An impassioned plea, for education, against Gove

[tomk]

It's entertaining and in places very well-written. Sadly it is also very bitter and lacks any answers to the issues in education. It has no validity in terms of educational arguments but to fair I think it's meant to be more polemic/entertaining counterblast. I liked the line about Pupil Premium funding paying for Harry Styles to show his backside in a vain attempt to entertain, but at the same time she misses the point here - teachers under the new ofsted framework are not expected to 'entertain' (as before), just help all students to progress. Gove's focus on progress and the 4Levels of Progress she attacks are actually incredibly helpful and positive moves in terms of forcing all schools to face underachievement at all levels, especially those students without the home backgrounds to push them on. I also welcome progression up the pay scale based on the progress the students you teach make.

Teaching has changed and it's not the profession she wants it to be, neither will it ever be, thankfully.

On the plus side she is right about the pensions, but I'm not sure how much Gove is to blame there. And teaching is truly exhausting every day, but it has always been like that.

Ultimately I found her cynicism a bit depressing, especially in someone who is so young.

[uncleglen]

I have taught in challenging secondary schools in London and it is obvious during initial teacher training that the workload is going to be massive and we do it because we have passion for our subject and wish to pass this on and ENABLE our students. (if you don't feel like this you should not do it imho)

Unfortunately many students arrive at secondary school without the necessary numeracy, reading and comprehension skills that will enable them to access the secondary curriculum. The root cause of this is at infants and primary level- and having seen what went on in that sector 20 years ago, I am not surprised and have always felt that that is where the money and efforts should go- (smaller classes would be a good start and total emphasis on the 3 Rs).

Also we need to remember that society has changed and we have had almost illiterate people uncontrollably breeding for decades at twice the rate of the educated and will have been disadvantaged from birth.

The advances in medical treatment also means that more children with special needs are surviving and are included in schools.

And I noticed she mentioned 11 different home languages spoken in the class......

Things can only get worse whilst education is a political football....

[Fuschia]

This is a blog worth reading - http://debrakidd.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/better-a-blob-than-a-knob/?utm_content=buffere9de5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

' I do believe that children are naturally (on the whole) curious, imaginative and creative. But I don?t think that the purpose of education is to simply express this. I want them to be able to read, be numerate, have knowledge and experience. It?s just that I want the latter to be achieved without crushing the former. Is that too Blobby for you Mr. Young?'