Who is/isn't striking among the NUT members here?

[lifeissweet]

Facing a dilemma. My beliefs about unions are based on the fact that united we have a voice. People fought to have the right to unionise. If a union calls a strike, then I believe all members have a responsibility to stand up together. Otherwise, we come across as divided, not united and it weakens us all.

Not for a long, long time has the teaching profession been under so much threat and we need to be united now more than at any time. Our terms and conditions are facing changes which will make teaching a far less stable and desirable profession (and not really a profession at all if unqualified teachers are allowed to take classes all over the place).

However, I am currently the only member of staff at my school who is prepared to strike on Thursday. Half of the other staff are NUT. Lots of the support staff are in striking unions, yet no one is striking (including the NUT rep). The Head has told me that if I strike I will be the only one and that he will have to close only my class that day and keep the rest of the school open, so everyone will know it is only me withdrawing my labour and am I 'prepared to take the flak for that?'

I'm not sure I am, but I believe really strongly in supporting the union. The thought of ignoring deeply held principles and breaking a strike sit uncomfortably with me.

My DS's school is closed on Thursday. Other local schools are too.

So is it just my school where there are no striking staff at all? And if you are NUT, why are you not striking? Is it just so as not to disrupt end of year activities, or because you think striking isn't helping? (I don't, incidentally, but will vote with my feet on that one and change unions when this is done.) How do you square that with yourself?

Not preaching. People have all manner of reasons for not striking. I just think I want to feel a bit less out on a limb!

How about day-release? The prisons are a bit full.
Or we could employ all the unemployed teenagers and forget all that nonsense about it needing to be a graduate profession. You just need a workforce who are grateful for a job, able to follow orders and who never ask 'Why?' or 'What's the point of this initiative?'

I read something earlier in the week about making teaching a Masters-level profession. If they can't even keep the teachers they've got- how is that one going to pan out?!

I would imagine a lot of teachers are put off by the comments on mumsnet, all they ever seem to do is put the profession down.

I wish it was easier to get rid of teachers, they seem to linger on forever. And inevitably they are given a good reference just so the head can get rid of them. As a previous poster said, no one ever heard of a teacher being sacked.

It's quite depressing that on threads such as these, reasoned discussion seems to be hijacked by idiots from conservative central office, or possibly one of Gove's own henchmen, to trot out the party line and inevitably suggest that all parents are fed up and angry over striking teachers. Well I'm a parent and I fully support any teacher's right to strike, it seems the least they can do, given the ideological dismantling of the state school system, LEA's, terms and conditions of ALL public sector workers-let's not forget it was more than the demonised teachers striking today. There are good schools and bad schools, good teachers and bad teachers, but never an education secretary who has such a vastly inflated opinion of himself, an ignorant zealot who it appears no-one in his own party can or wishes to control, whose meddling in every aspect of education will have (and already has had) dire consequences for both teachers and children. In relation to another thread about ideas for teacher's end of term gifts, look no further than the brilliant Gove in a dunce's hat stress squeezy available on the Guardian website.....

the average age of teachers is now 30 so, no, dont worry JJ, they dont linger on forever

'I wish it was easier to get rid of teachers, they seem to linger on forever. And inevitably they are given a good reference just so the head can get rid of them. As a previous poster said, no one ever heard of a teacher being sacked.'

What happens if a long-standing teacher is not performing is competency procedures. Usually the teacher then 'considers their position' & resigns - it's generally presented as a face-saver.

There's absolutely no reason why any HT would give a good reference to a teacher (s)he'd got rid of in this way. It would reflect badly on them ('strewth, Bog St reckoned this guy was outstanding - doesn't say much for the rest of their staff!').

It's very, very easy for a weak newish teacher to be convinced to leave. Teaching's a job where you rely on your colleagues. If your colleagues are convinced you are an unredeemable dead weight, you will simply be left to flounder, I'm afraid, until you do yourself & everyone else a favour & go & do something else. The kids will certainly let you know that you're crap, as will your regular feedback from senior staff.

