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Warning: Parent at School
Richard Hoyes has just started teaching his daughter King Lear for English 'A' Level...
I did worry before term started. I thought I'd have to modify what I say. Some of my jokes are anti-parent and don't want to embarass her either. I'm rather boring and rather unpleasant at home. My own father was quiet and very serious. I have no street cred or clout at home, I'm regarded at home as rather stupid. Now Becky says, "why are you so different at home?"
Other people's views:
Becky came home one day quite pleased because one of her friend's had called me "that nice funny man with beard and glasses". So we sat her down and asked what she's have replied if her friend had said that they didn't like me. "I'd have said, 'you ought to be glad you don't have him all the time', or, 'you don't have to live with him, he's my father!'"
Home work:
You suddenly see homework from the other point of view. You set a piece of homework that hasn't quite got all the 't's crossed and the 'I's dotted and is a bit vague, and you realise that for them, this means hours and hours on the phone to friends checking what I meant. If only teachers knew, at every stage, the huge influence they have on family life, they'd be different.
Coaching:
Neither my wife nor I speak a word of Spanish and that's one of Becky's best subjects so there's no way I can help her with that. There is this cultural thing - both her parents are teachers and we talk quite a lot about books and go to the theatre and there's no doubt that Becky has a head start as a student. It's one of the unlevel aspects of education.
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