to want my child's teacher to understand how apostrophes work!!!

[intothenever]

DD is writing things like 'She live's in a house' and has been taught that the plural of potato is potato's! I am getting really pissed off!

"thud rind" was "the time", I think.

I think stabbing at an iPhone on a swaying train gives its own sort of poetry.

Last year, 34.5% of entrants got A to B in English, and 30.5% got A to B in maths. I'm relatively relaxed at the contention that you have to be in the upper third of the population in order to teach my children.

LaQueen you are so right about bright 10 & 11 year olds wiping the floor with some teachers.

I have seen this at first hand - mainly with teachers who have obtained a "degree" from our local college which is now pretending to be a university. Whether they need to pass highers or some equivalent is doubtful.

I don't know; I think primary teachers should have B grades in English and Maths but I don't necessarily see that it's essential for, say, a secondary English teacher to have a B grade in GCSE Maths.

I'm thinking, for example, of someone I know who is a successful author of young adult books. She's great at talking about literature with young people, great on grammar and use of English, and would probably make a good English teacher. But she has dyscalculalia and would never scrape a B grade Maths GCSE. Dyscalculalia would pose problems as a teacher of any subject - she has problems telling the time, for example - but she's managed to develop coping skills to help her hold down other jobs so I don't see why the dyscalculalia by itself should necessarily disqualify her from teaching English (hypothetically - I don't think she has any intention of attempting it).

I'm bemused by the comments that English teachers don't need maths! All teachers are expected to handle the data on their pupils' progress. They may be handling the budget for their subject. They'll be expected to work out the logistics for a trip, etc, etc. We ALL use maths, no matter our subject.

Don't forget that Primary teachers need O level / GCSE science too before applying. Not many with science degrees go into primary teaching and that can show in some of the misconceptions that don't get challenged.

Yes however a thirty year old may have a 1 st degree but have a b in maths, c in English from years ago and still not get onto a teaching pgce course. Therefore go back to re do a whole gcse. Why not a short course that would test the spag skills.

Teaching should be about facilitating learning and encouraging children to think and learn for themselves. That is how children learn. Not by a teacher emptying their brain on the table.

Yes however a thirty year old may have a 1 st degree but have a b in maths, c in English from years ago

How many people with worthwhile degrees only have a C in English?

Teaching should be about facilitating learning and encouraging children to think and learn for themselves. That is how children learn. Not by a teacher emptying their brain on the table.

So you don't believe that a science teacher needs to know any science? And you wonder why Gove thinks that teacher training is bollocks?

But a teacher with dyscalculalia can access sources of help and support, ILoveRacnoss. They don't need to be able to work out the numbers in their head, or even on paper. Dyscalculalics can hold down other jobs even though some level of maths is required in everyday life. I think the question is whether a non-Maths teacher can effectively manage all the maths that the job requires, rather than whether he/she has a particular grade at GCSE.

assume they're going to absorb all the necessary knowledge about literature just by osmosis

Well, they would assume that, if they could either spell or understand the concept of osmosis.

Most professional jobs have entry requirements and teaching has to draw the line somewhere. A C grade is a very very low line. I think a grade B at maths and English and at least a 2:1 is an appropriate baseline.

But a teacher with dyscalculalia can access sources of help and support

I don't want my children taught by a teacher who has to access sources of help and support. I want my children to be taught by teachers that are sources of help and support.

Laqueen. My point is the very opposite of osmosis! Children should not just been seen as empty vessels for the teacher to fill up, but for children themselves to be motivated to learn. A teacher is there to guide/ direct.

And that arrant non sense is mattew lipmans reflective paradigm of educational practice.

You want your children's A-level English teacher to be a source of help and support in Maths? Fair enough, then. That's not on my list of priorities, though.

And that arrant non sense is mattew lipmans reflective paradigm of educational practice.

So what? The vast majority of educational philosophy is un-evidenced hypothesis which, when implemented, turns out not to work, produced by people who have never taught a lesson in a school or performed any research that will withstand analysis. If said hypotheses have someone's name attached to them, they're likely to be even less convincing. Putting forward some implausible claim and then when challenged crying "ah, but that's Whosis's theory of the paradigm of wotsit, so it must be right" isn't terribly convincing, but appears to be a substitute for evidence in the education world.

A lot of very strong claims have been made for "discovery" in maths by Jo Boaler, for example. When analysed, the claims turn to dust.

I'm not saying it right. I'm saying it what I think.

Matthew lipman was a university lecturer for 18 years. Plus consultant for U.S. department of education. He is a leading education theorist.

Last year my dh did a basic govt-run computer course designed for older people who wanted to retrain. Having passed two exams quite easily (he does seem to have the right sort of brain for it!) he contacted our local college to find out about taking the next stage at his own expense. He was told they didn't have anyone who was more qualified than him so they couldn't teach him the next stage!

I worry if they have people teaching tech-savvy youngsters when they have no more knowledge than a 58 year old man who left school at 14 and has just taken the first exam of his life tbh.

You want your children's A-level English teacher to be a source of help and support in Maths?

If English teachers understood a bit more maths, we wouldn't have had the 2012 debacle in grading, which came down straightforwardly to a lack of mathematical and statistical understanding about the relationship between raw and UMS marks.

I don't teach Maths but need a sound mathematical understanding in order to analyse my classes and make the most appropriate interventions .

As a senior teacher my job is very much driven by data.