Michael Gove is a bit like Marmite, isn't he?!
You either love him or hate him. And this time, he
really has set the cat amongst the pigeons!
I started my morning by reading this blog / article.
Being of the opinion that our education system
needs a radical overhaul, this article set me thinking. If there really is
to be a radical overhaul then surely one of the first things that needs to be
addressed is the quality of teacher training.
And don't forget that these trainee teachers are
products of the National Curriculum, so they will need to open their minds
somewhat! Or have them prised open!
I have known of students who have taken a degree and
then embarked on the one - year course in order to learn all that there is to
know about classroom teaching.
What a joke!!!
Take all holidays out of that year and you have
trainee teachers
with little classroom experience, facing a class of
children
like rabbits in a spotlight ... dazed, confused and
desperate for help.
Granted not all trainee teachers take this route
but this area certainly needs addressing.
Next, there are many young teachers who have only
ever taught under the guidelines of the National Curriculum. I feel sorry for them. Thus
many
have only ever taught to tests. Yes, those vile SATs
which
I have always despised,hated and loathed!! They are nothing short of an
evil and unnecessary part of our education system and in my opinion they should’ve been exterminated many moons ago. When you get schools ‘bending the
rules’ in order to achieve a higher position in the league tables then something
has to be terribly wrong.
Oh dear! I believe that many teachers will be
frightened
at the thought of what's to come!
Thus, the overhaul of teacher training is top
priority!! It has to be.
For me, the best days of my teaching were when I
could close my
classroom door and teach without any
National Curriculum guidelines
I wasn't fased, I had had excellent training back in
the
early ‘70s and was very well equipped to enter my
profession. My classroom was alive, overflowing with inspiration and creativity
was at the forefront of everything we did. Enough said about creativity for the
time being! (Apart from the fact that I think we have wrung it out of our children,
BIG TIME!)
Maybe, I was just one of the lucky ones.
Three years training at an excellent teachers’
training college where we spent a lot of time in schools, stood me in good
stead and provided the solid foundation on which I have grown as a teacher. I
still believe that the best teachers are the teachers who were trained at
around that time! Unless someone can show me otherwise,I will always go on
believing that to be the case. Sadly, many of those teachers have probably
left the profession and are no longer around to offer their advice and
experience. And that is a big sadness.
But back to the future (by mentioning the past!)
I truly believe that the state of our education system
is the result of many years of poor policies and
dumbing down.
The quaint idea that everyone should have the chance
to go to University, was never going to work, was it? We all know the results
of that ‘little experiment’!
I have been horrified to see children who were almost, ' special needs' when I taught them as 8 year olds, take their place at
University. I have been mortified to see children who really struggle with English, attaining
that all important ' C' grade at GCSE...NO WAY should they have attained such a
grade. Time was when we were always told that an A to C grade at
GCSE was equivalent to the old GCE 'O' level...thus we are talking Grammar
school level! Crazy or what?
Socialist policies, which have forced everyone to the
lowest level, simply have not worked. Huge comprehensives, with the, 'one size
fits all' approach, have not worked.
What will work is a system whereby we give academic
pupils the chances in which to shine and excel; we give pupils, who are more
skilled on the technical side, the chance to grow and take those skills into the
workplace; we give those who are creative, the chance to express, perform and entertain.
There is a place for everyone in our society.There is no place for dumbing down.
I also know that education is the basis of
economic growth and therefore if education fails...well, we know the
outcome, don’t we? Which makes you wonder…!
Finally, the DM is not my favourite paper but I frequently
head that way when I want a laugh and when I read these words today,I laughed because,
in my opinion they are so very true!!!
"Teachers who want the best for their
charges should welcome
these plans wholeheartedly - not least for the promise
to slim down the National Curriculum and (sic) thus freeing them to pass on their own
enthusiasms.
But the bitter truth is, of course, that many will
join Britain's liberal establishment, which has wreaked much harm to
generations of children, in fighting them to their last breath, clinging
blindly to the egalitarian claptrap they picked up at their training
colleges."
Ah…love that ! So, we’re back where we started...at the very
institutions where teachers are taught.
And yes, teachers are a militant lot and no doubt will
protest...just to protest!!!
I will watch this all, with interest!
For far too long our country has loitered at the wrong
end of the European education league tables. Enough is enough!
Meanwhile, for my part, I will continue to teach in
the way that I was taught, striving for every child to achieve success and to
do their very best at all times. Simples!!! ;-)