Concerned about possibility of a teachers' strike?

[Chippy Minton]

The alternative is to target the people that caused the crisis in the first place i.e. not teachers. We need a Robin Hood tax on the banks and financial services and a crack down on their tax avoidance.

[EDTutor]

This is a long answer, though by no means a comprehensive one, which I hope goes some way to answering the original question as well as some of the points raised here; I also believe and hope it is what the teaching profession deserves.

Education will always be one of any state's top priorities for obvious reasons, and therefore teachers have historically been on the front line of some of the most ill-informed ideological policies in recent political history. One example would be the decision of the last government to drastically cut funding for special schools, based on the woefully misinformed notion that every child should have the same education. This coincided with the late 90s/early 00s idea of doing away with streaming for the same reason. The results, from a state secondary pupil's perspective (I was taught GCSE English alongside kids who could not read), were predictable: disengagement from pupils of all abilities, isolation of those in the year with Downs and severe learning difficulties, visible crushing of teachers' morale. Teachers also had their autonomy curtailed by a restrictive curriculum and unrealistic targets. Schools were threatened with failure and funding cuts if they did not achieve a 30% A-C pass rate at GCSE, so teachers were 'encouraged' not to educate, but to teach children to pass exams. At the same time, knowing that their targets were farcical, the government (as any fool with eyes can tell) lowered examination standards to meet such targets. And so nobody won. Leaving aside the damaging effects this had on the pupils, teachers were categorically disempowed by these measures. Teaching is a PROFESSION - it demands a two degrees and two years of training to attain qualified teacher status; the hours are long, the work is hard, you have to be clever, quick, resilient and bloody talented to do it. Teachers are, in the main, inspired and inspiring people who WANT to teach. They want to pass on not only their love and passion of their subject but to help youhg people find their way in an increasingly hostile world. Not only are they not encouraged in their job, they are berated and belittled at every turn - berated for failing to meet laughable targets and for having an easier life than those in the private sector (most teachers I know work 6 days a week and spend the 'holidays' preparing for term)and belittled by those that think it's somehow a second-rate profession and do not give them the trust and autonomy they deserve to do the job they trained to do.

This situation has only got worse. The pensions debate concides with the announcement that schools must now up their pass rate to 50% or face takeover by neighbouring academies. The politics behind this are laughably transparent. Not only does it attempt to prop up the controversial academy system, it reinforces just how out of touch the government are with the average person, let alone the average school. As with many aspects of government, the problem with this policy is self-evident: only an upper middle-class person in power could imagine such a figure being attainable and indeed desireable for the majority. A microscopic percentage of the Houses of Parliament come from a world which has any understanding of a hand-to-mouth existence, or of issues (whisper it) more pressing than a GCSE. A good friend of mine and one of the most inspirational and intelligent people I know works at a school she and her colleagues pulled out every stop for in order to win its current 'Satisfactory' OFSTED rating. She deals on a daily basis with oversized classes, the majority of whom do not have English as a first language and whose proximity to the poverty line/home lives/imminent threat of deportation weigh somewhat heavier on their minds than Carol Ann Duffy. But she and her colleagues, like the teachers all over the country striking on 30th June, in the face of all of this, they still teach. They still turn up and give their classes everything they possibly can. That, in answer to an earlier post, is where the ethics of the teaching profession have their root.

As mentioned, this is by no means comprehensive, but it does cover some of the reasons I support teachers, and not just in their strike action this month. Politics be damned: let teachers do their job, and stop using them by turns as scapegoats for ideological ends.

[bluesuperted]

Fantastic post EdTutor. My husband is a teacher, he is fiercely intelligent, compassionate (he has to be involved in many more aspects of his class' life than just reading, writing etc, some of his kids live in a state of squalor and uncertainty, and on our doorstep) and dedicated to helping young people in the best and most creative ways he can. He is also graceful in the face of friends who think his job is easy and 9-4pm. He leaves the house usually before 7am and gets home at 6, frequently with marking to do into the evening and always works at weekends. He is super efficient in managing his workload yet still spent half term writing reports; there really is that much work. He earns every second of his summer holiday and way more than his modest pay packet. I'm in full support of the teachers in standing up for their amazing and VITAL profession.

It's not just about pensions, it's about passion for education and valuing those who have the vocation to provide it.

[srisky]

'teachers, like the medical profession and emergency services, should not strike as a matter of professional pride'

The right to strike should be apply to all including those that do some of the most important jobs in society. These workers have as much right to look after their futures as anyone else.

[mumra]

Brilliant post Edtutor, and completely spot on.

[toast]

Well put edtutor, also lots of teachers are having their contracts rewritten if they become academies. Its the next generation of teachers they are fighting for too, the cuts WILL put people off joining the profession which is sad esp as Labour had made it a much more appealing option for post grad hi-fly. Most teachers do have a strong sense of vocation and protecting the profession is part of that, part of securing high quality education for children for years to come.

[ladywotlunches]

srisky Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>>

> The right to strike should be apply to all

> including those that do some of the most important

> jobs in society. These workers have as much right

> to look after their futures as anyone else.

Of course they have the right to defend their futures - but this shouldn't be at the risk of the future of the children they teach. (And whilst one day of course wouldn't affect anyone too much, I remember the time in the 80s when there were so many teachers strikes my school was forced to completely change its school hours to ensure we got the education we needed).

All women will now see their state pension effectively reduced as the retirement age increases. So, shall all us women go on strike now??? I think probably not. The country has no money, so we have to change things, and we have to live with it even if we don't like it much.

[sophiechristophy]

By the way, teachers pay into their pensions schemes themselves, every month. It is deducted directly from their pay - trust me I know, my husband is a teacher and I scrutinize is payslips for every last drop!!

[srisky]

Ladywotlunches - I accept your sentiment that strikes shouldn't put others at risk - I am a parent, a potential patient, potential fire victim, potential crime victim etc and am so dependent on these services.

I want people to continue to want to enter these professions and work with great passion. The salaries of the vast majority of these workers is not reflective of the importance of their work or the level of training that they undergo. They would (should) have been aware of this when they chose their profession. However, changing the pension is changing the terms and conditions under which they were employed and therefore, should be discussed with the unions not just rushed through. Reducing the public sector pensions is a knee jerk reaction and the bigger picture has not been considered. Low morale will not entice people into the profession nor keep them in it.

A decrease in women's state pension is not analagous.

[Chippy Minton]

Like you say, this strike only one day, so at the moment nobody is having their education put at risk.

I also had my school hours shifted in the 80s due to the strikes. We moved to what the school termed a "continental day," starting early, having no lunch break and finishing early. After the strikes ended, the school concluded the move had been so successful that it kept this model. I'm not suggesting schools should think about doing this now at all, just that the strike is only this one day and we need to keep this is perspective. The ATL in particular is not made up of militants and for their members to have voted for this action it must show the strength of feeling on this matter.

[ladywotlunches]

Chippy, my school also kept the 'continental' hours, and I actually enjoyed it as a pupil (meant I did my part time job during the week and got to have Saturdays free), but with more parents working nowadays, this type of move would not be so easy and would see children away from the home for a very long day indeed.

But like you say, we are nowhere near that. And I feel that when June 30th comes, the disruption may not be as bad as feared as essentially teachers don't want to strike. I accept that the situation is less than ideal when employees are subject to changing terms and conditions, but again many in the private sector have already seen their pensions change to much less favourable terms. And for Labour to come out over the weekend and say that the unions should not be striking, to me indicates that the situation is not something that can be changed through protest. There simply isn't the money.

Anyway - think I'm going to agree to disagree, and sign off on this one.