There’s an article on the BBC website about the General Teaching council of Scotland warning teachers that their use of social network sites could damage their careers.
There is a slightly patronising tone to the advice that irritated me. A Mr Docherty is quoted as saying : “First thing is don’t bother telling anybody else about your social life. Nobody is interested about your social life and it doesn’t help.” and then he’s quoted as saying “Secondly, never make any comment about your work, about your employer, about teaching issues in general”.
Obviously as a teacher I’m aware that I need to be careful about what I do online – I’d never “friend” a pupil (or make contact in any other way) and I keep my privacy settings pretty much at the maximum. I’m aware that I need to ensure that I keep any dealings with pupils entirely professional, and I don’t particularly want my students knowing too much about me. As for not making comments about your employer, that advice hardly only applies to teachers – travel agents and police officers have been sacked for Facebook comments, but there can be a little too much paranoia. Surely it’s for my friends and family on Facebook to decide if I’m boring them.
But the thing that worries me the most is that I shouldn’t participate in general discussions about teaching issues. Surely as professionals we should be engaging with and discussing the issues. I hate to think what Mr Docherty would make of blogging.
Yuck. What sort of lesson is it to teach students that they should not be vocal participants in shaping society?