Ex forces members as schoolteachers, (Panorama tonight?)

[GabbyLoggon]

Are they being unreasoable?

Its a government idea copied from America
(suprise, suprise)

Training ex forces members to be schoolteachers (It has always been open for them to do that.)

Is it a gimmick? The trouble is Cameron learned from Blair the art of regular publicity stunts.

So it is difficult to know what to take seriously.

What do the teaching profession think of it? "Gabby"

I don't think there is anything wrong with the armed forces going into teaching.

I do think there is something wrong with a government announcing a special training course as if this is what will improve the state education system.

errr Dave, a word.

Perhaps not cutting teaching assistants, not cutting Ed Psych services, scrapping league tables and fecking Ofsted and allowing teachers time to actually bloody teach, would help.

Norman: having seen goblinchild's posts, I realised that what I posted before was inaccurate: the PGCE route is already open, and will continue to exist. The "Teach Next" initiative is open to all graduates mid-career (and has been popular with bankers recently, so the newspapers say). The 2 year courses do not appear to be ex-military only: a lot of current Govery is moving away from PGCE and towards shorter courses and move time in the classroom. I think this may become a pretty normal route into teaching for all-comers.

Quite simply I think it is a mad idea !

Ah - Gove has just said that it is absolutely preferential treatment for ex-military.

Programme is interesting: the British example doesn't seem a typical school: anyone know if the US one is.

It may be a mad idea, but so was the Literacy hour in primary schools, and the emphasis taken by OFSTED inspections. There are other, much worse initiatives that have been imposed on schools and discarded.
I want to see what it looks like and what it means in reality before turning my nose up.

I wouldn't want ex-mil influencing my kids. They tend to be undereducated bigots in my extensive experience

US state schools are a joke anyway

and where does your extensive experience come from exactly victoriascrumptious?

and how and why would they be influencing the kids???

wow VS, you also out to offend with your ignorant bigotry? Anyway how do you know they aren't already?....I don't know many who advertise their background.

.......the whole point being of course that they would be ex forces, having left the army. If they didn't want to be teachers, they wouldn't be leaving the army to take up a career in teaching!

As I've already pointed out, the rules won't change.
Teachers work within strong guidelines, and of course there is always parent pressure to keep us on the straight and narrow.

Perhaps VS is a teacher?

Vintage: was brought up on bases,childhood in ACF early 20's TA and OTC. Brothers and father are military and ex-mil. The older I get the less time I have for military people. That good enough for you?

Like I said, I expect the best people to be teaching my children. That for me means educated teachers who can instill in my children the ability to think critically and ethically. I don't believe an ex military person has the ability to do that

Well, they may not have a choice about leaving the services, what with redundancies and the age restrictions and such.
Going into teaching may well be a choice.
Imagine being a member of a profession that a para couldn't handle.

No Vintage, i'm not a teacher.

No just a moron!

Well, I'm forces, dad was in for the full 22 years. Then I worked on a base for several summer holidays.
Numerous cousins and uncles in the services.
And I'm a teacher.
My opinion differs.

That's nowhere near good enough for me I'm afraid VS, both as ex-military and as an educated teacher I pity your narrow minded bigotry - but you probably don't care about my opinion as you have already written me off without even knowing me, as well as lots of other fantastic people out there.

Strange then that you would be so anti military.
Surely if an ex forces person had the ability to teach/train to teach, then they could.

They aren't simply going to employ any ex-forces personnel; they will still need to have the qualities of any teacher. Someone with a good degree, who can study and pass the PGCE etc. In fact, does that mean you disagree with the GTP scheme, where graduates train on the job in one year or less?

Sorry but a bonk arguement!

I go running with military men and women and have found them to be motivating with excellent team skills.

Some work on motivational skills for homeless people and recovering addicts and teenagers in difficulty. They are not the sort of people you see on 'bootcamp' TV.

Victoria Some are working class I know! But they let working class people teach with great success, I've heard.

I also worked with some ex-army department store store bosses who had worked up through John Lewis' innovative recruitment policy.

Hey VS- what with the OTC and the ACF you have probably had as much time 'in' as me. Does that not cause difficulty with your critical thinking skills?

And obviously my career as a management consultant and MBA, plus time in both the voluntary and private sector have done nothing to counter my 7 years of military service. No one let me near your children for fear I may only be able to talk about Mission Command techniques...

FFS.

I, too, am from a military family and agree with victoriascrumptious. S'pose you haveto have observed firsthand the dysfunctional nature of the military to be opposed to it.

If they wanto transform our schools into boot camps and to fabricate cannon fodder I'll homeschool.