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Conservatives' Dire Record On Education
The Ofsted report into educational standards in Swindon, exemplifies the Conservatives' ambivalence to state education in the rest of the country.
At every level, the children are being badly let down. Ofsted have written to the the towns two Conservative MPs, but nothing gets done.
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Our children deserve better.
At every level, the children are being badly let down. Ofsted have written to the the towns two Conservative MPs, but nothing gets done.
http://
Our children deserve better.
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//Still think they are a bad way to assess learning. //
maybe. but the alternative, formative assessment, requires a great deal more work and input from teachers, who are already buckling under the stress of today's education system.
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are we going to see increased funding to adequately resource formative assessment? unlikely, if implemented it will be a fudge of both political doctrine and budget constraint.
maybe. but the alternative, formative assessment, requires a great deal more work and input from teachers, who are already buckling under the stress of today's education system.
http://
are we going to see increased funding to adequately resource formative assessment? unlikely, if implemented it will be a fudge of both political doctrine and budget constraint.
It's an interesting question about the balance between qualifications and experience when it comes to teaching. In the end, for sure, you don't have to be formally qualified to teach something well -- but it still helps, right? After all, by definition, being qualified means having had some useful experience. And it *is* important to have plenty of useful background knowledge in a subject. Some of the best-looking teachers are dangerous if they don't really understand the material properly. I'm still seething from an experience where I was volunteering at my old high school, and sat at the back of the class while a teacher went over a class test they did last week. He presented beautifully, really engaging the students well and so on. It's just that, unfortunately, everything he was saying was also total bull.
I did attempt to point this out, but he "thanked" me, and then carried on spouting the same bull, and had stern words with me after about daring to challenge his authority in front of the class. That was fun.
But anyway, he was also qualified as a teacher -- but not as a mathematician, wherein lay the problem. Isolated example? Perhaps. I wouldn't ever want strong academic qualifications to be essential, because I've also experienced the opposite end of the scale (ie superb mathematicians themselves, but also terrible at explaining anything).
I did attempt to point this out, but he "thanked" me, and then carried on spouting the same bull, and had stern words with me after about daring to challenge his authority in front of the class. That was fun.
But anyway, he was also qualified as a teacher -- but not as a mathematician, wherein lay the problem. Isolated example? Perhaps. I wouldn't ever want strong academic qualifications to be essential, because I've also experienced the opposite end of the scale (ie superb mathematicians themselves, but also terrible at explaining anything).
"maybe [exams are a bad way to assess learning]. but the alternative, formative assessment, requires a great deal more work and input from teachers, who are already buckling under the stress of today's education system."
It may be that the two are linked. Why are teachers so stressed? Perhaps, in part, because they are required to teach "to the exam", rather than teach the material honestly, as they would wish it.
May be an oversimplification, but it's hard to deny that the two sides are linked. Teachers are stressed because of the control behind-the-scenes, that would likely be greatly reduced if there weren't also such a heavy emphasis on exams. But it's a tricky balance to strike, and I'm still starting out in the field, so I very much doubt that anything I say on this hasn't been thought of before.
It may be that the two are linked. Why are teachers so stressed? Perhaps, in part, because they are required to teach "to the exam", rather than teach the material honestly, as they would wish it.
May be an oversimplification, but it's hard to deny that the two sides are linked. Teachers are stressed because of the control behind-the-scenes, that would likely be greatly reduced if there weren't also such a heavy emphasis on exams. But it's a tricky balance to strike, and I'm still starting out in the field, so I very much doubt that anything I say on this hasn't been thought of before.
YMB - //With all schools it is down to the headmaster. //
Head Teachers are only as good as their team of staff, and the raw material they have to work with, and the ability of the local authority to keep out, and for the government not to have too much change (as if!)
// As with the NHS we need to move away from people trying to get political capitol from them and as Mushro says; leave them alone. //
Absolutely!
Education is an excellent point scorer for politicians - it's very simple, we've all been to school, so we all think we know what we are talking about.
It's highly emotive to bang on about 'our children' - find me a politician who can comment on education without using that phrase - but all governments are equally guilty of continually changing the curriculum and testing systems so nothing beds in properly.
Teachers are criticised constantly, and they are leaving in droves. Schools can't recruit Heads because the pressure and grief is simply not worth the salary.
Parents undermine schools regularly - witness the hair / shoes / uniform nonsense we seem to read about every few weeks.
