tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post58277029865542476..comments2024-03-27T06:56:10.255+00:00Comments on Broad Oak Magazine: Sack all teachers who can't answer thisUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-9314200530479139822012-01-11T19:19:15.278+00:002012-01-11T19:19:15.278+00:00Erm, how many bad teachers SHOULD there be, then?
...Erm, how many bad teachers SHOULD there be, then?<br /><br />Ask Zenna Atkins.James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-14030127824065412072012-01-09T17:37:12.886+00:002012-01-09T17:37:12.886+00:00And while you are at it you could sack the Secreta...And while you are at it you could sack the Secretary of State of Education for his failure to produce Newton's laws of thermodynamics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-9319121413556879992012-01-09T15:21:54.414+00:002012-01-09T15:21:54.414+00:00I have fond memories of most of my teachers, who k...I have fond memories of most of my teachers, who knew and loved their subjects (even though many clearly hated students).<br /><br />However, watching all too many teachers in the US whose qualifications come from colleges of education leaves me in tears. Most don't even thoroughly know the material that they are supposed to teach, in english, mathematics, social science or foregin languages.<br /><br />I't pitiful.Paddingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07952088638231881617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-57242939752249080312012-01-08T17:31:00.091+00:002012-01-08T17:31:00.091+00:00My mother used to say there will always be the poo...My mother used to say <i>there will always be the poorest 5%</i>. She wasn't talking about teachers, but it applies. No matter how rich people are (no matter how good teachers are) we will always have a worst 5%. <br /><br />Next day, maybe not the same people, but still there will be a worst 5%. Everybody has a bad day now and then.The Arthurianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16501331051089400601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-83395787752989855652012-01-08T08:01:20.642+00:002012-01-08T08:01:20.642+00:00Oh and by the way: the statistics leave out by far...Oh and by the way: the statistics leave out by far the most important elements<br /><br />The high number who leave after a short time (including very good teachers who simply don't want the job to consume their lives - I've seen that happen; or the many who find ways to get out because they are bullied and otherwise mismanaged)<br />The large number that never start after training<br />The numbers that choose not to return after maternity<br />The thousands that have - genuine - health breakdowns<br /><br />If the economy recovers, you are going to have the mother and father of recruitment crises:<br /><br />http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=415005&sectioncode=26<br /><br />http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-16644/Teacher-shortage-reaching-crisis-levels.html<br /><br />Same in USA - more than 50% of teachers due to retire within 10 years:<br /><br />http://www.nctaf.org/documents/NCTAFLearningTeamsPolicyBriefFINAL.pdfSackersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17284329249862764601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-88769543534517775012012-01-07T17:42:49.900+00:002012-01-07T17:42:49.900+00:00Context matters. You can fail in one class/school ...Context matters. You can fail in one class/school and succeed in another.<br /><br />School management matters. Most of all, I'd say.<br /><br />And local authorities have sometimes seemed quite happy to wreck a school for ideological reasons - I have a grammar school in Birmingham in mind as I write.<br /><br />But also, the context of this "story" matters. It's like the way Jim Hacker sometimes spikes Sir Humphrey's guns.<br /><br />A failing experience as a teacher - and many successful teachers have had that - is its own punishment, and a severe one. Unlike in medicine, you don't bury your mistakes, they roar at you, over-empowered and seemingly invulnerable, day after day. And in the wrong school, it's not even your own mistakes.Sackersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17284329249862764601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-13715117972268460602012-01-07T17:30:09.790+00:002012-01-07T17:30:09.790+00:00"Erm, how many bad teachers SHOULD there be, ..."Erm, how many bad teachers SHOULD there be, then?"<br /><br />If my experience of the public sector is anything to go on, then it's difficult to believe it is less than a very conservative 5%. <br /><br />What's that - 20,000?A K Haarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05897490979828603179noreply@blogger.com