Topic: Education Secretary Wants A Slap

[Guz-kop]

Nah they're not, they're just destroying it by introducing rules that effectively privatise under the guise of adding competition to improve the service.

That maybe true but public opinion of the NHS is at a low ebb and the government are happy with the images and stories currently portrayed in the media. The NHS is constantly under attack at the moment and that's exactly what the Tories want.

[007.lankyguy]

Fuckwitted Pob lookalike Michael Gove is currently in my college at the moment. Shall I have a word?

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Fuckwitted Pob lookalike Michael Gove is currently in my college at the moment. Shall I have a word?

YES! And an egg.

[JerseyKloppite]

Being married to a teacher (who's mother is a teacher, sister a teacher and father a headmaster) has really helped me to see things from their perspective.

Gove comes accross as the worst, most out of touch Secretary of State for Education I can remember in my lifetime. He had a load of ideas about exams he seemed to dream up on the back of a cigarette packet and scrap accordingly, and now, fearing a backlash, he has pandered to the kind of reactionary and Daily Mail reading public who think that 'things are not as good as they used to be'. Kids not learning enough? Behaving badly and loitering on street corners in the afternoon? Send them to school for longer, it's obvious! 

Teachers work longer hours than most similarly paid professions. Other than the number of taught hours they have in a week, they spend all of their spare time marking, preparing materials, planning lessons, doing copious amounts of administration and anything else the schools demand of them. Then they get told that they should be spending more time in the classroom by people who have no f*cking idea what their job entails and seem to think that they just turn up, tell the kids about Henry VIII, irregular verbs on photosynthesis and slip out at 4pm.

Lessons have to be designed for huge classes, in a way that teaches a massive variety of abilities, some with certain special needs, in a way that pushes the most able whilst not letting the least able feel like they are being left behind. All this while they are constantly dealing with bad and disruptive behaviour.

And now annual pay rises will be decided based on exam results. If there wasn't a pressure to teach kids nothing else but the syllabus and give them a narrow, exam-focused output then there certainly is now. I was quite blind to it before, but Gove is a joke.

[HarryLabrador]

YES! And an egg.

He's already wearing it and it's hard-boiled. Can't stand the brat! Adopted into labour supporting parents and ends up a tory. Maybe that's his problem-he has no connection with family ideals.

[andyrol]

pay rises for exam results for teachers is the most stupid idea i think ive ever heard of.  so, say, a teacher who really cares about his job and sees it as his calling who perhaps goes to work in a 'failing' school and really reaches out to the kids over a number of months/years, ok maybe doesnt get the exam results ,but the kids behaviour and attendance improves and when the scolars leave they have an interest in subjects they never would have if he hadnt taught them gets no pay rise for all that hard work. meanwhile a lazy teacher who just sits at his desk ignoring the kids but who happens to work at a school where the children are perhaps better educated and behaved from an earlier date and who subsequently through no help from the lazy teacher get better exam results gets a whopping pay rise. 

[The Gulleysucker]

It's a TINA dogma thing and it's part of a multi layered attack on the education system.

I was having a discussion last week about school places with a guy who couldn't get his child into any of his local state primary schools in London, all full (the London Evening Standard was reporting that almost 4800 primary school kids have yet to find a primary school place in Greater London).

This is leading to many parents like himself, that wouldn't normally choose to do so, having to consider private schools in the vicinity simply to avoid the hassle and cost of long travels each morning to get your kid to a state primary school miles away each day.

Now once they feel obliged to go down that route, fee paying primary education, it becomes more acceptable to introduce fee paying secondary education too, or at least partial fee paying. There are Academies opening in areas already overprovided with secondary education places. What's that all about?

I think that's what Gove really wants to introduce largely by engineering the situation to ensure that when it happens, such schools will also be highly profitable for the owners.

Get rid of national pay scales and collective bargaining, get rid of even requiring teaching qualifications especially those issued by by those lefty liberal teaching colleges, and then incentivise profit as there's oodles of money to be made, tax payers money to be diverted into private accounts, especially for those who subscribe to that philosophy, are organised and have financial backing to get in on the act early.

