Since MN is all anonymous, would any teachers like to own up to...

[MerryMarigold]

...being Gove supporters.

You can name change if you like!

Just wondering if there are any, that's all. I assume there must be some teachers in this country who vote conservative, but do they despise Gove as much as everyone else?

I started off by being quite keen as he supported synthetic phonic teaching properly. The evidence has been there for years and yet ignored by the last Labour government in favour of mixed methods that left 20% of children struggling to read

Not been that keen since really. Not entirely unsupportive over pensions but then I don't have much of one anyway. I find teaching unions unrepresentative of most teacher's opinions. I am not planning to be a classroom teacher again due to the increased level of stress involved in the post and I suppose I should hold him responsible for this.

As for the secondary teaching changes I don't really feel qualified to have an opinion. I don't know much about it tbh.

On a personal level I quite like him. His is obviously bright and I think well meaning . I do not share the generally held opinion that he is trying his best to scupper education for all that is so prevalent on mumsnet. I think he may be misguided. And that he should be making teachers feel valued.

sorry, that was terribly rambling

I am sleep deprived

Very misguided and not very humble with it!

Interesting on the synthetic phonics as well. (My understanding of that is that it's 'pure' phonics and nothing else allowed eg. using first letter, or context). Our school's reading levels have gone up since taking a step back from it (and even the Y1 phonics test results were better, though only 1 year since it's changed from Reception upwards). I think because reading is being heavily pushed, particularly for enjoyment, and because we have a very creative literacy lead - it has an impact even on the phonics test. Certainly ds1's reading was helped by NOT following synthetic approach and my younger 2 are coming on fast. They do heavily emphasise phonics throughout infants with devoted time to phonics, but they also allow (though I wouldn't say 'push') other methods, particularly for those struggling to read.

I need to just wade into the synthetic phonis debate here! There is and always has been a wide range of evidence to support synthetic, mixed and analytical methods. There is no real proof that any one method is better than another. Furthermore, just to point out that the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check tests in a purely synthetic way and obviously actively encourages teaching in a synthetic way to match the requirements of the check. The percentage of passes for 2012 was 58% and for this year was around 66%, if you take that as evidence of reading ability then that actually leaves over 30% "failing" in reading, which is much worse than the 20% mentioned in a previous post! I just don't understand this dogma over synthetic phonics!

I would say that means a lot of schools were failing to teach phonics adequately which is rather shocking imo. This proves to me that Gove was right to instigate a check. Teaching phonics properly does not mean ignoring other aspects of teaching reading either, that is something people always seem to assume.

I think it's amazing that he's kept his job!

Have you seen the post about Gove and the turtle on the post??!

The 20% refers to the number that don't reach level 4 at the end of KS2. I think it's probably possible to scrape a 4 even if you can't read all of the text but just enough to get the gist of it. They're going to get caught out somewhere in KS3 or 4 as texts become more complex. Difficult to know without a longitudinal study but I'd guess that the difference in the percentages might go some way to account for the number of children who reach level 4 at KS2 but don't go on to achieve a C at GCSE.

The national score is a bit misleading. At the moment not all schools are equal when it comes to phonics teaching. That national score comprises many schools where all children reached the required school and plenty where only very few did. I wouldn't read too much into it regarding whether phonics teaching is working.

but back to your original question........

I've never met a teacher who can even tolerate Gove, let alone like him, and I know a lot of teachers

sizeup just to point out that I teach Linguistic Phonics and 92% of my class passes the phonics check without any difficulty ... (the two children who narrowly missed the 32 mark have speech language & communication difficulties)

mrz, I think that's because you teach thoroughly and with passion. As does our literacy lead, who doesn't believe in synthetic phonics (she is also a deputy head, so I'm sure she's done her homework on this).

I believe if you taught in other ways - largely phonics based but allowing other methods in - with same passion and integrity, you would achieve the same results.

I think it's a bit like baking a cake if you're not a good baker. You can have stab at a difficult recipe and it will likely fail (teachers teaching mixed methods badly). You can follow a 'foolproof' method (synthetic phonics) and you will have much better results. However, it will still not be as good as the 'master baker's' cake, which shouldn't be failing anyone. My son was failing with synthetic phonics - he probably just has some issues that meant it didn't work for him. Had it been pushed that way beyond his Reception year, I don't know what it would have done to him. Now he actually likes reading.

