Stories + Views: Teachers

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Francis Gilbert: Local Schools Network Predictions for 2011

The cuts will really kick in. There will be job losses in most Local Authorities, with many LA education departments essentially disappearing. In most schools, class sizes will go up and there will be significant job losses over time. The vast majority of extra-curricular activities will be axed. Poorer children will be disproportionately affected because their parents won't be able ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Fiona Millar: "The perverse incentives in the league tables mean that many schools actively use covert selection select to improve their test and exams results.. One head of a highly selective 'comprehensive' faith school in West London explained to me that ......"

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Francis Gilbert: Five reasons why Media Studies is a great subject

I used to be a bit sceptical about the whole idea of Media Studies until I started teaching it at A Level. The process of choosing a suitable syllabus (we opted for OCR), devising schemes of work and delivering the lessons over the last few years has now convinced me that it should be an essential part of the school ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by tesfahun bazezew: "it is rely interesting..."

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Charlotte Mooney: Learning from school systems abroad

I trained and worked as a teacher in state schools in Scotland. After moving to Canada, I found that the regulatory body for education would not recognise my UK teaching qualification, and that I was unable to work in Canadian state schools without re-training. I was, however, able to apply for work in independent schools. My experience in an independent school ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Yupei Guo: "I have always longed to be in a independent school. The state schools that I went to consist of pupils with little aspirations. However, I'm not sure that every pupil can cope with the high pressure of academic work and ......"

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Francis Gilbert: Five reasons why Religious Studies MUST be in the English Bacc (by top RS teacher Daniel Hugill)

An inspirational R.S. teacher passed these excellent reasons why R.S. GCSE needs to be included in the English Baccalaureate to me: Five (and a half) reasons that Religious Studies should be included as a Humanity in the English Baccalaureate 1. Because Religious Studies is a rigorous and demanding academic discipline in its own right. It engenders critical thinking and rigour in the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Daniel Hugill: "NEW NATRE RE and the EBacc Survey - Please help! Dear Colleague The government’s final decision about whether or not RE is included in the EBacc will be made in June! Meetings between NATRE and others with Nick Gibb, Schools Secretary, ......"

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Fiona Millar: The lessons from PISA;end selection, give teachers more freedom and don’t waste money on school fees

The new PISA data is out, based on tests taken by half a million 15 year olds in 70 countries. Its key findings are here. What does it tell us? NOT that the performance of English pupils got worse, but that we were outperformed by more nations than last time this data was collected in 2006. That girls do better than boys That ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Fiona Millar: "I am afraid single sex schools and faith schools are exempt from the equalities legislation. Here is a column I wrote several years ago for the Guardian on the faith schools exemption. There was a successful legal challenge recently to ......"

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Francis Gilbert: Is too much to expect that only outstanding teachers should teach our most challenging children?

I appeared on Radio 5 Live tonight, The Steve Nolan Show, talking about a supply teacher's book about his experiences of the "front-line". I haven't read the book but from the extracts I've read in The Guardian I can see the it's a tale of woe, with the poor protagonist being constantly challenged by his charges. I pointed out that ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Francis Gilbert: "I think your comments about how a top-down management style can crush teachers' enthusiasm is very interesting in the context of the White Paper, which basically gives many more powers to headteachers. Personally, I think it's very important for teachers ......"

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Fiona Millar: How do we get better teachers?

How do we get better teachers? That seems to be the question at the moment. The BBC news headlines last night reported Ofsted saying that a half of all schools failed to give students a good education. But that isn’t quite what the report said. It pointed out that although a majority of schools were good or better, within them ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Francis Gilbert: "This is a thoughtful and honest appraisal, particularly about the need for tough headteachers. The trouble is there is no magic bullet; if you could bottle what makes a "good teacher" I'm sure McDonalds would have bought the patent by ......"

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Francis Gilbert: Today interview with the Education Secretary exposes the problems with the White Paper

Michael Gove's interview this morning with the Today programme exposed some serious flaws in the Coalition's education policies. In particular, his obsession with "on the job" training was shown to be deeply problematic. When it was put to him that Ofsted had said that university-based teacher training worked best on the whole, Gove argued that "on the job" training was ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Melissa Benn: "Just to add to my post above re the uncertainty over whether military personnel will or will not need a degree to go into teaching, here is the relevant paragraph from today's White Paper. 'We will pay tuition fees for ......"

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Francis Gilbert: Education white paper: an assault on schools

This article was first published on The Guardian's Comment Is Free website This week's education white paper will seriously undermine standards of teaching in our schools On the surface the new education white paper, due to be published next week but widely leaked in the press today, appears to be all about promoting good teachers. Having a good degree and two decades ... read more and comment →

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Francis Gilbert: Why are outstanding “specialist” teachers losing their jobs and untrained ones being promoted?

It's becoming increasingly clear that the cuts that are going on in schools and in universities are actually an assault on good teaching. Let's itemise this attack on good teaching: There are the cuts to the Specialist Schools Funding. At the moment, many schools are bolstered by high quality teaching in certain specialist areas. In particular, the Specialist Sports' Colleges have spread ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Laurence Connor: "At the start of this academic year my daughter's primary school in Bromley announced that funding for after school clubs ran by teachers after school had been scrapped. This is a school with a large number of pupils from under ......"

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