Oh & I know of three dismissals in the school where I teach in recent years.

I'm sorry Jj, but you just don't know what you're talking about.

Actually, one reason for Jj's misunderstanding of the 'getting rid of crap teachers' situation is that schools tend not to put on their website:

'Mr Twit will be leaving us this term because we've sacked his sorry arse'.

Nor do we generally tell the parents or kids that's what's happened.

The reasons for this are pretty obvious, if you think about it...

I know teachers who have been dismissed on competency grounds. There have been a couple in my school over the last couple of years. More have left on compromise agreements (which are also reasonably common in the private sector too, as my DH has also allowed people to leave his company this way rather than complete the full disciplinary process leading to dismissal). In my experience as a senior school leader married to a director of a private sector technology company, there is not a huge difference in how underperformance is dealt with. In fact, in teaching, the timescales are rather shorter, with 30 day improvement plans being common place.

JJ - why would any degree graduate go in to a teaching career if motivated by money? Teachers are motivated by being able to make a difference under reasonable conditions and by being paid fairly. Otherwise we would all have joined graduate training schemes and been on double the wage by now.
And..pah ha ha! At parents caring about education more that teachers! Lots care equally (and are loved for it by teachers-even the 'pushier' ones), lots couldn't give two hoots and is unimportant to them and the vast majority let their children carve their own way through school and are supportive but understanding that academia is not the be all and all for all people. The strike action covers a plethora of unacceptable demands for both teachers and pupils.
Jj, you have the lack of empathy symptomatic of the private sector; you can't stop thinking about money (pay/pension being main reasons for strike) whereas other posters are patiently explaining that your children's' education is at risk and that is also a reason for strike.

I know lots of crap teachers who haven't needed to be sacked because they were hired on temporary contracts. It's uncommon at my school to be hired into a permanent position.

But I also know ones who have quit under pressure from above. They certainly do not simply linger on.

I haven't seen any shortage of teachers in the classrooms. I also think we should stop these politically motivated strikes by left wing teachers who are probably members of Socialist Workers

I haven't seen any shortage of teachers in the classrooms.

Oh. Haven't you? It must all be lies then.

What no one seems able to elaborate is how the strike is going to improve anything. Indeed its aims are muddled, and some writers here seem to think it's thoroughly impertinent to ask. Well it isn't.

I look STRIKING in my onesie

why would any degree graduate go in to a teaching career if motivated by money - yeah no one has ever done that ....

At a minimum of £21,804 (or £27,270 in inner London), the starting salary in teaching is high compared to other graduate starting salaries. Leading practitioners can earn up to £64,677 in London and £57,520 outside London, while head teachers can reach a salary of between £42,803 and £113,303.

auntjane my union didn't strike this time, however they say:

The NASUWT's national industrial action has secured a number of major successes, including:
national policy implementation and dispute resolution talks, after three and a half years of the Secretary of State refusing to meet to discuss teachers' concerns;
a major U-turn by the Secretary of State on his plans to remove teachers' contractual entitlements, including the length of holidays, planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time and the right not to cover;
changes to the pension reform proposals, particularly on tiering of contributions and safeguarding of those within ten years of retirement.
In addition, in this year alone, over 110 days of successful strike action have been taken in individual schools and across some local authorities by NASUWT members who have been prepared to take escalated action, sustained by the Union, to secure all aspects of the action short of strike action instructions, including tackling excessive workload and the NASUWT's pay and performance management/appraisal policies.

it really isnt a career for someone motivated by money
that kind of person would be far happier in sales, marketing, finance, the city
or some of these other jobs up near the top
www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-2269520/Best-paid-jobs-2012-Official-figures-national-average-UK-salaries-400-occupations.html

it used to be a great career for someone who likes helping others, wants a rewarding career rather than a financially rewarding career, and enjoys helping others achieve their goals

again, it is amazing that most graduates dont become teachers if the starting salary is so much more amazing than anything else on offer

the starting salary in teaching is high compared to other graduate starting salaries

Nice cut'n'paste from the DofE recruitment website, there. What proportion of teachers do you imagine are Leading Practitioners? Most schools support ONE of these, & the 57k figure is for the top of their separate pay scale.

