I’VE no doubt that when people read about the imminent strike by teachers there will be the usual ‘how selfish’; ‘how could they, don’t they get enough holiday already?’; ‘What about the children?’ Cries will, as usual, start up. Antagonistic
‘us vs them’ stances will be expected and reported as such. Sometimes ‘us’ will be parents ‘them’ the teachers or ‘us’ will be the teachers and ‘them’ the politicians.
But stop a minute and think. Are teachers really that selfish they would jeopardise your child’s whole education for a day off? As for the holiday argument, walk in the shoes of a teacher for a few weeks during term time and you will know
that the workload and change issues are such that they are becoming intolerable. Over the last half term I know many teachers delivered extra classes for pupils needing revision. In the summer they will not be off for six weeks sunning themselves but catching up and preparing for next year.
What’s driven teachers to this point isn’t a whim, a casual decision to stir up a bit of angst. It’s about serious, damaging reforms that are wholly unjustified and an ever increasing workload that is taking teachers away from what they
should be doing – teaching.
The DfE say that ‘a lost day of school could harm your child’s education’ – yet apparently when it comes to closing schools to become polling stations it does no harm.
If teachers were freed from the burden of bureaucracy, felt safe from the threats of academisation, league tables and punitive OFSTED inspections, they would have so much more time to devote to your children’s education. Standards would
rise and the only ones who would suffer would be the politicians who use education as a personal plaything to improve their chances of political advancement.
- James D Williams is a lecturer in education at the University of Sussex School of Education and Social Work
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