That will become a job for the governors to deal with. The local council will still have powers to intervene though if required.

Since when is that good enough? If I was running any kind of company (or academy) I'd want the best people. Crap people are more protected by employment law now, than ever before - not just in teaching either.



Agreed. So.....



If that were the case, why couldn't academies be used to employee people like you and reduce paperwork. If teachers really wanna do something useful on the global issue of education, why don't we [LIFTED] off all the Tory this, Labour that [LIFTED] and just make the best of an idea that has a lot of potential?



Do they? Sounds to me like they hate their head. But hey, like I said, I'm not there.

And then lies the problem. Too many people thinking they can do a better job and ergo feel that they can advise, nay dictate, how teachers should do their jobs.

The truth is at those who criticise are generally incapable of teaching ornunwilling to take up the job snthatbthey can make a difference to the profession. They see teaching as a second class job which provides a free child care service for them. If you are so critical of teachers, then TAKE YOUR CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL AND TEACH THEM YOURSELF. You will, or course, be expected to follow the National Cirriculum. You will be subject to OFSTED inspections. If you a found to be failing (which given your inexperience in teaching will be likely), there will be sanctions.

Firstly Oki, sorry about the blurt this morning - it was a bit uncalled for. I think we're actually a lot more convergent in our opinions than I made it seem.


Erm... ...because that's the definition of adequate.

I know that we would want to employ only the best but, once above a minimum standard, sometimes in reality one has to make do with employees not being useless.


But, if this model is the best way, why split the sector? Why create a division where none is needed if the academy system is so very good? Why not make all schools into academies?

For most teachers, this issue is not about Labour vs. Tory. Something common to the vast majority of teachers is the strong sense of fair play i.e. that education should be universal. All children, no matter what their background, should have the same chance at success. Which is why I'm very suspicious of any measure that radically changes the nature of education for only a fraction of society.

I have no problem with removing schools from LEA control nor with giving schools direct control over their funding - I think these things are ideas with wonderful possibilities just as you do. I would dance for joy if the silly amounts of paperwork were to disappear and the inspection regime lightened. I would love to see a situation where entering teaching was made much easier so that people like you and me could get to teach before the training empties our souls of all that is good. I long for an education system where schools didn't have to deal with half of the crap they they're weighed with now. But if those are laudable aims then it's no good allowing a few to partake - all schools surely need these things.

My fear about academies as they currently stand is that they could very easily:

• give preferential treatment to a privileged few, possibly at the expense of neighbouring non-academy schools
• be used to disguise unfavourable statistics
• be used to restrict teachers' right to form and act as a trade union
• end up costing vastly more as the gravy train starts
• be simply a re-branding exercise that saves not one piece of paper
• not raise educational standards at all - as evidence from Scandinavia would seem to show
• serve to strengthen the dangerous and stupid "Parental Choice" - which in reality means that the rich win over the poor almost every time
• weaken the provision of education of those with special educational requirements
• increase the already prevalent effects of nepotism

I wish it weren't so - there are a lot of good ideas wrapped up in the academies idea. The trouble is that, AFA I can see, what they're wrapped up in is entitlement, division, preferential treatment and lies.



They probably do and they wouldn't be a rarity.

However, whilst I could imagine that an individual could strike out of spite, I have a hard time imagining that a whole cohort of teachers would do so.

Well, I think I could. And I would happily study myself in order to be better positioned to do so. I don't see teaching as second class, I think educators in all their forms should be held in the highest regard. They *should* be the bedrock of any civilized, progressive society. Of course, unfortunately, that's not the world we live in.

I would also happily home-school my kids. I would not however submit to OFSTED, who afaic, can suck my cock. The government do not have the right to employ "sanctions" against me for determining the educational path of MY child. That's authoritarian bollocks and I fear it's the way that childcare/education has been going for some time and will continue to do so. The government get to each of us earlier and earlier and it's not good.

Anyway, if you would permit me an indulgence, THIS is an education:



This guy went on to influence writers, thinkers and regular Joes like me for the next 400 years. He believed that any education was only as worthy as it was relevant to the educatees life. A view I vehemently agree with.

Rusty, your passion for quality education is obvious and you make some fair points about the snags. I think really my beef is with box-ticking, reports, tables, inspections and bland, unimaginative curricula and teachers. All of which are enemies of relevancy. Education, in it's many forms, is fundamental to our brief existence in this world and without it, we are nothing. It deserves more credence than all the arguing out there generates.

Which is why, given the choice, I'd have my own academy or Steiner school, or whatever and I would work with people from this thread and others with a passion and reverence for a thing so close to my heart. Only then could we hope to touch children (School of Rock reference) in a way that benefits us all.

Seems a reasonably sensible place to put this:

Teachers: let students bring tech to class

Teachers believe students should be able to bring their own devices into the classroom.

Netgear surveyed teachers at the BETT technology show in London earlier this year, finding 77% believed students should be allowed to use their own iPods, smartphones and other devices to learn.

“We talk about kids of today being the digital generation with iPods and various smartphone devices, and the teachers seem to be quite happy to embrace that, rather than the scenario in my day when everything like that would probably just be confiscated,” said Peter Airs, European product manager for Netgear.

However, he warned that not only brings in new security challenges, it could cause trouble for students who don’t have the latest gadgets.

“It’s almost like school uniforms, isn’t it?” he told PC Pro. “Do we want the uniformity of everyone having the same? Only some kids having the latest and greatest gadgets is going to be an issue.”

The survey also found that 80% of teachers want to use the web more in the classroom.

“Teachers want to embrace social media, resoundingly saying they want to use Facebook and YouTube as part of their learning experience, to collaborate with other schools and people in other parts in the world,” he said.

"I personally thought teachers would say: ‘we don’t want these sorts of things in our schools, they’re a distraction to day-to-day education,’” he said. “But teachers are a lot more forward thinking than that.”

The survey also found that 58% of teachers use IT in some way in every single lesson they teach, with three-quarters claiming a rise in classroom interaction thanks to technology.

Where to buy?

"Everyone has to look at their budgets these days, and schools need to ensure they’re getting the best bang for their buck," Air said.

Teachers and IT managers are starting to rethink old procurement patterns, which saw many opt for big name IT suppliers because "you never got questioned if you went for a big-name manufacturer", Air noted.

He suggested schools consider smaller, local suppliers instead. "Most schools have specific needs… and they are fairly unique," he argued.

"The one-sized fits all approach we’ve seen from the big enterprise providers, where they’re offering enterprise-class products, is great from a technical perspective... but maybe they’re selling more bells and whistles than the school actually needs."

"Schools would do a lot better to look at the right-sized equipment for their needs and budget," he said.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/education/3 ... h-to-class

Obviously that whole thing's skewed, but what do you think of the points he raised there? I'm not convinced by the kids taking their own tech into the classroom...