Michael Gove is comprehensively destroying the teaching unions

[longfingernails]

Just look at the wailing and gnashing of teeth over at the Guardian!
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/23/gove-struggling-schools-education-policy

Crap schools should buck up or close. Good ones should expand. Headteachers should sack crap teachers, and give raises/bonuses/promotions to good ones, irrespective of seniority. It's that simple.

I wonder how many Guardian writers send their children to bog-standard comprehensives? They regularly censor any comment which lists the former schools of their most prominent commentators, which show how pretty much all of them have been privately educated themselves.

Anyway, the effective loss of of national bargaining for the teaching unions is a tremendous achievement. Congratulations, Mr Gove!

LFN - How many week on a PGCE do you think are spent in the classroom?

LFN - you do make me

Now how did I guess that this would be one of your threads LFN?

Same old circular arguments from everyone. Maybe people should stop floundering about and spouting anecdote and spin. Michael Gove's policy is not based on any research - it is based on ideology. Saying things didn't work in the past is a misunderstanding of how long it takes to turn an education system around. If you want to look at some of his flagship countries how about Finland - www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/05/finland-schools-curriculum-teaching - no self-serving league tables, no private schools, all teachers have a masters and reflect on education and pedagogy. South Korea makes intensive use of technology - this government does even have an ICT policy despite the fact that there is a wide culture of use outside of schools (in fact schools are vacuums of ignorance where technology is concerned).

Communities have become disconnected from their learning in this post-industrial country and an"Oxbridge" siphon is "not" going to be the answer. I remember well the minister who said 75 per cent of children should be above average - it is the same now - politicians have no idea about Guassian Curves of of achievement in certain areas. This caretaker government is also philisitine - I was at a meeting where one of the apparatchniks mentioned the Arts and Special Needs in one breath. This government will rather introduce less than useful phonics tests rather than successful strategies that HAVE worked like Reading Recovery, Books for babies and other schemes. It is well known that before 48 months is the time where illiteracy is determined or not but they choose to ignore a host of data and put in a "summative" test because it sounds better. Pure propaganda, as usual. Gove is only tinkering at the edges - when the "results" come out he will say - oh well it is the schools fault not ours because although he has given schools the freedom to teach HOW they want he has not given them the freedoms to teach WHAT they want. Anyone, anyone who knows anything about epistemology can see he is gerrymandering the system and setting it up to fail in certain areas.

Social mobility is a myth in a society that is based on elitist schooling based on a narrow field of subjects and paying to get to uni - don't give me the "we can't afford it" argument - we can't afford "not" to do it. Gove's reforms won't solve society's problems and it won't make a ha'peth worth of difference until people work together at a local level to effect change and resist corporatism. Look what is happening with academies and free schools already - big firms are coming in and building chains and brands that invite corporate education and exclude localism - the dream of local people's choicce is already being quashed by big business' interests and exam cartels - this is overblown cardboard education not "real" learning . Unless we reconnect our communities with learning this is not going to go well as students who find themselves £50,000 in debt in a few years and realise they have been sold a lie. And where will Gove be then - back on his £200,000 a year journo job pontificating about other subjects at dinner parties.

Tourist, what an enlightening post, this blows all the crap spouted by LFN and similiar ilk out of the water.

If you want to read an amusing novel about the future please try "Jennifer Government" about a future where schools are run by McDonalds and cities are controlled by Nike and Addidas, a fantasy know but probably the Tories dream.

LFN
I didn't say you didn't mean it - just quoted what you yourself had said.
If I didn't think you meant it, I wouldn't have been having a reasonable debate.
But I do think deliberately setting out to upset people by the manner of your posts is

1. counterproductive because they stop listening to the merits of your arguments and
2. Insensitive (to say the least).

LFN Completely agree with you about state schools. Some ARE absolute crap, even worse when it's a good school and a disruptive pupil arrives in say year 4 or 5 to a class that was doing well (as in the case of my child's class) there is nothing the school can do to get rid of Jack/Jill. Homework is another case in point, my child goes to an 'outstanding' school, but has been given no homework for the half term (must give the poor dears a rest!). The situation with homework is not a new one. As I have said before the teacher only has to correct the first four spellings/grammar mistakes on a 2 page essay! How on earth do children learn?

Donki WHY are LFN posts insensitive? Surey she is only speaking the truth?
LFN Why only speak about the schools/teachers, surely your first point of call on education comes from home? It is not entirely down to the school to educate, although I believe the schools are letting the parents do most of the teaching to read/write. I wil send my children to public schools for a variety of reasons. It's a shame the govenment can't get off its arse and ensure most schools are good, but that would include having parents care about their children's education and some don't.
LFN don't worry about the coverage of the Guardian its readership is 175.00 a day! they always have at least five copies in my local post office and normally three are left at the end of the day!

Newwave. Had a look at 'Jennifer Government' on Wikipedia, seems a lot like 1984. If anyone is going to behave like this it is the labour party!

Complimentary

I think that when LFN says "I'm only arguing so vociferously here because it is so much fun to see left-wingers in such a state of distress" to quote from one of her posts, then that is insensitive.

You can make an argument without deliberately upsetting people

'the Guardian its readership is 175.00 a day! they always have at least five copies in my local post office and normally three are left at the end of the day!'

They actually sell two copies? Do you live in New Labour heartland?

in a New Labour heartland?