Cue Virgin Education or more likely some gang of carpetbaggers from the States, Gove's favourite place, with a catchy cod latin company name like Educatium, coming to a place near you, and getting a load of tax payers money to run these places at profit.

Of course they will strenuously be called non-profit making but I confidently expect the Governors will be salaried and obviously selected from the right sort, and the heads of such schools will probably be drawn not from education but from finance and naturally they will expect financial recompense commensurate with their experience. I mean, how can we expect to attract the right talent unless we pay them that sort of money (strange how it's a different story for the lowly teaching staff...)

It will be like the NHS Trust nonsense, an anonymous bunch of highly paid and largely self appointed worthies creaming our money away from the increasingly starved front line.
Because they're worth it.

[CB]

I was actually overseas for primary and secondary education. My school days were 8:30am to 4.30pm. From my personal experience I would definitely say that more hours spent in school was better. I got a good quality of education for a longer period of time. I also had enough hours in the day to be able to study a broader number of subjects up to the age of 18.

[Slick_Beef]

I was actually overseas for primary and secondary education. My school days were 8:30am to 4.30pm. From my personal experience I would definitely say that more hours spent in school was better. I got a good quality of education for a longer period of time. I also had enough hours in the day to be able to study a broader number of subjects up to the age of 18.

Kind of depends how the time is spent though doesn't it. If they were to hire extra staff to teacher a broader range of subjects and activities that'd be great.  More realistically, already overworked teachers are going to be forced to work even more hours which will likely lower standards rather than raise them.

My wife is a teacher (albeit here in Portugal), and I don't think I've ever seen her work less than 60 hours a week, often closer to 70. She gets paid for 37.5. I think a lot of people outside of education (especially those in government) don't appreciate just how much work it is.

[GBF]

I was actually overseas for primary and secondary education. My school days were 8:30am to 4.30pm. From my personal experience I would definitely say that more hours spent in school was better. I got a good quality of education for a longer period of time. I also had enough hours in the day to be able to study a broader number of subjects up to the age of 18.

usually it is better if the school has a range of activities from curricular to extra curricular stuff for the kids to do however you tend to have every teacher having to prepare and carry out various type of classes, correct test papers and also be "counsellors for the students and parents".  Then it does not help the teachers, the student, the school and the parent.

[B0151?]

dangerous dangerous man that gove is, its beyond him being inept

[Slick_Beef]

Because they're worth it.

That is a worryingly believable picture you paint there.

Having read this and another Tory inspired clusterfuck currently taking place in the criminal justice system in this space of an hour, I'm now feeling thoroughly depressed

[JerseyKloppite]

Kind of depends how the time is spent though doesn't it. If they were to hire extra staff to teacher a broader range of subjects and activities that'd be great.  More realistically, already overworked teachers are going to be forced to work even more hours which will likely lower standards rather than raise them.

My wife is a teacher (albeit here in Portugal), and I don't think I've ever seen her work less than 60 hours a week, often closer to 70. She gets paid for 37.5. I think a lot of people outside of education (especially those in government) don't appreciate just how much work it is.

Agree with you 100%.

My wife is in school by 8 and leaves at 4. Once at home she will typically spend 3 to 4 hours lesson planning/marking etc. Plus 3 to 4 hours per day on saturday and sunday. She definitely works 60+ hours per week.

[SP]

Agree with you 100%.

My wife is in school by 8 and leaves at 4. Once at home she will typically spend 3 to 4 hours lesson planning/marking etc. Plus 3 to 4 hours per day on saturday and sunday. She definitely works 60+ hours per week.

Not every teacher is that dedicated though. That is what is required to be a good conscientious teacher. Not all are.

Now in a Tory mindset, they probably believe that they are restructuring to reward the "good" and punish the feckless. Always has to be some missing feck in a Tory policy.  That far the argument is still morally defensible.

