Losing Teachers and Good Quality Education for our Children - GOVE!

[smellylittleorange]

I just want to rant - over the past few days I have been reading on various threads about Teaching staff who are walking away or considering leaving education all because of the negativity from the Government and Gove and it really upsets me. It upsets me because some of you are obviously so passionate about your work but feel you have nowhere to go/can't work with the system. I want my child to be taught by valued and inspired teachers - what will be the state of education in a few years time when this man has finished destroying it?

[Elibean]

I thought academies were 'free' as in 'sorting out their own budget', but still bound by Ofsted and NC and suchlike??

Not too sure, because all the primaries in our area have vetoed academization for the time being, on a 'wait and see' basis. If and when one opts in, they all will - but for the moment none of our local primaries are academies.

[EvilTwins]

Habba, that's hopelessly naive. As an academy, our money no longer comes from the LA, but we still do the same curriculum, exams and assessments as ever, still live in fear of OFSTED and its ever changing goalposts and still have to deal with the whims of Gove. Imagine a state secondary academy who decides not to do GCSEs of any kind? Would you send your kids there?



Thought not.

[HabbaDabba]

Which school are you talking about?

[EvilTwins]

An imaginary academy who, free of all the trappings of the education system no longer has to follow any curriculum or get kids through exams, no longer gets OFSTED inspections and can set its own terms, conditions, pay, holidays and admission code. Is that what you thought an academy was?

[IHeartKingThistle]

I've left teaching, a job I have always done, for the time being. It is a good time to be home for my family but a even better time to be out of education. When I think about teaching I just feel a huge sense of relief.

And I am a good teacher too

[IHeartKingThistle]

'an even'

[HabbaDabba]

you are having a little rant about Grove and academies. I asked you to explain the basis for your grievances. Why do you keep turning it around? Bit pointless because I don't have an opinion on the subject.

[noblegiraffe]

If becoming an academy meant freedom from Gove, then teachers would be all for them. The fact that they're not suggests that academies are just as Gove-suffering as bog standard schools.

Whenever Gove opens his mouth and says exams are shit and need to change right now, that hits academies too. Whenever Ofsted says that schools are shit and need to change right now, that includes academies. Whenever either Michael Gove or Wilshaw says that teachers are crappy, work-shy whingers and it's a good thing that morale is so low, that hits all of us.

[EvilTwins]

If you don't have an opinion, why are you on the thread?

[warwick1]

Because EvilTwins its called 'freedom of speech'.

[mrz]

having freedom of speech is pretty useless if you have nothing to say

[Feenie]

Agree - what's the point?

[HabbaDabba]

Why am I on this thread if I have no opinion? Ermm because I like to hear people's argument before I form an opinion?

You obviously want to be left alone to have a Gove bitchfest rather then explain to me your logical arguments so I'll leave you to it.

[mrz]

Most people who want to consider the argument listen (read) and contribute when they have reached a conclusion.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

For years teachers have been told that they must tell pupils what their levels are, what their grades are, how to achieve the next levels.

For those that do not know gove is not allowing exam boards to tell teachers what the grade boundaries are, how can I as a teacher do my job, a job that gove tells me to do and sets the parameters, if he isn't going to tell what the parameters are?

As for the academies, gove and ofsted will have a field day as they are not telling schools what percentage A*-C they have to reach before they call them incompetent and force us to become an academy.

[HabbaDabba]

mrz - I thought that was what I was doing?

People complain that Gove interferred too much. Academies are supposed to, in theory, give HT's the freedom they desire. Yet people are still complaining. I am trying to understand why.

Gove seems to be fucked if he does and fucked if he doesn't where you people are concerned. I know the feeling.

I mean, I ask questions so that I can form an informed opinion but I get grief for involving myself in the thread because I don't have an opinion. Then I get grief because I should read and listen before contributing. But unless I ask questions, how do I learn about your viewpoint?

And you are suppose to be teachers???

