Should teachers be held to a higher level of accountability when it comes to grammar, spelling, etc.?

I don’t hold teachers (of subjects other than English) to a higher standard than non-teachers. I’m appalled at the state of grammar everywhere- including my own at times.

Yes. They’re supposed to be teaching children. Not with only their lesson plans, but with their actions and words. Seven and eight year olds are very much influenced by their surroundings. If I had a child in her class, I’d have them moved.

@Facade Absolutely, I would too!

@gemiwing But a third grade teacher IS an English teacher. And a math teacher, and a history teacher.

Yes, I think that teachers should be held to a higher standard, even if they are not English teachers.

Why? because regardless of which subject they teach, children will copy them. If their mathematics teacher writes “ain’t” (which I must add is NOT a word in standard English, for those of you who feel the need to use it), then the children will write “ain’t”. If their mathematics teacher writes things like “do you’re homework”, then the children will pick it up. One dumb teacher can create a legion of dumb adults further down the track.

@randomness Exactly. And at that age, it may be their first introduction to real grammar, and those early lessons at that impressionable age can stick with them forever…

Absolutely. The teacher should be more knowledgeable than the students, and, as others have pointed out, set a good example for them.

In a professional setting, yes. Teachers, even teachers of subjects other than English, should also be teaching by example. However, in their personal/private communications, I don’t think it’s so important. So if I were you I wouldn’t have been that bothered by the atrocious grammar in the notes to me (just my knee-jerk twitchy reaction in my head, without any major judgment), but the mistakes on the board are unacceptable.

@MacBean Well, this goes back to that Q I asked about people using bad grammar and don’t even realize they’re using bad grammar. He was speaking too naturally (for him) for me to think that he wouldn’t also speak that way to his students…...

Yes, yes, yes yes, yes.

In the classroom yes. Outside they should be allowed to let their hair down and partake in silliness and crazy words like, watcha, thingy, gonna, wassup.

A teacher should set a good example in anything they do in or outside of the classroom. I would think that minimally, they should have good grammar and speak well. They certainly can’t expect their students to do that if they can’t even manage it. Teaching by example is the best way.

I have to say that both my daughters teachers are absolutely great, they are not just correct in their jobs as teachers, they also have time for the children in other matters that concern the children personally, should they have any worries then I am contacted directly from them via phone, I dont feel that teaching a child remains inside the classroom activities.

A teacher should only be held accountable for their grammar when they are language specialists (English or German for example) or they are teaching at an elementary level…other than that it really does not matter – so long as they are understood of course.

@Alrook This was, as I said, a 3rd grade teacher. Elementary level.

@Jessicainlove I would agree, if she was in private. In her home. At a family reunion. On on Fluther. On her back deck, rapping with friends. However in this case, she was speaking to me in full earshot of the students, in a professional environment. And seemed to have no clue of her…..grammar handicap.

@moonchild. So agree!

No more than anyone else with a college degree.

@thriftymaid I think that would depend on the degree received. I mean, you wouldn’t want a lawyer or a doctor talking like a hick, whereas a basketball player who skated through all of their coursed and accidentally graduated might not have the brains to change their speech to match their educations. I also think teachers, of all people, have a bigger moral responsibility to make sure they’re presenting themselves professionally.

@ thrifty, I agree with you, there is a responsibility in any career, but a child builds their future on what is taught to them…also how it is taught.

@thriftymaid, I think that expects too little.

Let’s say you and I and he over there all have college degrees, and we all took courses in English, history, and biology, and we all aced the courses.

Now I am an editor, you are a history teacher, and he is a doctor. (This is hypothetical, you understand.)

Check me now on something having to do with the circulatory system or the squamous epithelium and chances are good I won’t remember a lot of detail or be able to speak knowledgeably on the subject. However, our ex-classmate the doctor has chosen this field as his profession. He ought to be able to do it easily and naturally, or he shouldn’t be in that line of work.

Try quizzing him about restrictive and nonrestrictiive clauses, dangling modifiers, antecedents, and subjunctive conjugations, and I would expect him to be a little lost. But I can talk about them all afternoon. Those are the tools of my chosen profession.

As the history teacher, you did not just choose history as your field. You chose education. For that reason you should be held to the standards in your field—a higher standard for you as an educator than for the average college graduate. Just as the doctor and the editor have to meet professional standards, so should the educator.

As a college graduate you might have chosen to work in a business office, sell real estate, or design furniture. How you speak may matter in your work, but it isn’t your job to set an example. If you are going to be in a classroom teaching my kids, your language competence is an essential job skill.

Very logically put thrifty :)

@Jeruba As always, 23 thumbs up!!