The tendency of some commentators to pillory teachers is odd at the best of times. Now, it’s downright bizarre - and based on wildly misinformed hot takes - at a time when the altruism that fuels the profession has never been on clearer display.

But the teacher-bashing urge is strong in some, even during a global pandemic, and has shown a resurgence in the past week or two. And it frequently reveals deep levels of ignorance about education.

There was a huge backlash to comments by Lord Adonis, a former schools minister under Tony Blair, who last week tweeted that he had written to Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England, “to express concern that many schools are not providing adequate online learning [and] support during the crisis”.

More than a few upset teachers called him out for his comments, countering that they were working “ridiculously hard” and asking where he got his evidence from. As with many such digs at teachers of late, the evidence was somewhat vague in origin.

This week, a new “key workers” version of the popular Top Trumps game has been released, in which teachers feature in an “unsung heroes” category. It’s a sign of how far we are through the looking glass that a card game has a better handle on what teachers are contributing than a former government minister does.

North of the border, too, some commentators have decided the time is ripe to decry the education that children are receiving in lockdown. Some criticisms are predicated on flimsy assumptions - such as the view that live streaming a lesson delivered by a teacher is necessarily the most productive activity for a pupil learning at home. There have been calls for teachers to “step up” like NHS staff, or declamatory verdicts that education during lockdown is “simply not working”; again, let’s just say the evidence provided does not exactly tally with the vehemence of the rhetoric.

Richard Holme, an education lecturer at the University of Dundee, came to a very different conclusion in a piece for Tes Scotland last week, where he surveyed the “remarkable level of support and collaboration from across the education community” at this time, and wrote that “teachers are doing all they can”.

There are, of course, many legitimate questions to be asked about education during lockdown, not least whether certain children - such as those in areas of deprivation or simply in households with sketchy wi-fi - will increasingly lag behind their peers. Much of the pontificating on display recently, however, is tone-deaf and wildly misguided. Teachers often feel that pundits are trying to hector them into shape - even if those pundits profess to be on the side of educators.

Jennifer Knussen, a primary head in Fife, tweeted last week that she has spent recent weeks “telling parents to ‘Keep in touch. Yes, lessons are there but please don’t let that cause more stress in your family. Do it if you can.’” To then read that there should be a crackdown on those pupils not showing up as much for online learning, she feared, served only to undermine her efforts to help families steer a course through the uncharted and frightening demands of Covid-19.

As English teacher Kenny Pieper said in a piece for Tes Scotland last weekend, “knowing that they survived one of the most traumatic disasters of their lifetimes might be education enough for young people”. He proposed that the first day back at school - whenever that may be - should be primarily a celebration of their ability to contend with challenges that no one alive has faced before.

That is the sort of empathy and clarity of thought that teachers possess in abundance. They know their students - and will do their utmost to help them get through this crisis.

@Henry_Hepburn

This article originally appeared in the 8 May 2020 issue under the headline “Don’t listen to the rhetoric - in reality, teachers know what’s best”