Bbc article about unqualified teachers

[rollonthesummer]

The tories are defending it by saying there were more unqualified teachers under labour anyway...?!

A Tory spokesperson says...

"There are some brilliant teachers who have not got qualified teacher status - nuns, great linguists, computer scientists, engineers and other specialists that inspire their pupils.

Nuns?!

I don't know of any unqualified people in schools near me that sound like that list. The ones I know are very young-no time to have been a nun, great linguist or successful in business- and have not yet passed NQT for various 'unknown' reasons.

I personally think no one should be in a classroom without the qualifcations to support it. My DH is a teacher he was a TA whilst he did his degree before completing his PGCE. The theories and academic work was a bit blah IMO and didn't inform his teaching. What did was the placements he undertook in a range of schools whilst being regularly observed and monitored. My brother in law at starting working at a high school as cover and now without a degree or PGCE 'teaches' classess he is no way qualified to do including subjects he didn't even pass at GCSE. As a parent I find that shocking.
Whilst I don't think an academic course such as the PGCE is neccessary I can't understand why as with many other areas you can't work towards the qualification in post to weed out the 'teachers' like my brother in law from teachers who have degrees and proven track records in actually planning and teaching lessons.
In the area I live in the schools who employ the sort of unqualified teachers like my brother in law are failing schools, I think in these types of school no unqualified teachers should be allowed to step through the door, its failing the students.

And just to add I think it should be compulsory for everybody doing teacher training to have to undertake a placement at a specialist setting as the PGCE training for SEN is crap and I know it hasn't changed in the 12 years since I did it.
Regardless of qualifications, the majority of teachers don't actually know how to teach children with particular needs and have never heard of particular strategies or methods. They think a visual timetable will suffice (as that is what they have been taught).
Therefore, a professional qualification is required but it needs to reflect knowledge and skills required for the job, which at the moment, it sadly lacks.

Whereabouts are you Thetrouble?(if you don't mind saying)