Is Rishi Sunak utterly thick?

[noblegiraffe]

Today he actually went ahead and announced his plans for everyone studying maths till 18.

And all everyone commenting on this on the news or social media has been saying today is "but this is mad because there aren't enough maths teachers to teach the qualifications we already have".

And teachers including maths teachers, are going on strike again next week because the government refuses to pay them properly. The government also failed to meet its maths teacher trainee recruitment target last year and will again this year.

This announcement just gives everyone the wonderful opportunity to point these governmental failings again and again.

Why the fuck would anyone with any political sense announce a policy that cannot happen and gives everyone the opportunity to point out that it can't happen because the government are shit?

Just why?

Some of the most intelligent people are absolutely rubbish teachers. I suppose a bit like some politicans who have hugely expensive educations are entirely useless.

Its more about picking up tips from motivated people. Which you can't guarantee you are going to see modelled as a student teacher.

Nonsense all those football fans who watch on TV are becoming expert footballers through their watching.

I agree, Politicians are not a great advert for getting a good education.

You don't learn to teach by "picking up tips". You certainly don't learn to teach well that way.
I could give you a list of twenty tips but they won't all work for you, with your classes, or every lesson.

It honestly doesn't work like that. I wish it did. It would make my job immeasurably easier.

The point I was making was that without a direct teacher, people know their football teams, the league tables, match details, all learned because they had an interest in learning about the sport, they didn't need a teacher then, same with some fans of the Harry potter series, ect they read the books and some people are basically an Wikipedia of information about the series.

Its more about picking up tips from motivated people. Which you can't guarantee you are going to see modelled as a student teacher.
Decent teaching is more than having some tips. This is the point.

If training students teachers was a case of give them some videos to get ideas from and a list of tips, I could have saved myself a hell of a lot of work over my career.

The government is not going to create a high quality, skilled, professional workforce of mathematics teachers by showing some CPD videos to experienced non-specialists and student teachers.

Teachers in a class room setting are not the holy grail when it comes to teaching knowledge, given the rise of the internet and private tutors etc.

Not thick, just arrogant beyond belief. There are no consequences to anything he says or does. He doesn't need to work as he's rolling in it so unless he gets locked up (unlikely) he'll be fine. This is what we've come to in terms of leadership.

I am increasingly convinced that many of our politicans did not get a good education, but simply an expensive one.

For me, back at the start of my career, I would see what I wanted to do, know what I wanted to do in the classroom but then actually executing it takes time and practice and working out how to do it! So whilst there is probably some merit it videos, which are already out there, I don’t think it’s as straightforward as that.

I think it takes time to build your ability to teach well. Time to learn the content. Time to understand how that will be tested and what students need to show they can do. An understanding of what has gone before and what would come after and why. Then time to learn how to teach it, what to say, how to model it. Time to try it, reflect on it, and improve it over and over again. Time to learn how to manage a classroom. To learn how to manage your classroom presence. Time to learn how to adapt and manage the personalities of however many students you teach. Time to learn how learning happens, specifically for your subject. Plus so much more!

It takes time to become skilled and experienced and that is what needs to be addressed. So that, as others have said, you can address issues with learning much earlier in the school curriculum. At the moment there are not enough teachers full stop. Let alone enough experienced teachers who have had time
to hone their craft, and who are staying in teaching!

Why do people spend so much money sending their children to private school then?

Teachers in a class room setting are not the holy grail when it comes to teaching knowledge, given the rise of the internet and private tutors etc.
Nobody has said they are.

However this is a thread about a proposed education policy affecting education providers with teachers and classrooms.

Private tuition is a different skill set, and honestly explaining a concept 1-1 to a child whose parents have paid you for the 1-1 tuition is totally different to making a subject compulsory for all students across a range of educational settings.

I think the previous poster might be suggesting that if only all parents were as rich and successful as Rishi, then they would simply pay for 1two1 tutoring for all their children and the maths problem would be solved.

Many teachers are well aware there are SEND children in their class being short changed, but can't physically split themselves in half nor spend an extra 30 minutes daily planning for one child. The maths curriculum is very hard for many children without SEND - I simply cannot provide adequate support by myself to even a class of 20 odd whilst also providing decent SEND teaching. The idea that teachers are useless at spotting additional needs really bugs me. The ideas suggested by specialist teachers are almost entirely impossible to implement on a daily basis whilst also teaching the rest of the class.

Unfortunately, I think politicians don't realise that in order to teach, you need to understand how children learn. It's not enough for someone to just show/talk/tell children. Watching videos can help but there is no substitute for a qualified teacher who knows their subject and knows how to break it down into steps so that children can understand.

Teaching is also very responsive to the things that happen in the classroom. Teachers are constantly adapting and responding to children's needs. No published scheme/ PowerPoint can be delivered exactly how it is written.

That's just facts though isn't it? My entire Y3 class can spout back facts at me. They could tell you loads about the Ancient Greeks or the Stone Age, more than many adults would know. Understanding a concept as is required in maths is much harder though.

He did maths A level which suggests to me more of an interest and ability in maths than most.

Becoming good at maths is not about accumulating information about maths. It's about actually doing maths.

That person may know loads about football but still not be able to kick a ball.

Similar for teaching, tbh. You can watch videos about various teaching techniques and then be hopeless in the classroom.

Did he have a teacher? I've heard they aren't necessary, really something of a luxury.

That's outside my area of expertise

Being really good at maths means being able to solve problems you have not seen before.
In some cultures that is substituted for being able to robotically work your way through similar problems over and over again, without thinking.

Yes, but so is knowing anything about how learning works, and you still comment on that.

@thesmee

I'm sorry if it bugs you but some pupils will of course need 30 mins of planning others just need very small tweaks that no one can give them because no one knows them.

Like I said, blind leading the blind. I've even known some schools have specialist sen teachers who don't get utilised because they are not speficically employed in that role and no one knows what the hell to do with them.

That's how depraved and utterly mad the system is.

Fair points,