[HabbaDabba]

No need to post a response ladies since I'm going to hide this thread.

I was hoping to understand more about Gove and why his policies are so unpopular with teachers but I seem to have stumbled into a bitchfest where I am supposed to stay quiet and listen to all the one sided bitching and then draw the 'logical' conclusion that Gove is a twat.

If you ladies think that Gove is twat then that probably means that he is the good guy

[Talkinpeace]

Habbadabba
Gove did not force schools to become academies to
give HT's the freedom they desire
he did it to break LEAs to which he is ideologically opposed - even the good and effective ones.

If heads were really being given freedom - why is Academy conversion being forced on heads and GBs who are happy in the LEA?

And of course Academies will be expected to magically stay "outstanding" and if they do not, then the school will be handed to a sponsor and the Head and GB replaced.
No pressure then

and these sponsors do not have to publish school by school accounts so are a very non transparent approach

Gove got booed at the Heads conference.
Half of all secondaries in England are Academies - do the math (as they say where I'm from)

[mrz]

No you seemed to have missed out the listening stage ... and since you claim you have no opinion you clearly didn't wait.

My main issue with Gove is his habit of rushing into things ... curriculum review, done on the gallop ... consultations sent to schools during the school holidays ... ignoring the very people he asked to advise when they don't say what he wants to hear ...

Academies based on a failing system www.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/opinion/more-lessons-about-charter-schools.html?_r=0 www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/nov/28/us-charter-academies-free-schools
wasting money buying in an inappropriate curriculum www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/may/18/academy-pays-for-us-curriculum

[BoffinMum]

The reason teachers fret about Gove's reforms, is because they:

End up spending a lot of time worrying about new forms of paperwork and inspection that may have erratic and unpredictable outcomes, but which is likely to have very serious consequences both for them and the pupils they teach.

Worry about new kinds of tests and exams brought in very rapidly that they sense will not work very well, or which may well be very unfair for certain kinds of pupil.

Have to work with very precise instructions in how to teach certain things that they feel may not make any sense in terms of the particular pupils they have to work with.

Experience lack of access to the senior management teams because they are tied up in meetings linked to academicisation and restructuring, leading to less support in the day job than they really need.

Worry about their pay being cut in real terms because of new localised pay grading arrangements. This might be linked to worries about cronyism.

The reason Gove frets about teachers is because:

As he understands it, since the 1960s, teachers have been delivering a very child-centred curriculum at the expense of traditional knowledge-delivery methods of teaching, which he thinks is more important.

He also considers educational standards in the UK to be lower than they should be in terms of international comparisons, and holds teachers directly accountable for this.

Teachers are pretty expensive since their salaries went up in the 2000s, and there are a lot of them, so getting them working for less gives the Government a good opportunity to save a chunk of the public sector budget.

He is a former Thatcherite turned Tory moderniser, and he thinks that if he manages to look like a strong, determined, Far Right politician who has resolved the above problems, he considers that this will pave the way for him to become Leader of the Party, aka Prime Minister.

[TwasBrillig]

I'm uming and ahing about returning to teaching. I love teaching but this is all part of the reason I'm not hurrying back.

[Feenie]

Excellent post, Boffinmum

[TwasBrillig]

Yes - ditto that!

[Elibean]

Ditto that again.

And my main complaint is the same as mrz's - Gove rushes at it all like a bull at a gate. Which is not compatible with listening, considering, or thorough research.

Plus the rushing makes me suspicious of his motives, tbh. I think Boffinmum's last point is spot on.

[BoffinMum]

Read Tim Bale's great book 'The Conservative Party from Thatcher to Cameron' if you want to understand exactly what he is up to, and why.

Anyway, the reason he rushes in is that he is pretty new to politics, as they all are in the Cabinet, and he hasn't developed the ability to judge the electorate properly. They managed to get into power almost by default, but whether they will manage to stay in power is a completely different question.