Teachers' Strike!

[orchard]

Why are you on strike if it isn't about money though?

Gove's a right whopper, hasn't a clue what he's doing besides getting his name on a bill, and our schools could become even worse at a guess mate.

 

[Housequake]

I'm sorry when did bruce become a communist?

Is this opposite day?

Call yourself Castillofan.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Call yourself Castillofan.

Everyone's a fan of those legs aren't they?

 

[Kurt.]

Chill out for an hour now lads, it's dinner time.




*half hour I get for dinner ffs....lucky teachers grrrrrr!!

 

[Tubey]

Really? So there's nobody, who knows anything about the Education system who thinks that teacher standards improving would directly impact on improving standards? Not one?

Better tell these people then, oh font of all knowledge;

The researchers (Richard Murphy and Stephen Machin from the LSE and Eric Hanushek from Stanford) conclude: “Bringing the lowest-performing 10% of teachers in the UK up to the average would greatly boost attainment and lead to a sharp improvement in the UK’s international ranking. In five years the UK’s rank amongst OECD countries could improve from 21st in Reading to as high as 7th, and from 22nd in Maths to as high as 12th. Over 10 years (the period a child is in the school system before the PISA examinations) the UK would improve its position to as high as 3rd in Reading and 5th in Maths.”

Combining new findings with an international review of research, they found: “The effect of having a very effective teacher as opposed to an average teacher is the same as the effect of reducing class size by ten students in Year 5 (ages 9-10) and thirteen or more students in Year 6 (ages 10-11). One year with a very effective teacher adds 25-45% of an average school year to a pupil’s maths score performance. The effects of high quality teaching are especially large for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, who gain an extra year’s worth of learning under very effective teachers compared to poorly performing teachers.”

http://www.suttontrust.com/news/news/improving-poor-teachers-would-transform-englands-education/

That's common sense - that's like saying if we swapped Leon Osman for Messi we'd have a better overall team. Anyone could tell you that.

Look here:

Primary school teachers are expected to carry this heavy responsibility, but we believe that the system does not prepare many of them anywhere near adequately. Through no fault of their own, many lack subject knowledge in mathematics and the confidence that goes with it.

It is important to understand the sheer scale of the failure of the current system. Children are taught mathematics in school from age 5 to 16. By the age of 16, there is a colossal 10-year range in mathematical learning between studentsI8. At this time, nearly half of them “fail” GCSE Mathematics.

In England, together with Wales and Northern Ireland, about 85% of students give up mathematics after GCSE. In almost
every other developed country all, or nearly all, students continue mathematics for a further two years to the age of 18I10.
As a consequence, many students in England who go on to university do so without the background in mathematics they will
need to study their chosen subject effectively. Universities are expected to offer degrees of an international standard, but in
many subjects they are hamstrung by the lack of mathematical knowledge of their incoming students.

These are the effects of the failure of a system which allows students to give up all mathematics at age 16. This report shows this policy runs against common practice in most industrialised nations. We believe there is an urgent need for this to change.

http://www.conservatives.com/News/N...ownloadable Files/Vorderman maths report.ashx

As I said before, teachers don't have the tools to do the job properly - again, it's like digging a hole with a stick instead of a spade. If I had the time, like I said, there's 60+ journals and papers to back this up on my home hard drive. You're simply wrong.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

That's common sense - that's like saying if we swapped Leon Osman for Messi we'd have a better overall team. Anyone could tell you that.

As I said before, teachers don't have the tools to do the job properly - again, it's like digging a hole with a stick instead of a spade. If I had the time, like I said, there's 60+ journals and papers to back this up on my home hard drive. You're simply wrong.

hahaha, it's totally juxtaposed to your entire premise that it's the 'system' that is the ONLY cause of the failure here.

You clearly stated that

nobody with a knowledge of what's going on identifies poor teaching as the root cause of anything in Britain.

It's as simple as that

Which is patently untrue, as I have just posted a report that concludes that improving teacher standards would have a dramatic effect on the overall results.

"The effects of high quality teaching are especially large for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, who gain an extra year’s worth of learning under very effective teachers compared to poorly performing teachers"

So, whilst I'm sure the 'system' could be improved, so can the performance of those delivering it, it's an undeniable fact, so I'm afraid it's you that's most definitely wrong here love x

 

[Tubey]

Poor FLHD clearly doesn't understand what the term "root cause" means. And disagrees with a government report to boot which clearly lies the blame squarely at the feet of the system itself. And still thinks it's my opinion, when I've said repeatedly it isn't.

Awesome.

I'd encourage you to actually read this:

http://www.conservatives.com/News/N...ownloadable Files/Vorderman maths report.ashx

 

[Tubey]

Micro-management within the education system, imposed at local, regional and national level, has led to barriers to good teaching and learning of mathematics...

The mathematics subject knowledge of primary school teachers and new trainees urgently needs to be improved. In 2006, only 2% of those graduates studying PGCE (to become primary school teachers) had a STEM degree; few had studied mathematics beyond GCSE. Many do not feel confident in the subject. This is not a criticism of them as teachers, but of a system which has allowed this situation to occur in a subject which is so critically important to the nation...

