Stephen Fry: These People Get Almost No Respect 😡

National treasure Stephen Fry gets a round of applause on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch after this rousing speech on the lack of respect that some people in society get 😡

#StephenFry #Teachers #Teaching #ChrisEvansBreakfastShow #VirginRadioUK

📲 Download the Virgin Radio UK app to listen live and catch up with your favourite shows.

[ACE-pb]

The one thing I love about teaching is the creativity you have to have.
If you explain something to the students and they dont understand it, you have to find another way of explaining it, and if they still dont understand it you have to find a third way, and keep finding new ways until they all understand it.
All the while you also need to understand from the get go that it is not the students who are dumb, but your explanation that just doesnt work. It is such a huge reward when all of them get it.

[fox]

I taught A-level for twenty plus years. I quit in January 2024. I now work for minimum wage. In my last year I was very pleased to have facilitated a student gaining access to Cambridge University to study History. That seemed a sensible conclusion to my career. The job is relentless. Nothing is ever enough. There is always more that I should do. Always room for improvement. Never applauded. I was at the top of the scale in FE, teaching A-level and earning £34k at age 50. (Sixth form pay is much better, and it's the same job if you teach A-levels). I would hope that I will be remembered fondly. Thank you Stephen. Your words matter.

[pennylouise]

Love his intelligence, wit and story telling

[medievalladybird]

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
William Arthur Ward

Taken from Stephen Fry's book
The Ode Less Travelled

[Outspoken.Humanist]

It's been said so many times but I could listen to Mr Fry for hours.
Most of my teachers seemed to be tired & bored timeservers but my history teacher made the subject live. He filled me with love for the subject and now, at 65 yrs old, I still feel the same. Teachers should be held to much higher standards but the good ones should be paid the same as doctors and lawyers.

[Jane-rcrk]

I was a teacher … just retired the summer. Oh the glory days of being able to follow a child’s interests and talents; sadly children are schooled now and not taught in the same way…schooled to pass tests. I will blow my own trumpet … I was a bloody good teacher. Children I’ve taught have kept in touch, friends are now those who used to be their parents … I was forced out by bullying dictators who don’t/can’t allow this way of teaching anymore as we have the mighty OFSTED to answer to; I couldn’t bear the sight of five and six year olds sitting in rows facing the front and copying from the board. I loved my job, loved those “light bulb” moments … and I spent far more hours working than I was actually paid for. Tolerated the vitriol spewed by the press … and watched my pay drop year on year, to see that what was once a valued and respected profession become a focus for all things ill. I don’t know how we turn that back now here in the west, def in the UK. Thank You Stephen for your affirmation of the value of education.

[marklivingstone]

Several years ago, quite unexpectedly, I realized the person I was speaking to was once one of my high school teachers. I figured he must of had thousands of students and probably wouldn’t remember me so, I didn’t say anything. He had just started teaching when I met him, he was then a Professor at a university. He was a great teacher, tried so very hard to connect and involve us, was passionate about what he believed teaching was. A few days later I wrote to him to thank him for what he had done, to thank him for encouraging me to broaden my love history and for his patience. I told him what I had done with my life, I also gave him specific examples of things he had taught me that I still remember 40 years later. I sent the letter not expecting a response. A few weeks later, I received a letter that I treasure. He told me my letter had bought him to tears, that for a teacher a student is an unfinished book. He recognized my name but assumed I wouldn’t have remembered him so didn’t say anything. They know how the book started but very rarely do they find out if they ever made a difference or if their efforts were appreciated.
If you ever get the chance, it’s never too late to say thank you and tell someone that they made a difference and that you are grateful.

[stuartslyper]

A suggestion to Virgin Radio if you want to really make a difference: You could report on this week’s teacher awards in the same way that you might cover the Oscars or the Brit Awards. Profile the nominees and then interview the winners after the event. This has much more impact than clapping for Stephen Fry (though Stephen is also deserving of frequent applause)

[anthonydebski]

YES!!!!....you were TAUGHT to be CURIOUS!!! LUV it!! LEARNING is a WONDERFUL game....

[ysgol]

As a retired teacher who tried and tried to help and inspire my students and to make the things I taught interesting and accessible, I'd like to thank Stephen for his lovely words.

[hadishstreet]

Thank you, Mr Fry! I can't begin to express the love you inspire. I don't mind admitting that I cried at this

[Fiawordweaver]

Thank you for showcasing The Amazing MR Fry. I always delight in his humble nature, his truthful vulnerability. His kindheartedness. It’s so lacking in this era. I’m 70. I cherish Mr Fry’s qualities and how he diligently worked at his struggles to have a better quality personal life. He then travels to honor and empower others. How I applaud him. 🎉🎉🎉

[Ash_Aszhari]

It's so lovely to hear this. The story of a boy discovering something of his own unique self-worth, and how (as we all know now) it becomes central to the man he is. And yes, good teachers deserve more recognition. These are the people who have such a big influence on shaping our children - our future.

[daveofyorkshire]

I see Stephen as a philosopher rather than an actor or presenter. His skill is to demonstrate not how brilliant he is but how entertaining information can be.

Good teachers don't indoctrinate or politicise, they actually encourage thought and thought exercises. As a child I hated geography, but enjoyed the lesson because the teacher would challenge you to engage in discussion and debate about all kinds of things... That is teaching...

[NickAskew]

You were so fortunate to be in an education system where the teachers have the time to be able to assess individual strengths. I feel it is important that we don't simply cast aside a child who may be poor in the arts but good at science or vice versa. While arguably streaming children at too young an age would also be damaging, we have to somehow recognise that not everyone is the same.

[BanjoPixelSnack]

I wish we’d still had the option of learning Latin and Ancient Greek at school. I would have loved that. My favourite subjects were English and French because they were “codes” to be solved just like Stephen says. I also taught myself webcoding (this was the early 90s) and made up my own coded language which I wrote all my journals in. I read and wrote stories obsessively. I was useless at PE and labelled stupid and slow by some of my teachers (not my English or my French teachers who gave me higher level work than the other kids). Other teachers thought I was slow because when I was called on to answer a question I couldn’t process the question fast enough (auditory processing difficulties). Turns out I am autistic and have ADHD. Now I’m a technical writer. I remember thinking as a kid that the fact the teachers called me useless was a reflection of who they were and nothing to do with me. I don’t know where I got that defiance from. Because if I’d believed them I probably would have never have graduated from my undergraduate degree with a First or got a Distinction in my Masters.

[detch]

Stephen Fry - one of favorite people to listen to, especially when he talks about life and living it. Huge respect for the man.

[BoJangles]

My only complaint about Stephen Fry is that there’s only one of him. Such a wise, witty, thoughtful person who carries the torch for the Enlightenment in our time.

[sylvialocker]

Biggest fan of Stephen Fry always - what a joy to listen to and read his opinions❤

[drahcirnevarc]

I have a Philosophy PhD and have infinitely more respect for electricians, mechanics, plumbers, carpenters etc than I do for e.g. Gender Studies undergraduates, because of their superior grasp of applied logic.