But when it comes to implementation, that's when it all goes to shit. As I have already used the price of everything , value of nothing cliche about Gove - I will make the same criticism of their metrics. The value of a good teacher is generally in the intangibles. The ability to impart enthusiasm about a subject. Teaching a pupil how to learn and not spoon feeding them the pre-chewed curriculum. Indeed the testing regime is at odds with good teaching. It encourages short-term boosting by cramming at the cost of actually giving the pupils the useful skill set they will actually use in the world of work. School is not about what you actually learn. Beyond basic numeracy and literacy, it by and large irrelevant. But the ability to read critically and assimilate new information and skills is invaluable in the ever more connected world.

Longer hours to learn by rote is diminishing returns. At the end of the day, you get tired kids who are not receptive to learning. You run the real risk of it all ending up counter productive and the last lessons poisoning the experience of the whole day.

If you go to the public school model beloved by Gove and his bum chums, there is not a hugely extended academic day. The school I went to had 6 40 minute periods per week after lunch. The afternoons were dominated by sport and activities. He is copying a model without the funding or rationale behind the longer school days.

He really is a monstrous twat.

[The Gulleysucker]

That is a worryingly believable picture you paint there.

Gove is also in a hurry to do these things with what appears to be little real dialog with those involved, which is potentially much more serious and damaging.

I think he wants his reforms well established prior to the next election, and for a reason.

If that election is lost by the Tories, not improbable given the current failures of just about everything else they and their Liberal lackies are doing, I would expect a leadership challenge against Cameron to occur.

Gove probably wants evidence that he's just the man for the top job rather than more of the same from say Boris, who would also undoubtedly attempt to run.

He could contrast his own humble background struggling against all odds yet portray himself as an achiever, dynamic and visonary, and not afraid to perform radical change against fervant opposition, unlike Boris, who outside of London, little is known except his Bullingdon membership and his image of carefully crafted buffoonary.

I expect as evidence, the stats will even be made to somehow show what a success Gove's reforms of Education have been.

It's all potentially very destructive to future generations, not that a man with a colossal ego like him would care.

[SP]

It's depressing too that the perceived wisdom about how to rise to the top of the Tory party is to be as monstrous a twat as possible, and deeply root the loathing of much of the electorate that he would eventually have to woo.

How can any reasoning adult think that the likes of Redwood, Gove or the other darlings of the Mail would cause anything other than revulsion outside of the rock solid Tory vote?

What happened to the middle ground (besides it moving to the right of Heath in the tail end of the last century)?

[Mutton Geoff]

As for his latest Vocational Bacc, well, well, CSE's is it?

( for our older posters)

[The Gulleysucker]

As for his latest Vocational Bacc, well, well, CSE's is it?

( for our older posters)

Sounds remarkably like them.
He'll probably resurrect ONC & HNC's next, for those that can't afford the full University Tuition fees to get a degree.

[JerseyKloppite]

If you go to the public school model beloved by Gove and his bum chums, there is not a hugely extended academic day. The school I went to had 6 40 minute periods per week after lunch. The afternoons were dominated by sport and activities. He is copying a model without the funding or rationale behind the longer school days.

He really is a monstrous twat.

This is spot on. (Both bits ) I went to private secondary school and we had 7 x 40 minute lessons on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 5 x 40 minute lessons on Tuesday, Thursday and Satuday mornings with sport on Tuesday/Saturday afternoons and an activity on Thursday afternoons.

That's 24 taught hours, which isn't much (if anything) more than the state system mandates. The extra time here is nothing to do with more teaching, it's extra-curricular activities.

Bizarrely, when I went to primary school in Jersey we stayed til 6.15. However, school finished at 4 every day, and we had 1 hour of homework and 1 hour of 'activity' in school.

[ghost1359]

Gove proving that he's an absolute moron yet again

[Dickie_Mint]

Imagine being a civil servant in Gove's department. You must wake up every morning with a feeling of dread thinking, "What hair brained scheme is this prick gonna think up next?"