We believe that the new National Curriculum should not predetermine teaching methods in mathematics or the chronology of learning. There has been a culture of policies which are non-statutory being almost universally viewed as obligatory by teachers and schools, due to the government agencies’ reliance on them for their tick-box style of assessment. This has not helped the mathematical education of children...

We find it hard to understand how a situation in which large numbers of students are systematically under-prepared for their degree courses has been allowed to arise. Mathematics is not just required by STEM subjects, but by very many other university departments as well; economics, social sciences, nursing, computer science and many more. The mathematics element of many degree courses is often a common cause of failure, drop-out or general disaffection for students. This failure of the system, therefore, inflicts an enormous personal cost to the individuals as well as a direct financial cost to the taxpayer who will have invested a considerable amount of money in every student’s education to that point.

etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Interesting thing is it's a self-repeating cycle; the teachers themselves go through the poor system and are then expected to teach at a level beyond it's limitations.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Teachers have made a calculated decision to enter their profession - a 5 year career decision and in making that choice, they'll have evaluated the pro's and con's.

It's desperately wrong to move the goalposts so much.

 

[Allezfan]

Teachers have made a calculated decision to enter their profession - a 5 year career decision and in making that choice, they'll have evaluated the pro's and con's.

It's desperately wrong to move the goalposts so much.

If you enter the profession in 1972, does that mean the government has an obligation to not change any of the rules of work until now then?

The fact is they're striking because the profession has changed since they made that decision.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

Poor FLHD clearly doesn't understand what the term "root cause" means. And disagrees with a government report to boot which clearly lies the blame squarely at the feet of the system itself. And still thinks it's my opinion, when I've said repeatedly it isn't.

Awesome.

I'd encourage you to actually read this:

http://www.conservatives.com/News/N...ownloadable Files/Vorderman maths report.ashx

Poor Tubey, patently doesn't understand that there can be more than one route cause to any problem

However, HE'S decided that the ONLY root cause of the falling standards of numeracy in this country is the teaching framework, when the reality is that there could be a massive increase in the performance of pupils under the current system, if those delivering it, increased their performance to match that of their peers

http://www.suttontrust.com/news/news/improving-poor-teachers-would-transform-englands-education/

"Bringing the lowest-performing 10% of teachers in the UK up to the average would greatly boost attainment and lead to a sharp improvement in the UK’s international ranking. In five years the UK’s rank amongst OECD countries could improve from 21st in Reading to as high as 7th, and from 22nd in Maths to as high as 12th. Over 10 years (the period a child is in the school system before the PISA examinations) the UK would improve its position to as high as 3rd in Reading and 5th in Maths.”

btw, the first page of that report you posted stated the following;

"We need to reform teacher training to get even more talented people into the classroom"

Which clearly infers that the current level of quality isn't good enough i.e. those currently delivering are falling short....

 

[Brennan]

Nobody forced anyone into the job they have

They knew the pay rates when they started studying to become a teacher

And in that time they've seen a big drop in real term wages, among other worsening conditions.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Poor FLHD clearly doesn't understand what the term "root cause" means. And disagrees with a government report to boot which clearly lies the blame squarely at the feet of the system itself. And still thinks it's my opinion, when I've said repeatedly it isn't.

Awesome.

I'd encourage you to actually read this:

http://www.conservatives.com/News/N...ownloadable Files/Vorderman maths report.ashx

Think FLHD has the right of it - Teacher quality is the only game in town. Overwhelms all other variables, been shown time and time again. Ask any teacher about the damage a weak colleague can do to a class - it's better for them not to show up at all and let the kids learn by themselves, then for them to attempt to teach. Vice verca, an outstanding teacher can have a lifetime of impact on someone - particularly in maths and the sciences which are harder for kids to intuitively grasp.

If you are contending that teacher quality is actually OK in the UK and not some sort of big crisis then that's different - it's one of the crux questions that seems quite hard to answer. We all know what good/bad teaching looks like at the extremes but it's hard to assess the middle in a fair way I think.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

http://phys.org/news/2013-10-high-powered-incentives-linked-teacher-dc.html

Hmm. Must say, most of the stuff I've read about stack ranking hasn't been great, but that was mainly in the sense that it doesn't help collaboration.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

I trained for 5 years in my Job. I trained beyond the job that I ended up with as I had no experience in what I was actually qualified for so had to 'click back' to the trade on the shop floor.
Whilst I was going through my training the Govt. sold the Factories which belonged to the M.O.D. to British Aerospace for a Quid (to pay them for what the still owed from the Falklands) BaE then closed the factories and moved all of the work & Govt contracts to their own, selling off the land.

My whole secondary education from when I took my options was geared towards becoming a draughtsman, which I would've become had the factory not closed down. I ended up as a Turner.

So plenty of us have had goalposts moved, except because we aren't 'key workers' it doesn't matter.