It is interesting how most of the teachers so far have not answered the original question, but have instead enthused about reading methods.

Does that show that actual teaching methods are more important than Gove?

Is the teaching methods a way of not answering the question?

Just observing with musings.

Interesting musings.

Teaching methods are definitely more important than Gove, but he can help or hinder them. I think we got distracted by the first poster - and the fact no-one (apart from Humphrey, initially) wants to admit to being a supporter.

I'm not a teacher, though I know a few and have 3 school-age kids. I find him very hard to tolerate.

I agree with some of his ideas, but not his implementation, lack of research and jumping into everything far too fast.
I think he has no idea how hard teaching is and how much pressure he is adding to it the job.
I believe some of his academies/free schools have the potential to improve standards in that particular area and have brought a new lease of life and greater aspirations in some schools, but not all are for the best.
I think he forgets that every school is serving pupils with differing needs to the next school along, and individual can go about things differently to cater for their community. He seems to be contradictory giving a one-size fits all approach on one hand, and then having free schools/academies on the other hand with much greater freedoms.
I like the way he is challenging the low expectations of our education system, but his manner demotivates and angers teachers, rather than giving them inspiration to try out different methods and inspiration to improve pupil's mindset. Teaching should be seen as highly as doctors and lawyers, attracting good graduates with the right skills. Instead Gove is making teaching unappealing and not respecting the people he should be listening to.
I think in the future all Education Secretaries/advisors/anyone trying to sort out education should have taught for at least 2 years in a state school to understand the reality.
Basically, he has SOME of the right ideas, but doesn't go about anything the right way!

Sorry this turned more into a rant!

MerryMarigold sorry if I haven't made myself clear but I do passionately believe that"pure" phonics (nothing else allowed) is the most effective method of teaching reading and believe me I've done my homework too. I teach Linguistic phonics which some would say is even more "pure" than SP.

jmspbro I think teaching and helping children to learn is far more important than one of a long list of education Secretaries who fail to listen to those at the chalk face.

I loathe him for the way his department communicates opinions masquerading as evidence. It is dishonest and one consequence is that scarce resources are diverted to pet projects rather than areas of real need.

I loathe him for requiring 11 year olds to have a technical knowledge of grammar equivalent to that in the English Language A- level 10 years ago. IME no child has learned to love reading or writing more as a result of being able to identify and correctly name an abstract noun, a preposition or a subordinate clause. And to lump that particular skill set in with spelling ability means that children who excel at learning systems and rules, but who can't master spelling, end up with a rubbish level anyway.

I loathe him for introducing the grammar test at such short notice, and with so little guidance as to what it would cover, that my Y6 English class last year were having to learn new technical vocabulary right into the summer term (articles or determiners anybody?) instead of broadening their functional word power.

I loathe him for leaving schools in the dark as to how the floor targets (against which schools can be judged to be failing and forced into academisation) would be calculated. The fact that the floor targets ignore factors such as children with English as an additional language, pupil mobility etc, and therefore put talented heads off taking roles in more challenging schools is perverse and does nothing to close the gap that he proclaims himself so distressed about.

I loathe him for diverting teacher time and energy into thinking about how on Earth to implement ludicrous curriculum proposals which then (thank heavens) are retracted because they were stupid and ignored the advice of education and subject experts.

I loathe him for playing into the hands of those who think teachers are 9-3, 39 weeks a year, whinging lefties. Every time he suggests longer days, terms or scrapping PPA, some people will feel their perception of teaching as a soft option is officially confirmed. This is not just a question of over- sensitive wimps needing to toughen up a bit: our DCs need to be taught by bright people who teach because they want to, and can form the kind of relationship with parents where there is mutual respect.

I loathe him for introducing a performance pay system which, in the hands of a bullying or bullied head (sadly, not that rare) leaves teachers vulnerable to totally subjective judgements and which could lead teachers to apply inappropriate pressure on students in respect of tests which in themselves are often flawed.

Probably more, but have depressed myself now .

I can't stand the man! He hasn't got a clue about schools and what it's like to be a teacher!

I think ALL government ministers who hold an important position like he does, should have some experience of the job, whether it be the armed forces, police or health.

I have no respect for him whatsoever.

I have drunk too much wine to be coherent so I'm going to go with
Bah! Twat!
Ask me again tomorrow and I'll be far more together, sorry.

I just wish he'd get some salve on those lips. Stomach churning.

Ahem, as you were.