Saturday, December 11, 2010

Scottish Council of Economic Advisers report shows how out of their depth they are on education, it isn’t a business and it’s highly regulated














Dear All

Teaching and having the ability to teach takes times because people have to find the best system that works for them rather like driving, you attain test standard then find your feel for it.

When I started teaching fitness in my youth I was lucky I had spent years prior to that studying in depth my subject.

And when the day came I was asked to teach I slotted into it no problem, teaching isn’t just about spouting facts it is about pitching it at the right level for the student.

Too little or too much can leave the student confused so to be effective know your audience!

When I was teaching fitness at the human rights abusing Glasgow University, it was a desert in the field I was teaching in.

And there was no competition either because my ‘competitors’ weren’t interested or any good.

A new report has come out that incompetent teachers should be sacked.

To do this the Scottish Council of Economic Advisers (SCEA) wants to use a performance management system employed in the business world.

This way under that system any teachers with poor skills would get the chop.

Unfortunately the Scottish Council of Economic Advisers (SCEA) doesn’t seem to understand what the nature of teaching is and how it impacts on the student.

The report recommends the development of metrics to measure teaching standards “to improve the quality of education in Scottish schools in cost-effective ways”.

Adding:

“The quality of teachers must be measured, good teachers must be recognised and rewarded and ineffective teachers must leave the profession.”

The Scottish Council of Economic Advisers (SCEA) also doesn’t understand that the purpose of teaching is not just to pass tests like a battery hen but to get the student to develop the ability to think and analysis.

The key aspect of education!

The SCEA should mind their own business and not trouble themselves with things they patently don’t understand.

If the Scottish Government has any sense this report is straight for the bin.

Teachers’ leaders have pointed out that Scottish education is already one of the most highly regulated in the world, with high standards supported by the regulatory body, the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).

A spokesman for the Educational Institute of Scotland said:

“Scotland already has one of the best-qualified teaching professions in the world, and all teachers in Scotland are held to a particularly high set of standards of competence and professionalism by the GTCS. All teachers must be degree-qualified and new teachers must pass through a probation scheme that is one of the most advanced and respected in the world.”

Teaching is far too fluid a discipline to be subject to business practice because the teacher has to interface with students some of whom aren’t receptive.

Not every student wants to excel some are just happy to scrap by, a bit like some political branches in the city of Glasgow.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

1 comment:

Lowly teaching serf said...

George,

On Newsnight Scotland last night, three experts were saying exactly what you said in your blog posting. Did you see it? I like this blog, you really are on the pulse quite a lot of the time.