What is going to happen to Education, Education, Education?

Nicki Morgan

When I originally started to write this blog, my intention was to take a considered look at the different options about education offered by the political parties. Unfortunately, as Education was buried under the economy, immigration and the NHS, it seemed almost pointless. The dreaded ‘debates’ and whether they were happening, and who was allowed to be in them – then the popularity polls afterwards – appeared to replace any ‘real’ debate about political policy. It became a yawnfest of British politics at its worst. Therefore as the dreariest election campaign in my living memory drew to a close I was still left wondering what horrors the politicians have in store for teaching this time. In the TES this week they have published some of the plans.

Football Manager Syndrome

What many of us had hoped for, perhaps naively, was less intervention from the government. Unfortunately, in this weeks TES they tell us that the Conservatives have announced that they are hoping to pass a ‘controversial Act of Parliament that will give her greater powers to ‘sack’ head teachers and ‘intervene in coasting’ schools’. If things are not difficult enough for Head teachers they will have this black cloud above their heads waiting to thunder and lightning as soon as they ‘under achieve’. There is a fundamental question that is constantly being asked – who is going to become a Head? The are calling performing as a Head ‘football manager syndrome’ – but they seem to be missing the fundamental difference, football managers get a great deal of money! In comparison, for what secondary Heads are expected to do, they do not get enough money for the personal and professional sacrifice the jobs now entails.

Are teachers preparing to fight for education?

In today’s TES they are claiming that Nicki Morgan has ‘had it easy’ so far, but I am starting to wonder whether teachers have the fight in them. They are too tied up implementing continuous changes and being perpetually scrutinised to have time to fight against the new government. In addition, according to polls 40% of teachers voted for this, so there’s another explanation for a lack of fight.

Nevertheless, the general apathy from some teachers is a concern. When I was in a school the day after the election, I commented that I felt tired because I had stayed up late to see the election results, only for the reply from the young teacher – ‘I don’t take any notice of politics, it doesn’t affect me.’ I found such a disconnection from politics, and also from the influences politics has on education truly astounding. It also accounts for the lack of resistance. Do they block it out to avoid any additional thought process beyond getting through their day? Or more worryingly, do they have no real concept of the amount of government influence in education?

Here is a list of the Conservative Party plans:

– Protect per-pupil spending in schools
– Introduce ‘re-sit tests’ for Year 7 pupils who fail to reach expected standards at the end of KS2
– Ensure all students are entered for the English Baccalaureate performance measures at GCSE
– Open at least 500 free schools
– Expect every 11 year old to know their times tables by heart and be able to perform long division and complex multiplication
– Invest at least £7 billion over five years to provide good school places

The biggest issue is how much of the £7 billion is going to flood down a drain on 500 free schools? They just don’t work. There is copious amounts of evidence from Sweden that they have been a major disaster. In England some have closed after a matter of months, and many that remain open have had a disproportionate amount of money spent on them, with no real evidence of success. Surely the money could be better spent?

A battle on our hands?

With the prospect of five more years of such policies, it will be interesting to see how these years will impact on education. We must all value and respect the teachers who still battle on in as Cameron calls it his ‘all out war on mediocrity’. I suspect that in his use of the language associated with war is all too telling. We appear to be entering a war, when what we should all want is a supportive and nurturing environment where both staff and students feel valued, rewarded and excited about the endless possibilities that education offers us all. The only advice I can offer in the short term is that we do all need to battle on, our role is all too important for us not to.

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