Easter always brings the various teaching unions' conferences and with them comes a flurry of stories in the media where the latest concerns of teachers are aired and discussed. This year of course is no exception; we've had "abolish the SATs or we'll boycott them", "raise our pay by 10%," alongside horror stories such as "schools hiring bouncers to ensure pupils behave" or "teachers' mental health damaged by disruptive pupils."
Do these headlines ever do our profession any good?
In my experience many non-teachers fit into one of two (admittedly stereotyped) categories:
1. The "I couldn't do your job" group, who are generally supportive, but are mystified by the idea of working with children.
2. The "teachers don't know what it's like in the real world" group who have little patience for any pronouncements by so called professionals who they regard as having an easy life and wouldn't cope with if they were asked to do a "proper job."
Group one have all their well meaning support reinforced by images of urban war zones and Clockwork Orange classrooms. In this world teachers battle on bravely with Vicky Pollards tutting, cursing and abusing their way through another un-productive day on their way towards achieving inevitable benefits-scrounging single-mum status or becoming an ASBO collecting hoodie hoodlum.
Group two have all their knee-jerk lack of support reinforced by images of lazy weak teachers demanding undeserved improvements in their working conditions. These teachers can't control the yobs and chavs principally because they pander to them due to "political correctness gone mad" (TM), don't believe in competitive sports and wouldn't be able to deal with the commercial realities of work in industry.
So, how do we get our message across in a way which gets real support and perhaps proper action on some of the genuine grievances we in education might have? Whinging sound-bites certainly don't help. Clearly we need to find better ways for parents and members of the community to understand and get involved with what we do every day. Maybe we, and our representatives, should think about public comments in the same way we do about commenting on pupils' work. First look for the positives and successes then highlight the targets for improvement and above all make them manageable and achievable. Perhaps we can gradually bring the public with us and have our profession genuinely appreciated and improved for all involved. Until then Easter will continue to be a time when old arguments are re-ignited and prejudices on all sides are reinforced with no real change being achieved.
"Think like a wise man, but communicate in the language of the people" - WB Yeats
Ironically as I wrote this piece the BBC radio news headlines announced "teachers threaten strike action if funding for sixth forms isn't improved." QED!
Example stories
Mental
Bouncers
Abolish
Rise
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