(Picture Credit - Pixabay)
Recently I have been watching a most enlightening TV
series called “School” on BBC 2. If you want to see that programme on iPlayer
then leave this page now! Don’t want to “spoil” it for anyone.
Anyway, the main thrust of the programme is that
Education today is governed by “targets” and “results” and “getting funding”.
The impression I get is that truly valuable Education has been sacrificed for
cramming kids to “pass” examinations and so forth. Looking at this as a former
teacher of the 1970s it seems that things have gone from bad to worse, much
worse. As the Americans would say, “It sucks”. To be more specific, the UK
Education System is a mess. Just like Brexit is a mess.
But don’t get me wrong. The 1950s to 70s were not
Halcyon Days. Sure, I had some very good teachers. At my “Secondary Modern”
school we had a great history teacher, Mr. Hanson, who did his own version of
the “Horrible Histories” TV series which came later. And he played the piano at
school assembly with great gusto.
On the other hand, we had a Science teacher who sat tinkering
with some electronics while we all struggled with the dreaded “Physics
Calculations”. Our Rural Science teacher bailed us out when that Science Man
left around Christmas. That same Science teacher once took great delight in
rounding up some boisterous lads to try out his “new cane” on them. That was
his main teaching method I recall – swish, cane, scare, swish…
To be brutally honest, however, when I myself became
a teacher I thoroughly hated the job. The only “Careers Advice” I recall from
my school days was from another 6th former who remarked, “Most
people who study English just go into teaching.” It proved totally unsuitable
for me: after all I was one of the quietest, most timid pupils in my classes!
Reflecting on college, well, quite simply, at least
where I studied we teachers were not taught how to teach. Sure, they
preached Education Theory, Psychology and Sociology to us. I got high grades in
all that stuff. But all my notions on how actually to work with children came
from older fellow students. Indeed those students told me the old maxim, “Don’t
smile before Easter!”
What hints we were given by tutors contained a
confusing mixture of “Traditional” versus “Progressive” teaching approaches.
They did, however, point us to books such as “How Children Fail”, “How Children
Learn” and “Summerhill”.
At least on my Diploma in Careers Guidance (taken
later) the tutors had us do “Video Interviews” in which they coached us in the
skills required for the job. To me, “teacher training” was mainly a “selection
process”. The dominant underlying belief seemed to be that you were either born
to be a teacher or otherwise. “Acting” was often touted as a requisite for being
a teacher and that was one of my weakest links.
Thinking on it now, I wonder how on Earth I could
have met so many good teachers. They did miracles to survive. Each one of us
was left to our own devices to do whatever we judged right. Yes, they made us
write detailed lesson plans. But that’s not enough by a long way. “Handling” 30
“screaming kids” is no picnic.
I suppose the advent of The (UK) National Curriculum
changed things somewhat. But then they probably quashed some fine “individual”
teaching with that.
As for my own 6 year stint at teaching (in one
school), I cannot recall much teamwork either within the department or the
school as a whole. Some colleagues were extremely helpful and supportive
whereas others would put you down and have an ego trip.
I do note that “Educating Yorkshire” and similar TV
programmes have shown that good teamwork is possible given the right leadership
and staff. But like the National Health Service, “Education” requires funding and
support. It’s sad to see so many dedicated professionals banging their heads against
the proverbial brick wall. Rant over. Let’s hope the powers that be see sense and
put things to right.
Paul
Butters
©
PB 13\1\2019.
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