Other classroom teachers cannot progress beyond about 37k. That's top of Upper Pay Spine.

Still, great graduate starting package you say? Where do you think we come in the top 15? Second? Fifth?

Have a look at this link & see if you guessed right.

www.graduates.co.uk/graduate-scheme-salaries-by-industry/

I'm quite happy with my salary & have no problem working hard for it. It's the teaching: Goveshit ratio that's making my workload increasingly difficult to feel enthusiastic about.

noblegiraffe
thanks for the information about NASUWT.
What does the "110 days of successful strike action have been taken in individual schools and across some local authorities by NASUWT members " mean, please? Does this mean NASUWT has been having smaller, local strikes, only where there is a particular issue? This sounds a bit more sensible than an all-out national one.
Looking at NASUWT's website, the "national action short of strike action" document is largely sensible. I'm not going to write I 100% agree with all of it, but I sense it feels a moderate, reasoned way for teachers to stick up for themselves and, above all, to concentrate on teaching.

The action short of strike action document is a joint initiative with the NUT that has been ongoing since 2012. The NASUWT have been out on national strike in joint action with the NUT, but not the last two. The NUT have always been more militant.

The local strikes would probably be about local issues. I know some school staff have walked out over academy conversion plans, or major redundancies.

Until recently I taught in a school that was good with outstanding features, previously outstanding .

We are a well known school that rarely struggles to attract staff and we tend to keep staff for a long time. This summer we are losing a lot of staff and we are struggling to recruit in certain areas. We struggled to cover my maternity leave. This is in a school that people often take a demotion for, just to get a foot in the door. If we see struggling others must be.

There is not a shortage of student teachers that we have noticed however there is a shortage of top quality student teachers . They are simply choosing to go elsewhere. We are in real danger of teaching becoming the profession of the mediocre. There is also a shortage of quality experienced teachers.

When I joined my school 9 years ago I was told it was a bit of a career dead end as people never left and there were few opportunities for promotion. This year an unprecedented number of staff are leaving. A significant proportion of them are not going on to other teaching posts. I also think when the new rules about everyone being able to request part time hours comes in, my school will be overwhelmed with requests. We are already over capacity with part timers and it's causing real issues with timetabling. People just can't cope with full timetables any more.

We are also over capacity with part timers, in a school that turns down a lot of part time requests because it is the I my way to hold on to good staff.

To a new generation of teachers who are motivated, professional, happy to earn their pay and the respect of parents and wont strike.
This mythical generation does not exist. There lies the problem.
They do exist - and they are in schools now.
They are young and enthusiastic -some will remain in teaching , some will move out, and then back in again later.
There is no such thing now as a career for life, and those who entered teaching and are now leaving because it is not such a soft option - goodbye! TeachFirst and SchoolDirect are getting in people who do not see themselves a public sector drones timeserving until a gold-plated retirement, but people energetic and enthusiastic who will stay a few years, and move on, and similar others take their place. We do not need people who remain for 40 years moaning abut how it used to be. Our children deserve better. Nowhere now is a job for life - the world has changed - and education is changing. Would be good to see an end to the outdated 3 term year and a more evidence-based school year - even if the (diminishing membership) unions squeal. And no, Iam not mrs Gove, but I am a teacher, and also have DC, and I think they deserve better than an outmoded model based on what-used-to-be-good-enough.

But what about all those ex-armed forces recruits?

They only need two GCSEs to get on to a teacher training course...they get a £12-16k salary whilst they're training...bet there's loads of people signing up for that, right?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-28263223

I'd be careful sitting down on a park bench within a mile of a school if I weren't already a teacher. You're liable to get pressganged; waking up a few hours later with a splitting head, a leather-elbowed jacket & a piece of chalk in your hand.