Teaching shouldn’t be a last resort for the jobless | Letters
Bob Epton and Lily Bond take exception to a letter that suggested youngsters should become teachers if they were struggling to get any other job
I have been surprised that you’ve not published any letters in response to Ruth Brandon’s (18 June) suggesting that young people who can’t find jobs should go into teaching. The saying “Those that can, do; those that can’t, teach” has been poisonous, feeding the notion that a career in teaching is a last resort and requires few skills. It explains why teachers are so often despised. Compare that with other European countries where a teaching career requires high qualifications, is well paid and highly respected.
Teaching is an exceptionally difficult job that requires a multiplicity of skills on top of sound subject knowledge. We all want not just “good” but “inspirational” teachers for our children, not people who are incapable of anything else. How wonderful it would be if the first-choice career for our brightest and best graduates was teaching, with only those who couldn’t get a job elsewhere going into banking.
Bob Epton
Brigg, Lincolnshire
