Shanghaied

Lots on Breakfast telly this week about Chinese Maths teachers coming to teach and train English maths teachers.
Couple of interesting points firstly Chinese Maths teachers just teach maths at primary age whereas english teachers are 'expected to be jacks of all trades' which was said in a very disparaging way.

Secondly and it was said by a Chinese teacher right at the end of the interview and probably missed that Chinese children don't start formal school until age 7.

There's a lot of talk of school readiness in early years usually meaning are they ready for a diet of listening and sitting in one place!  But it is right that children need to be ready to learn.  And I wonder as we head towards assessing and therefore some would argue failing children age 2 if we are going in the wrong direction.  It's the one thing that government ministers don't notice when they visit these places - the children are older!

Political?

I’m not political.  I was but New Labour destroyed my politics for me.  Too much like old Tory.  I suppose the centre ground drift of politics generally might be good for stability but it’s so bloody boring.  That said I do watch the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC of a Sunday morning.  Today we had a double treat.  Michael Gove the Secretary of State for Education and all round twat and Tristram Hunt who is the Shadow blah blah blah! And possibly Cockney Rhyming Slang?

Michael Gove (I gove him a chance and listened?) who has one of those faces that you feel like punching,  (I bet he was the school snitch) was on mainly talking about how to battle Islamist extremism in schools.  And Tristram (not a real name surely? Tristan yes! Tristram no!) was there declaring a ‘Master Teacher in every classroom.’ Now I’d not heard of ‘Master Teachers’ apparently it’s an idea from Singapore.  The ‘Master Teacher’ would be ‘better trained’ or it would be a continued training from qualification and they would … well, that wasn’t made clear.  Part of the argument was that to progress in teaching you have to go into management so and I quote ‘Too many good teachers leave the classroom to become heads.’

Class teachers up and down the country are raising eyebrows (and a glass) and saying ‘Really?’ very slowly as they contemplate their own head teachers. 

Now I am all for the opportunity to progress as a class room teacher because that’s the job I love.  You can keep the rest of it!  But I’m not sure ‘Master Teacher’ is the route.  Who decides?

The argument went from a ‘Master Teacher’ in every classroom to one in every school in a matter of minutes.  ‘Master Teachers’, of course, would be more expensive than ‘Mistress Teachers’ – ‘Journeyman Teachers’ – I’m not sure what teachers who aren’t ‘Master Teachers’ are going to be called.  What head, went the argument, wouldn’t want a ‘Master Teacher’ in their school.  Heads like cheap teachers!  That’s the holy grail; a ‘Master Teacher’ who costs the same as an NQT! 

I have a feeling that it is too late for me.  At my age I’ll be lucky to find another job let alone be allowed to make any progression in my so-called career.  The whole system seems to be aimed at making the job untenable for people of a certain age so they can be replaced by shiny new cheap versions who last a couple of years and then burn out to be replaced by newer shinier versions.  Or is that too cynical?