[CheshireDave]

Hope the teachers here don't go all Mexican.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22289368

[CHOPPER]

Teachers all over the word will unite with their scholastic counterparts from across the watery divide.




Personally, I'd give them all detention.

[Elli]

I would like to see Gove receive a telephone call at 1pm on a Wednesday, informing him that an organisation he fears and is forced to cowtow to is coming in, heavy-handed, at 8am on Thursday, to spend two full days picking apart every last shred of work he's done, watching him work and writing notes on his every move and utterance, and giving him critical reviews on everything he does. Removing key documents from his office and keeping them for scrutiny, even though he needs them back to complete tasks. Talking to his peers, colleagues, manager and staff about him. Meeting them simultaneously, to compare answers in a bizarre "Mr and Mrs" style test. Interviewing members of the public with vehement, not always accurate or well informed, opinions of him. Writing a report, at the end of the 2 days, which will have huge implications for his future prospects, pay, status at work, self respect, sleep pattern, ability to turn up to work smiling, and general wellbeing.

I write this in the half-time "break" of an Ofsted inspection, and everything I mention above is directly derived from something I have experienced, yesterday or today, or anticipate tomorrow.

[wz4jc3]

I would like to see Gove receive a telephone call at 1pm on a Wednesday, informing him that an organisation he fears and is forced to cowtow to is coming in, heavy-handed, at 8am on Thursday, to spend two full days picking apart every last shred of work he's done, watching him work and writing notes on his every move and utterance, and giving him critical reviews on everything he does. Removing key documents from his office and keeping them for scrutiny, even though he needs them back to complete tasks. Talking to his peers, colleagues, manager and staff about him. Meeting them simultaneously, to compare answers in a bizarre "Mr and Mrs" style test. Interviewing members of the public with vehement, not always accurate or well informed, opinions of him. Writing a report, at the end of the 2 days, which will have huge implications for his future prospects, pay, status at work, self respect, sleep pattern, ability to turn up to work smiling, and general wellbeing.

I write this in the half-time "break" of an Ofsted inspection, and everything I mention above is directly derived from something I have experienced, yesterday or today, or anticipate tomorrow.

Well said!!

[Mutton Geoff]

And now they got the figures wrong with the spending on the Academies, so that RE, History and Maths the Twat knows nothing about!

[potatomato33]

Went to primary and secondary school in Singapore. 8am - 3pm for primary, 7am - 5pm (extra curricular activities included, if not 3:30pm) for secondary. High school in NYC had a similar schedule, 7am - 6pm (including footy team practice, 3:30 if no extra curricular activities included). Throw in 2-3 hours of homework and studying and it was a very long day. Being in the working world now, I don't know how I managed to maintain all that energy when I was younger...

[boots]

The bloke is the epitome of a slimy toadlike self serving politician. God who votes for these people?

Part of being a child is the free time to explore and play. I'm surprised he hasnt put forward a motion to enslave the little tykes into some workhouse or another.

Its the 19fucking80's and thatcherism all over again. The guy gives me the creeps.

[CornerFlag]

He really is a horrible little cuntknuckle.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22841266

New-look tougher GCSEs revealed
By Sean Coughlan
BBC News education correspondent

New-look GCSEs for schools in England are to be unveiled, with exams graded from eight to one rather than A* to G.

From 2015, GCSEs will move from coursework and continuous assessment to exams at the end of two years.

There will be an emphasis on more rigorous content, such as making sure that pupils studying English read the whole of a Shakespeare play, a 19th-Century novel and more poetry.

But there is no sign of a change in name to I-level as had been suggested.

The format though may be familiar to anyone who once took O-levels.

Wales and Northern Ireland are keeping GCSEs, but so far are not adopting the changes proposed for England.

The changes to GCSEs in England will be presented on Tuesday in two reports. Exam regulator Ofqual will explain how the exams will be structured and ministers will give details of the course content.

The reforms will initially apply to a group of core subjects - English language and literature, maths, physics, chemistry, biology, combined science, history and geography.