The main problem is, politician's want short-term solutions to long-term problems, and they won't invest long-term because another government may benefit from their investment.
If I was leaving university with a degree now (and remember teachers have to be graduates to get a job) I'd try many other choices before I'd ever consider teaching, and I am far from alone in that.
We don't deserve a good education system until we respect education, stop treating it like a business, invest in it properly, appreciate and reward teaching staff, and stop acting like the whole thing is a baby-sitting service.
Oh, and stop referring to 'Parent Power' just because you want their votes - children are the receivers of education, not parents!
Head Teachers are only as good as their team of staff, and the raw material they have to work with, and the ability of the local authority to keep out, and for the government not to have too much change (as if!)
// As with the NHS we need to move away from people trying to get political capitol from them and as Mushro says; leave them alone. //
Absolutely!
Education is an excellent point scorer for politicians - it's very simple, we've all been to school, so we all think we know what we are talking about.
It's highly emotive to bang on about 'our children' - find me a politician who can comment on education without using that phrase - but all governments are equally guilty of continually changing the curriculum and testing systems so nothing beds in properly.
Teachers are criticised constantly, and they are leaving in droves. Schools can't recruit Heads because the pressure and grief is simply not worth the salary.
Parents undermine schools regularly - witness the hair / shoes / uniform nonsense we seem to read about every few weeks.
The main problem is, politician's want short-term solutions to long-term problems, and they won't invest long-term because another government may benefit from their investment.
If I was leaving university with a degree now (and remember teachers have to be graduates to get a job) I'd try many other choices before I'd ever consider teaching, and I am far from alone in that.
We don't deserve a good education system until we respect education, stop treating it like a business, invest in it properly, appreciate and reward teaching staff, and stop acting like the whole thing is a baby-sitting service.
Oh, and stop referring to 'Parent Power' just because you want their votes - children are the receivers of education, not parents!
I am surprised that anybody goes into teaching at any level these days. There is very little discipline, virtually no encouragement from the parents, a total lack of interest from the children and constant interference from ill informed governments. There were two sayings among teachers years ago, one was For every person wishing to teach there are thirty not wishing to be taught and perhaps more relevant, If a child does well at school it's a clever child, if it does badly it's a poor teacher. The teaching profession can never win.
Mikey, //Come on Righties...defend Swindon, if you can ! //
As far as I’m aware all schools, under the leadership of a Head Teacher, follow the National Curriculum – or are supposed to – so the question is why do some do better than others? Councils don’t teach children – teachers do that.
//The average, based on the new assessment criteria, was for 53% of children to meet the required standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics by the time they finished year six. In Swindon it was 44%.//
Schools in Labour controlled Luton did worse. Is that also the fault of the council?
As far as I’m aware all schools, under the leadership of a Head Teacher, follow the National Curriculum – or are supposed to – so the question is why do some do better than others? Councils don’t teach children – teachers do that.
//The average, based on the new assessment criteria, was for 53% of children to meet the required standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics by the time they finished year six. In Swindon it was 44%.//
Schools in Labour controlled Luton did worse. Is that also the fault of the council?
Mikey,
Just one of the 15 failing schools in Swindon is under the (Conservative) local authority control. The rest are run (or badly run) by the Conservative Government from Westminster.
To be fair, this was a Blair policy that the Conservatives have whole heartedly endorsed. Problem is, it doesn't work. And now we are getting these terrible results to prove it.
New Judge is constantly bleating that schools should not be administered and assessed locally, but Whitehall is is not up to the job, and is failing badly.
Time to hand our schools back to the people who know them, not faceless bureaucrats attached to the Government.
The Local Authorities Association is Conservative dominated, but they vigorously oppse Academisation and Free schools.
Just one of the 15 failing schools in Swindon is under the (Conservative) local authority control. The rest are run (or badly run) by the Conservative Government from Westminster.
To be fair, this was a Blair policy that the Conservatives have whole heartedly endorsed. Problem is, it doesn't work. And now we are getting these terrible results to prove it.
New Judge is constantly bleating that schools should not be administered and assessed locally, but Whitehall is is not up to the job, and is failing badly.
Time to hand our schools back to the people who know them, not faceless bureaucrats attached to the Government.
The Local Authorities Association is Conservative dominated, but they vigorously oppse Academisation and Free schools.
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