The College Of Not-Actually-Teaching

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The College Of Not-Actually-Teaching

An article in the Independent yesterday reported that:

Mr Laws [the schools minister] said funding for a Royal College of Teaching

would be announced before the election, to put teaching on an equal footing with professions 

such as law and medicine. “This has the potential to finally give the teaching profession

the recognition, respect and high status it deserves,” he said.

It has always been a likely prospect that clueless, but publicity-hungry, politicians would be making announcements about this in the run up to the election, although there is some irony

that that plans to subsidise the education establishment were announced in an article

claiming that Michael Gove still had lots of influence over education policy.

I’ve argued repeatedly against the latest plans for a College of Teaching, largely on the basis that they are plans for a body that non-teachers can join which would, nevertheless, seek to speak

for or even regulate, the profession. The latest plans seem to have been built around the idea

that any group currently involved in CPD, including trade unions and at least one private company, should be involved in the initial structure, and that any recognition of current practising teachers should be put off for at least 4 years and only apply to some subsection of teachers

approved by those setting the organisation up.

There are several reasons such an organisation cannot be trusted to spend money intended

for the professional development of teachers.

1) The College of Teaching needs to be free to argue for, and organise, changes

in how professional development for teachers is provided even if that does not fit the agenda

of those already involved in the CPD industry. That cannot happen if the organisation

is full of appointees of current vested interests. The involvement of SSAT, a private company providing CPD, is particularly suspect. Imagine if a pharmaceutical company had set up

the Royal Society of Medicine. This is not an independent body.

2) The College of Teaching needs to be able to speak for those actually teaching in schools

and colleges. It is that lack of power and a voice from the frontline that has deprofessionalised us. If the membership is dominated by educationalists, consultants and non-teaching headteachers

it will do the exact opposite of what it is meant to do. It will reinforce our powerlessness.

3) The model of professional development being put forward is one that, I believe, many teachers will object to. It is currently being suggested that teachers be assessed and classified as associates, chartered members, or fellows. This is the old model, where teachers were considered experts depending on where their game playing had got them, i.e their position as managers, ASTs, or even as “outstanding/good/requires improvement/inadequate” teachers

based on their latest appraisal. This is not what teacher expertise looks like.

We should be recognised for our different types of expertise in different areas, not ranked.

The only teachers who would join an organisation dedicated to saying that one teacher

is a better teacher than another, are those who think they are better than their peers,

or who are chasing promotions or other opportunities to teach less.

It will have no appeal to those who actually just want to get better at teaching.

And this problem would have been utterly obvious if the movement to set up

a College Of Teaching had been teacher-led, not led by vested interests.

Of course, without public subsidy or a means to coerce teachers to join, this organisation

will get nowhere in its present form. But if politicians are looking for the appearance of supporting teachers without any of the substance, they are going to throw money at this.

So let’s be ready to say loudly and publicly that money paid to the proposed College Of Teaching is money spent undermining, not supporting, the teaching profession.

Let politicians know they will face difficult questions if they throw public money

at this proposed quango and then claim they are doing something for teachers.

 https://teachingbattleground.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/the-college-of-not-actually-teaching/

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