Newsnight, You and Yours, Teachers v Government:70 Years An Official Complaint

rally in Leeds Museum March 2014
 

Someone helpfully tweeted the BBC Complaints link, so I wrote this to them. It cut off after however many words,  and I cut some out, but most of it got through. [It's not polished, but I did have lessons to plan and family to recognise, and it needed to be sent as soon as.]

 

I am writing to complain about the presentations on the NUT and teachers on Radio 4 and Newsnight over past 2 days. Initially I was pleased to see the teachers’ conference covered so prominently on Newsnight, but it was a story about the “left-wing” [as in a minority faction of unrepresentative union leaders] taking over NUT leadership, and was really a story suggesting that the union did not represent its membership, nor teachers in general. Suddenly in the end, we find that the takeover is unlikely, so what was the scare story for?

In You and Yours the education correspondent, Gillian Something tried to minimise the effects and influence of the last NUT strike, in particular making much of how little was 12% of schools was. Well this was thousands of schools and thousands of families affected. It’s all in the spin.

Then there was R4 Wednesday evening at 8pm with a bizarre account of teaching thro the ages [even called Teachers v Government, and in which only the Government got the speaking parts] This was portrayed as strong and intelligent celebrity secretary of states who insisted on their “reforms” against union wishes, portraying teachers as unprofessional, as not having the children’s interests at heart. There was no mention of educational theory thinking/philosophy, text books, teacher-training. At one point Baker was asked, "Were the teachers wrong to object to X", "Yes" he said. I think a teacher being asked to respond to this particular question might have been an interesting piece of balance. But no.

In all cases Gove, in particular, is portrayed as successful and strong, and his random ideas are referred to as “reforms”. One programme described teachers as always complaining. At least You and Yours got a few on to talk about the joys of the job.

The situation in education is extremely serious. The BBC owes it to parents who are not in the profession to explain this situation honestly and with integrity. The highly motivated staff who have been in it for years and will stay, will retire and/or die in harness. The next generation will look see how enthusiasm and professionalism is rewarded and not go there. [Payment by results! What a joke, what an insult!]

 

However, I was inspired by the Lenny Henry presentation on the OU – not exactly on at peak time!  

Victoria Jaquiss FRSA - Teacher, parent, blogger, writer, ex-governor

 

Teacher Bashing: A Very British Sport

There must a limit on how much Maths or Science a person needs to get through life. And is it necessary to memorise it all in detail, or would a once-only exploration suffice?

 

Michael Gove wants us, students and teachers, to learn more and to teach more, but he doesn't really care what It is as long as long you can test and measure and compare it to some other anything - school, county, country - whatever.

 

However he absolutely denies the training, expertise and experience of one of the most "educated" groups of people.

 

GCSEs, A levels, university, teacher training, CPD, secondments, learning from peers, and from the students themselves, then working in other industries, and having children ourselves, - all this helps teachers understand what makes their charges tick.

 

So I am having trouble understanding any ministers from the loathsome Blair, Adonis, Balls up to this latest monkey with a machine gun,. Why aren't they just proud of teachers and their commitment? Why do laypeople have such strong views on a profession they have not studied? Where did this mistrust come from?  Where's Spitting Image when you need it?

There is a limit on how many teachers you can alienate before there won't be enough to go round. 

 

Who will clean the universities?

For a brief moment Any Questions had an proper education expert on their panel. But a week later, Christine's gone; we're back to a load of politicos, and the abyss opens again. As ever, and as follows, I wrote in:

I had just warmed to Henry Bonsu after his comments about society's grooming of young people, when he broke into the wildest of generalisations over schooling. 

Education has become an industry, and in order for the education companies to make money, they need to have enough things to fix. And sadly there seems any number of people ready and willing to put the whole system down. 

Two points:

1. Most pannellists talked as if university itself was the goal, and an end in itself. Vince Cable told us he has appointed an "access regulator" to ensure that the poorest children can access "top universities". [True, the government has just introduced the "pupil premium", but not mentioned, it has replaced a slightly fairer system of getting money to the poorest children].

Social mobility seems to involve ripping children away from their families and their home neighbourhoods. For what purpose? Better a contented cleaner than a miserable [and quite possibly unemployed] graduate.

One of the cleaners where I work told me that her Careers teacher told her she'd be nothing more than a cleaner. Well, let me tell you: Lorraine cleans the West Park Centre efficiently and cheerfully and makes me feel good whenever we pass each other on the corridors. 

2. Someone said we need more free schools and academies. For what purpose? They will be the same students and the same pool of teachers and school staff. But all slightly re-arranged, just enough for children to be wrong-footed, and not know who to turn to for help. 

Henry Bonsu had a snidey little aside about teachers who should be "not trying to be mates". What does he know? One of the first things you learn as a new teacher is that you are not there to be their friend. The relationship between teacher and student is a delicate balance of power. The teacher is in charge and the student has to trust them. That can take years to establish, and it can then run in families. Changing schools around destroys the balances and the relationships.

Education is more than the shovelling down of facts. It is, or it should be drawing out of the child what they will need to live a full life, both at and after schooling. And it may not involve going anywhere near a university, except perhaps to clean it.