The TV series Teachers makes me chuckle. Having worked in more than 20 secondaries, I have seen the stereotypes - jaded old dinosaurs who should have got out years ago, ambitious young sharks who will stop at nothing to get a headship, and jobbing part-timers with disastrous personal lives.
The school portrayed is run-down, needs funds and is fightng a losing batttle - a realistic environment. It is aimed at adults, but kids will watch it, as they watched Metrosexuality and Queer as Folk. Students’ perceptions of teachers are changing and Teachers reflects that. In state schools at least, older students see their teachers as more than “smug marrieds”.
Tom Prunty, Colchester, Essex
