Walking around today started me thinking about my youth, when I would have enjoyed rather than endured the recent fall of snow. Growing up in the London Borough of Barking things were very different to how they are now. Every street had a street-sweeper, a man that pushed a trolley that had two bins on it, various brushes and a shovel, and picked up the detritus and carted it away in the trolley. In the winter, particularly when there was show and ice on the ground, the bins for rubbish were replaced of bins with grit, which would be spread on the pavements. Now, I am not saying that everything in the garden of the past is rosy, life expectancy was lower than it is today, cigarette smoking was tolerated, and long distance communications were very poor.
Today, the council has a legal responsibility to put ramps for wheelchairs which now act like mini ski-slopes for anyone a bit 'wobbly' on their pins. So not every advance made in modern days is advantageous, and not everything in the past was brilliant, but I have to tell you that my Mum did make the best apple crumble and baked rice pudding, in the world.
Wednesday 16 January 2013
Tuesday 1 January 2013
More Reflections on Education.
Education has certainly changed since my day, no longer is corporal punishment allowed, which is a good thing, and education remains a political football, which is a bad thing.
Primary teachers are now allowed to leave their class in the hands of an 'untrained person' for a few hours a week to allow for Planning and Preparation. These 'untrained persons' are usually experienced Teacher's Assistants, who have received extra training. So, on balance, I think that is a good thing.
Recently, while on supply at a Secondary School in Hull, I met an 'Intervention Teacher' in a Maths class. The role involved taking kids from class that were struggling and give them extra help. Not a bad thing? "So, you are a Maths teacher then?" I asked. "No" came the reply. "You have a Maths degree then?" "No, I am just good at Maths" and the conversation ended.
I applied for a job at a different Secondary School as a Cover Supervisor. I did not get the job. The job went to somebody who had been working in the role, and was not qualified. A second post, available until the end of the academic year, was also not a job that I got. That went to a spotty youth who had been a teaching assistant at the school, and 'ran a football team'.
The question that bothers me is, with all these untrained individuals working in education, what is the point of a degree and a P.G.C.E? Answers on a Post Card please.
Primary teachers are now allowed to leave their class in the hands of an 'untrained person' for a few hours a week to allow for Planning and Preparation. These 'untrained persons' are usually experienced Teacher's Assistants, who have received extra training. So, on balance, I think that is a good thing.
Recently, while on supply at a Secondary School in Hull, I met an 'Intervention Teacher' in a Maths class. The role involved taking kids from class that were struggling and give them extra help. Not a bad thing? "So, you are a Maths teacher then?" I asked. "No" came the reply. "You have a Maths degree then?" "No, I am just good at Maths" and the conversation ended.
I applied for a job at a different Secondary School as a Cover Supervisor. I did not get the job. The job went to somebody who had been working in the role, and was not qualified. A second post, available until the end of the academic year, was also not a job that I got. That went to a spotty youth who had been a teaching assistant at the school, and 'ran a football team'.
The question that bothers me is, with all these untrained individuals working in education, what is the point of a degree and a P.G.C.E? Answers on a Post Card please.
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