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Headteachers in England tell of worsening behaviour of pupils – and parents
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2023
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It isn't just schools - behaviour in universities isn't stellar at the moment. The fees system has helped create a lot of entitlement (students assume they've paid for the pass), and a lot of students have missed that key formative experience of how to learn in a group due to COVID disruption.
What is interesting is even international students are acting out, which suggests a problem beyond the UK's awful living conditions. What is notable is that students are (measurably) weaker in terms of basic ability when entering university, and the resulting frustration from this may explain some of their part in this tragedy.
Honestly the first set of students coming in at undergrad after covid that I had were simultaneously wonderful and also felt about 2 years behind where they usually are socially. It was a bit of a struggle getting them to properly sit down and think. They did absolutely thrive when you got them going though (with some kinda more experimental pedagogy) so I do still have hope.
I'm sure this isn't just a UK problem, I'm sure many countries are reporting worsening behaviour in parents, which filters down to the children. I know it's been a problem for a while where I am!
I really feel for the students now with the high fees. They're paying so much more money to get a degree than older generations. They need to because any half decent graduate job needs a degree with at least a 2.1, so they feel like they don't have a choice but know they are paying for the certificate rather than an education really.
It doesn't excuse shitty behaviour and entitlement but I don't think it's fair to just blame them. The social contract is broken, they are still kids trying to figure out the world, they are used to being spoon fed exam questions at school, they are worried about climate change, the old people in power suck, they were really messed up by covid and the future looks pretty bleak.
By the way, that graduate job pays less than it did for older generations, in some cases a lot less as companies have taken advantage of the apprenticeship scheme by getting rid of higher paying grad jobs to the unliveable pay they get. By the way, in my profession, all the apprentices seem to have degrees as the competition is so high. They also come with a worse pension, worse benefits and worse pathway to promotions. That job will barely cover increasing rents if you're lucky enough, let alone allow you to build up a deposit for unaffordable housing.
At my highly rated course at a red brick uni, I'd say about a quarter of my lecturers were actually good teachers, about half were sort of OK and another quarter really sucked. You can tell they were there for the research and resented teaching. I paid £3k a year for the privilege of that so was slightly annoyed. If I was paying £9k or whatever it is, I'd be pretty pissed off.
The university system is broken with all the research targets, funding issues, low pay, etc.
All of this adds together to make it a shitty time for everyone! Now I've depressed myself for the day...