Hundreds of thousands of pupils will begin studying these revised GCSEs from autumn 2015 and the first candidates to take the exams will be in summer 2017.

Apart from exceptions such as practical experiments in science, there will be a strong push towards exams being taken at the end of two years, rather than in individual units during the course.

Grading will be numbers rather than letters - with eight at the top and one at the bottom. The pass mark will be pushed higher, with claims that it will be pitched at the level of the highest-performing school systems, such as Finland and Shanghai, which have topped international rankings.

The new GCSEs will push for a more stretching, essay-based exam system, reminiscent of O-levels, taken by pupils until the late 1980s.

In history there will be more essays and fewer short-form questions and the removal of a controlled assessment.

In English, responding to concerns that pupils were only reading chunks of books, there will be a requirement to read whole works and an expectation that pupils will study a wider range of of writing from different eras.

Maths will promote the idea of developing independent problem-solving skills, rather than setting types of questions that can be rehearsed.

This is the latest stage in Education Secretary Fuckwitted Pob lookalike Michael Gove's drive to reconfigure the exam system.

Last year, Mr Gove announced plans for the scrapping of GCSEs and their replacement with English Baccalaureate Certificates, with each subject to be set by a single exam board.

This re-branding was scrapped and instead GCSEs were to be retained but reformed.

These latest plans will be put out to consultation over the summer, with a timetable that will see the exam boards preparing to produce courses that can be accredited by Ofqual to be taught in schools from autumn 2015.

These changes are for exams in England. The prospect of different forms of GCSEs in Wales and Northern Ireland has raised the question of how they will be distinguished from each other.

It had been suggested that in England the exam could be re-branded as I-levels, but this is not expected to be adopted and it is believed that so far no name change has been decided.

[Circa1892]

"There will be an emphasis on more rigorous content, such as making sure that pupils studying English read the whole of a Shakespeare play, a 19th-Century novel and more poetry."

Why the fuck should they have to do a 19th Century novel?

We studied To Kill A Mockingbird for ours a decade or so ago, what exactly do 19th Century novels have to tell people that 20th don't? Nothing against the 19th century, but it seems unnecessarily restrictive...

[lachesis]

Why the fuck should they have to do a 19th Century novel?

Makes sense to pick a book from the era he's stuck in.

[SP]

Dickensian novels have more to say about the new Tory World Order.

[Red Beret]

I think the education secretary needs this...

[Paronomasia]

For my GCSE English four years ago, I had to read the whole of a Shakespeare play, a 19th-Century novel and lots of poetry. Is that atypical? I suppose just I assumed that's what everyone had to do. We did Macbeth and Wuthering Heights, while other classes in my school did Hamlet and Great Expectations, as well as the GCSE poetry anthology.

[Nessy76]

For my GCSE English four years ago, I had to read the whole of a Shakespeare play, a 19th-Century novel and lots of poetry. Is that atypical? I suppose just I assumed that's what everyone had to do. We did Macbeth and Wuthering Heights, while other classes in my school did Hamlet and Great Expectations, as well as the GCSE poetry anthology.

It's been the same for decades. I think there was an option that schools could teach a Marlowe or Johnson play instead of Shakespeare, but those are probably more difficult to read, if anything.

The move back to exams at the end of two years is really fucking idiotic, typical Tory "I know better, despite all the evidence" gibberish.

[GBF]

one government in, system change, next govt in, system change again...when does it end?! 

[StrikingMidfield]

It's worth more to have a good teacher teach for 10 minutes than a horrible teacher teaching for 10 hours. It's not the amount of teaching that's the problem its the quality.

[Dowling10]

Why more exams? I don't get it. Aren't exams a bit outdated? I always presumed more coursework was the way forward..

[GBF]

Why more exams? I don't get it. Aren't exams a bit outdated? I always presumed more coursework was the way forward..

going back to the "good old days"...the return of the abacus, long division, reading of latin and having everything you learnt in 2 years be decided by a few questions. 

[Red Beret]

Unite to fight.  That's all we can do.