Complimentary

I have found LFN's constant barrage of teacher bashing incredibly insensitive. According to LFN, all teachers are left wing idiots with third class degrees. There is no acceptance that plenty of teachers are intelligent, passionate individuals who are bloody good at their jobs and work very very hard to ensure that students in their care get the very best they can give.

Your post is, IMO, contradictary - you moan that your children have been given no homework, but then insist that education begins at home. Are you so unimaginative that you can think of nothing educational for your DCs to do this holiday without formal homework being given? My DTDs are in Yr R and have been given nothing but their usual reading book. However, this weekend alone, they have learned about Robbie Burns, visited a castle, spent two afternoons collecting and learning about shells on a beach (they're in Scotland with DH and his parents) and listened to Scottish music with their Granny. None of that came from school. You seem to imply on one hand that schools should be the only source of education, and are failing in their duty to provide it, and on the other hand state that homeshould be the first point for education.

I think complimentary is saying that both are important. But she expects schools to correct more than 4 spelling mistakes in a 2 page essay, and hopes that they will provide adequate homework to cover the syllabus.

I wonder if maypole1 has read your last post with care and attention.

Touche claig - "contradictory".

Hmm. Why didn't the bold work. Anyway - sorry -spotted my typo.

I agree with you about LFN's dismissive attitude towards teachers. Teachers do a great job and I don't believe there are lots of failing teachers. I don't think teachers should be fired, but I think a few of the policy makers at the top should be fired.

I'm with you on that!

Poor teachers 'to be fast-tracked out of the classroom'

Incompetent teachers will be sacked in just a term under Government plans to root out underperforming staff.

I wholeheartedly support this!

But before it gets to sacking stage I would like to know that there is a process of mentoring and coaching on a daily basis, that the crap teachers take responsibility for their KPIs which are monitored on a weekly basis.
Regular training rather than the odd teacher training day throughout the year where they get together to drink tea, dip custard creams and bemoan their pension.

League tables for teachers published so there really is nowhere to hide for the 'coasters'.

The General Teaching Council for England, which investigates complaints, says the number of poor teachers is "not clear".

It should be, it should be clear and apparent that the education system is not somewhere that those who can't, teach.

Equally, the same emphasis should be placed on under achieving students, it will happen when they enter the workforce so why not get them prepared for transparent achievement and a commitment to the success of their schools?
I want to see competition and therefore, ambition brought back into the education system.

There are two teachers at my current school, both in the same department, unfortunately, who would have been out much sooner under these new plans. They have caused untold problems this year - one has hardly been in at all, the other has very poor classroom management. As a result, the students in their care have suffered. The school's hands have been tied, to a degree - we have had to pay twice for the first teacher (her wage and then supply cover) and the second has had an awful lot of time, resources and help thrown her way, and she has refused to accept them. It's been infuriating. I'm Head of VI Form, and the AS students in Yr 12 have suffered enormously because of this. I too support the idea that poor teachers, if they can't be helped should go far sooner than they currently do. However, I do think that, like in any other industry, they should be given help and training, and that it shouldn't be a case of one poor observation = termination of contract.

I'm interested, claig in your league tables idea - my main objection with stuff like that, along with payment by results and so on is that teachers can only work with the students they have - what would your league tables be based on? No two cohorts of students are the same, and there are so many factors outside a school's control - Student A may be doing brilliantly in, say Maths - exceeding FFT targets and so on, and then his parents get divorced, or his younger brother is diagnosed with a serious illness, or Granny, with whom the family lives, dies, or Mum, who is a single parent, loses her job - all of these impact on children and sometimes there is very little a school can do about it. I don't actually believe there is a fair way to create "league tables". The other argument, of course, is that if you're going to do it for teachers, are you also going to do it for other public sector workers? Nurses? Council members? Binmen?

I didn't mention league tables for teachers; it was Cain who did. The only league tables I would like to see is for politicians and policy makers.

are for

Oops, sorry- put wrong name in. Same point to clam then.

Granted EvilTwins, but external factors would affect the performace of all the teachers. Some kind of performance table would aid in the transparency.
Your failing colleagues should take responsibility for their own development, it wouldn't be the elephant in the room because they would be encouraged to initiate the development. Taking sick leave rather than address failings is unacceptable.

In my field, time is money. It is apparent if someone is not succeeding for example recently I was struggling in a specific area, I requested a 20 minute training session and the opportunity to observe a colleague who is clearly successful in this specific area. That 35 minute investment has given me the tools I needed to up my game. Yes, I lost time initially but now the time I spend in that area is of greater value because I took responsibility for my development.

If the success of teachers is more transparent and the possibility of losing their position is more likely then how could anyone not up their game?
You would actively seek the development whether it be through additional training, observation of more successful teachers or coaching and feedback.

Clam? Cain.

Weekly observation and feedback would quickly identify which teachers were coasting and which were successful in given areas. The is that hard figures are not apparent until results come in or an ofsted inspection. Thats not enough to help teachers succeed, surely even good teachers would benefit from ongoing development and regular feedback?

I think the point I have missed is that I operate in a no blame culture, to be failing in a specific area is not an opportunity for derision but an opportunity for colleagues to offer support. There is no shame in requesting additional training or coaching as better performance reflects well on everyone but it is very apparent to everyone if an individual is not toeing the line.