In Britain Today, there is total distrust of the Professional Teacher - like there is total distrust of Hospital Professionals and other Professionals in our Society.
This distrust is manifested by the Government who have imposed masses of rules, standards and regulations whereby every tiny action by the Teacher is supervised, monitored and checked by the Head and Deputy Teachers, Ofsted and Government Education Departments.
It seems to the Teaching Staff, that there is total distrust of their abilities to perform well in class. Every move must. be assessed. The Teacher must be pressed for more and more higher standards regardless of the impact on the mental health of the teacher. Government appears to think that Teachers are Robots and not Human Beings.
Of course the justification is the objective to raise standards of performance by pupils and the school.
Is that not what all parents want ?
Standards, standards and more standards with reports, reports and more reports. The teacher is made accountable for everything in the classroom according to what the Government Standards are written into the Laws of Standards !
The lesson preparation work is checked, the individual students work is checked, the class performance checked. Why has the teacher done that, why is this or that result so low. why has not the teacher not included this. Why has the teacher failed to reach the standard in this subject or that subject, why has the teacher failed to complete the write up report in time ? Why ?; Why? Why ?
A variation on the old song should be - Hey Government, l.eave that teacher alone.
The Government needs more information, the parents need better results for their children, the Head Teacher wants a better rating for the School.
There is endless pressure on the Teacher In Britain Today to prepare lessons in their own private time but to be continually assessed and re-assessed on their achievement levels against standards and report writing. An Unbearable pressure leading to breakdowns in Teacher Health, pressure on Marriage Relations and Teachers leaving the profession. Government supervision of the Teaching Profession has gone too far.
Take for example the views of one experienced teacher -
- We are required to plan and document in advance every single thing we say, do or teach. On one instant of Observance in class by officials I was criticised because I had not pre-written all the questions on my lesson plan.
- My experienced years counted for nothing.
- I have to prove my words in advance in writing
- I must write up that I am going to make my lesson more challenging and how.
- I can not longer speak to my teaching assistant about her role in the lesson - I must define it on paper in advance, Yes , more paperwork
- I have to prove specific marking of every piece of work every child does in every lesson. With 32 in the class, that can be 96 - 128 written comments.
- There is way too much emphasis on assuming what is measurable is the most valuable information
- We have lost sight of good teaching and replaced it with lots of paperwork
- I have to work most weekends to keep up with paperwork
- The Head is more interested in my paperwork than teaching ability. Yes, he is under pressure for paperwork too
One Head Teacher who has recently resigned in 2014 from the Teaching Profession because he could not suffer the stress any more of the excessive burden of administration and lack of respect from Government and Parents alike. said -
Some excellent valid points have been made in this article.
He is not alone. Many more Head Teachers have buckled under the strain of Paperwork, Reports and unduly Scrutiny from the Civil Servants and Government.There will be many more if Policies do not change for the better.
No wonder Classroom Teachers and Head Teachers are disgruntled and upset. This is crazy Management of the Educational Profession and Schools System in the United kingdom.
One Parent suggested -
Tell the Government to impose the same stringent criteria for judging the performance of Teachers onto the Members of Parliament, The Civil Service and The House of Lords. Perhaps they are already committing this fundamental mistake of paperwork overload.
Children are very sensitive and observant to the mood of their teacher in the classroom. They can easily detect if a teacher is not well, moody, tired, irritable and short tempered. All the signs of stress. This is not good for the children and certainly not good for the teacher.
The Government seems to have forgotten that Teachers have undertaken some 3 years of intensive training, they are dedicated people and that they care for the children that they teach. Teachers are the Salt of the Earth. Teachers are people of good character and the majority of teachers are inspirational people. Of course there will always be some black sheep in any profession. It is the duty of Head Teachers to root them out. Head Teachers are responsible for standards in their school not Civil Servants in Whitehall London. I am in favour of Ofted regular visits to schools but I reject the excessive amount of Report Writing that the Teacher is currently subjected to. I am also against the mass of Targets and Sub Targets. imposed on the teacher. Let them spend more time teaching and less time completing reports.
So what can we do about this distrust of Teachers ?
- Make the Head Teacher responsible in full for the standards of performance of his / her teaching staff by classroom observance - and more freedom from report writing.
- Let the Governors review performance at the school but not to blame the teachers for every poor individual performance.
- Let Government accept the principle that the Teaching Profession know best for what is good teaching practice and not Civil Service and Government Mandarins.
- The NUT - National Union of Teachers know what is best for the good education of our children - they have the practical experience and not the Government. Their advice is worth more credence than the high ground perspective of the Civil Service and the Department of Education in Whitehall. The Government should listen to the NUT viewpoint and implement more of their recommendations. I am not a Member of the NUT nor am I a Member of any political party. This is my independent view.
- Recognise that the individual pupil has the responsibility to learn and that the teacher must not be blamed always for poor results. Also, accept the fact of life that some children are late starters.
- Reduce the amount of subject matter in some of the courses. Do not over fill the curriculum with subject matter placing extra pressure on the teacher.Education and Subject overload is not a good thing for our children. Excessive homework is one example. A child needs to enjoy home time and not have to worry about homework all the time. Is this because the curriculum is top loaded ? Is this because homework must be regular or the teacher will never cover the subjects and therefore will be black marked for under performing.
- Remember that personal character development is just as important as academic achievement.
- Physical activities are important in the school curriculum. Do not sell off any more sports grounds.
Start to treat the teacher with respect once more, lift the administrative burden and let us have happy, healthy teachers and not overstressed, irritable, depressed teachers.
Trust the Teacher not the Civil Service. Set the Teacher free of red tape. Let us have a healthier Teaching Profession.
Trust the Teacher to look after our children. The Teaching Profession know best.
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