were to be offered a place on the course so you may need to make time for it.

Well done for getting offers from state schools though. I found it incredibly difficult to get state school experience.

That would be a good thing, after my final exams (June) I have around 15 weeks spare I could do experience in.

What subject? I had to turn down 5+ schools and had around 50% accept me for experience, one rejection and others were no reply.

I'm a history teacher so not a shortage subject. Although the amount of schools desperate for history teachers would make you think otherwise. I also got a range of experience in schools that ranged from outstanding to requires improvement. Definitely think it helped me more seeing schools that were requires improvement.

Ahh, I've not had a chance to go to a 'bad' school yet, all of mine were rated excellent/good in Ofsted, my areas pretty good for schools though. I'm kind of leaning more towards the independent sector right now, and I know my university would give me great shots in that sector.