I see that Maggie Atkinson, the Childrens' Commissioner for England (what on earth is the purpose of that role?), has issued a statement calling for children to be involved in the selection of teachers.
This "initiative" follows on from the results of a survey of 2,000 kids (aged 9-16), which found (how very unsurprisingly) that around 67% wanted a say in the selection process of teachers.
Dr Atkinson is quoted by the BBC:
"Young people are a school's customers, and they see lots of different teaching styles over the course of a school career.
Our research shows that they understand teaching is a challenging job which requires a wide range of skills from teachers - it is not just about their academic qualifications or how loudly they can shout."
Herein lies the problem, children are not "customers" at all. They have no choice but to attend school. The parents, if they have some say in where their child is educated (either via private education or via placing them in a specific state school), are the "customers".
I am afraid that I regard the suggestion of placing kids on interview panels as complete bollocks!
I am of course a middle aged male accountant, and therefore have no understanding of how the "real" world works;)
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Perhaps the silly woman has forgotten that these are children and are not actually experienced in life enough to make such decisions. I suspect they would only want teachers that were very soft, gave little homework and were easy to manipulate and control. It would not be until much later in life that they would understand the "little Hitler" they all hated was actually the best teacher for their future prospects.
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine why any sane adult would want to go into teaching these days.
Kids are kids; let them be kids.
Adults are adults; let them be adults.
How many children were involved in selecting the "Childrens' Commissar" - sorry, "Commissioner"?
ReplyDeleteBeing a slightly older "middle aged" engineer, I too, have little idea of how the world works.
ReplyDeleteHowever I like to think that, given the choice, I would have preferred teachers who inspired me to try harder, and allowed me to experiment, rather than just trot out a standard spiel...
In actual fact I'm lucky that, by and large, this was what I had during my skool days back in the late 60's & early 70's.
"Young people are a school's customers"
ReplyDeleteSilly cow. If this were true the kids could 'spend their cash' by choosing which school to go to instead of being forced to go to the school allocated to them by the LEA!
Another one to cut.
Advice to prospective teachers: make sure to show up for your interview riding a tricycle and wearing a clown suit. Don't forget to distribute candy and prizes at the end.
ReplyDeleteThis idea is a load of b******s! Since we are supposed to be up to our neck in debt, why not make some savings by abolishing the ridiculous post of children's commissioner? When I was at school, I had some very strict teachers, in the days of corporal punishment. Nevertheless, some of the best teachers I had were also the strictest. In addition to imparting knowledge of their subject(s) they also instilled a strong ethos of respect: indeed, even now, years later, I have the greatest respect for them.
ReplyDelete