To think something has gone wrong in schools? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz0m2x30p4eo

To challenge assumptions made about children, to stop constraining them by stereotypes, to encourage positivity, self reflection, fun, love, to start enjoying the job again.

Probably a good place to start.

And to challenge the snippy, negative, sarky tone that many educators seem to have…those who would rather gossip in the staff room, have ‘meetings’, moan and belittle their staff.

I agree with you that our brains naturally want to learn. And I am not saying that you don’t need to know anything at all because you can google it. What I’m saying is progress and digital modernisation has changed the world and that the curriculum and qualifications system needs to be updated to reflect that.

We also need to take into consideration that our children ARE able to Google literally anything at any time or use AI and that this undoubtedly has an impact on motivation and changes the traditional way we educate people. I’m suggesting that we should update how we measure intelligence and what we teach. Im sure you’d agree with me that the system needs an overhaul.

So? What solutions have you come up with? What will you change in your practice and what will you advocate for?

I also don’t think it’s right to blame the parents, blame screens etc etc. It’s absolving responsibility.
I’d rather people took accountability rather than blame others.
Thought what can I proactively do to make this situation better rather than lay the blame elsewhere.
If the world has changed for our children, we need to adapt the way we educate for that world.
If (and I hate these words) we have labelled/segregated our children into neurotypical and neurodiverse : and the neurodiverse are become increasingly ‘typical’ - then our schools need to adapt to this change.

I also don’t think it’s right to blame the parents, blame screens etc etc. It’s absolving responsibility.
I’d rather people took accountability rather than blame others.
Thought what can I proactively do to make this situation better rather than lay the blame elsewhere.
If the world has changed for our children, we need to adapt the way we educate for that world.
If (and I hate these words) we have labelled/segregated our children into neurotypical and neurodiverse : and the neurodiverse are become increasingly ‘typical’ - then our schools need to adapt to this change.

Also this. Local Authorities deliberately break the law and deny children their legal right to education in order to save money. They are losing 98% of tribunals for EHCPs so it's quite clear that they are denying them to children that they know should have one: that is far above the level that could possibly result from genuine error

And this is because councils are going bankrupt over the costs. It's not just to 'save money', it's because they don't have it.

In the meantime everyone else is paying shedloads of council tax and wondering where it is all going because public services like libraries are closing down, potholes aren't being filled and bin collections are being reduced.

Something drastic needs to happen about SEN funding because the current system is failing everyone.

But behaviour doesn’t mean bad or deliberately naughty behaviour. It can be anxious behaviours, tics, stammers, crying when something goes wrong etc. It doesn’t make them poorly behaved but it does mean the teacher needs to make sure their needs are met which can still be disruptive to other children. (Said as a parent of highly anxious child that wants so hard to be good but has issues controlling emotions).

And such children would have far fewer anxious behaviours in appropriately sized classes with half as many children in, and a calm learning environment where chaos/ violence wasn't tolerated: it's not their SEN that's the problem, it is schools not providing a decent educational environment.

Perhaps we are moving towards a post work/post literate society where large swathes of the population will be passive media consumers on UBI.. I wonder what 'jobs' will remain and what schooling will look like when an educated populace is liability 😂

I agree with you that our brains naturally want to learn. And I am not saying that you don’t need to know anything at all because you can google it. What I’m saying is progress and digital modernisation has changed the world and that the curriculum and qualifications system needs to be updated to reflect that.

We also need to take into consideration that our children ARE able to Google literally anything at any time or use AI and that this undoubtedly has an impact on motivation and changes the traditional way we educate people. I’m suggesting that we should update how we measure intelligence and what we teach. Im sure you’d agree with me that the system needs an overhaul.

And for the sniffy, sarky posters here - do you think you know it all? What’s the answer then - let’s hear it?

I certainly wouldn't claim to know it all, but I think your insistence that everyone was just fine and dandy and in school learning back in the day with a bit of firm discipline, hardly anyone had SEN and everyone was wonderfully included is bollocks. I also think that your assertion that kids today are being diagnosed with SEN merely for not 'fitting into a box' is rubbish. I think your claim that teachers aren't allowed to tell kids how to use a jigsaw is bullshit.

David Blunkett was the Ed Sec whose policy of inclusion in the late 90s saw the widespread closure of special schools. The idea was the all but the most seriously disabled children would be educated in mainstream. This was while you were teaching so you should have noticed the increasing number of children with SEN in your classes. That policy has been a failure, but those special schools are gone.

Since 2010 school funding has been subject to a policy of austerity. The first people to lose their jobs were teaching assistants and pastoral workers. A huge amount of support that could be allocated to pupils with difficulties disappeared.

Then in 2015 the funding system for special needs changed. School funds had shrunk, and now the only way to get additional funding for pupils with SEN is if they have an EHCP. Schools are desperate for extra money and the number of pupils with EHCPs has doubled since then. (This doesn't necessarily mean that schools are making up the needs, rather that pupils could get extra funding before the changes without an EHCP, and there was more money in schools generally so EHCPs weren't as urgently required). This has put pressure on councils who are now bankrupting themselves with the cost of SEN funding so they now routinely reject any application for an EHCP, including kids with extreme needs, so those kids go unsupported, end up more likely to be excluded as they can't cope with school and school can't cope with them. An exclusion is sometimes the only way to get them an appropriate placement.

There has been an increase in diagnoses of SEN, not sure if it is clear if it is better recognition, or environmental factors, or things like increasing premature births or whatever, but we've also had a pandemic and a definite increase in children with e.g. speech and language issues as a result. There's also a mental health crisis in both children and adults (which will affect children as well) and a huge increase in child poverty which will impact behaviour in school.

At the same time there has been a huge turnover in school staff. Teachers leaving and being replaced by a series of supply teachers. Lack of experienced staff. Kids form a relationship with a TA or pastoral leader only for them to leave. That also has an impact, particularly on kids who need stability and routine.

Solutions? Massive funding for SEN support, taking the responsibility away from councils so they can focus on potholes and bin collections. More special schools, properly staffed. More properly trained SEN staff in schools. Overhaul of the EHCP system. Fixing teacher workload so that schools can recruit and retain a stable workforce. Reducing the curriculum in primary and secondary and giving more time to creative and physical subjects. Stop forcing kids who can't reliably add up to sit GCSE Maths. Give everyone in schools a bit of room to breathe.

for a start.

Not in society but people wouldn't get away with poor conduct in the workplace (for the most part). You have to behave and do your job or you'll be on a disciplinary and eventually dismissed. The same applies to school.

If kids aren't taught discipline and boundaries in school, then they won't cope in the workplace.

Meh, I'm a maths teacher and the existence of calculators hasn't killed off the need to be numerate quite yet.

The idea that you don't need to know anything because you can google it is an incredibly stupid one. How do you get anything done if you have to google everything? How does your brain make links between various pieces of knowledge if they are all stored on separate Wikipedia pages? How can you be creative if you have no starting point, nothing to draw inspiration from, a brain that is a blank?

If you don't fill your brain with useful information, it will fill itself with shite. How many of us can still remember advertising jingles from when we were kids? Our brains want to learn and store vast amounts of information.

There is no longer any societal consensus of what constitutes poor conduct. Teachers really are at the sharp end of this.

Kids need to be punished for bad behaviour or it just disrupts the lesson for everyone else. Also for the safety of the other children and staff.

If bad behaviour escalates then that's going to be mean exclusion. It's poor parenting mostly or coming from poor backgrounds, but teachers are hamstrung when it comes to disciplining children. The only avenue the school have is exclusion.