Is this acceptable behaviour?.

@Confined He wouldn't last 5 minutes in a proper job.

@Sharon Many of these teachers have spent most of their adult lives behind the walls of academia. They would be lost and completely out of place in the professional working world.

@Sharon

Although I agree the teacher wouldn't last long in a regular job.

@Sharon I would quite like to see how long a person in a "proper job" could survive teaching a class of teenagers . .

@SunshineGirl If teenagers are shown some respect, they'll usually reciprocate. It seems to work well in the rest of Europe, UK teachers should try it.

@Sharon I wasn't commenting on the behaviour of teenagers, but pointing out that working with young people is very different to working in a "proper job", whatever that may be . .

What European countries are you comparing the UK to? And on what basis do you judge UK teaching methods to be deficient? (there are many different approaches in the different countries of the UK, so difficult to make genetalisations.

At my daughter's school the children are treated with the utmost respect (considerably more respect than I have been shown in some of my recent job roles in the private sector) and placed at the heart of the teaching process. There is a charter setting out behaviour expectations for children and teachers and it works very well. Individual teachers may occasionally lose their cool (as do most of us at some stage in our work), but that does not detract from the profession as a whole.

The state school environment is a lot healthier than it was when I was learning a generation ago. I feel that many of your statements, including the suggestion that "official" uniform suppliers act corruptly and exploit parents, are based on your own experience as a pupil rather than current day observation.

@SunshineGirl

Those I have personal experience of - France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and Finland spring immediately to mind. I've either worked in those contries or with parents of children at school in those countries. I've found their children to be educated to a higher standard than UK children of the same age. Teachers in those countries tend to be more highly qualified too. In Finland they're required to hold at least a master's degree. Teachers in those countries don't have to waste time policing petty uniform rules either. They're quite capable of teaching no matter what colour socks their students are wearing. UK teachers could learn a lot from them.

That's good to hear but it's very much the exception rather than the rule. She doesn't attend Summerhill School ( https://www.summerhillschool.co.uk ) does she?

I very much doubt teachers held to it as strictly as the students.

In some ways that might be true (teachers are no longer allowed to beat children into submission) but, in general, I find the opposite to be the case. To some extent school are held in check by parent being more willing to take legal action when schools act unlawfully. I've even heard of cases where the headteacher has told parents s/he didn't care what the law says, s/he made the rules in his/her school.

No, they're are based on my experience as a grandparent with grandchildren at school. I've also been told and the "official supplier" arrangements by clothing suppliers whom I've written software for. I need to take the commission/bribe into account when calculating projected profit and loss.