NEWS FOCUS

SecEd: On Your Side

Election 2010: Focus on the negatives

Pete

AND SO battle has begun. It is three weeks until the nation heads to the polls on May 6 to vote and the campaign is going to be a fierce one. With a close ballot predicted

Henshaw Editor SecEd

by many, an economic climate that is dominating the debate, and more close to our hearts, a school system that is being kicked from pillar to post as a political football and key election battleground, we can be sure of one thing in the coming 21 days – promises, promises and more promises. We have already seen plenty of pledges from our would-

be education leaders in the past few months, as they fight for the votes of parents and teachers everywhere. This will only increase in the current campaign. Our election special this week (pages 8 to 10) is a

must-read for teachers as we put our readers’ questions on education to all three political parties, but brace yourself for the raft of promises and pledges they give in their answers, as well as a bit of one-upmanship as you would expect from modern politics. Despite all these pledges, the one thing I can promise

you is that whoever wins the election will not adhere to every promise or policy proposal they make during the campaign. We all know this happens every election. With such a close battle ahead, politicians will say

anything they can to win your vote and to win over media commentators like SecEd. And it can easily work. The Conservatives’ tough and ambitious stance on false

accusations and plans to stop the “clawback” of surplus budgets has me nodding in approval, but their plans for technical and free schools concerns me gravely – in fact their obsession with other education systems (Finland, Sweden, Singapore and America) angers me. Labour’s plans for the Diploma qualifications are the

right way forward, while the move to a School Report Card has yet to win me over, and I wonder whether it ever will with its proposed single grade of schools. The Liberals’ Education Freedom Act to limit the extent

to which central government can meddle in schools’ affairs and their aspiration to stop the league tables focusing on the C/D borderline sound good, but as I have said before, their sponsor-managed schools leave me concerned about private sector control of education. So depending on what you and I see as the priorities in

education, it is easy to see every party offering something positive but also something negative. As such, I could not sit here and tell you that I’d be happy voting for any of the three main parties. Perhaps we should decide our vote, therefore, on the

negative policies of the parties. Perhaps this election will see for the first time in years teachers voting for the party that will do the least damage to schools? Would we rather have technical and free schools or

sponsor-managed schools? Would we rather have School Report Cards or reform of the league tables system and whatever that might bring? An interesting way to look at it. Either way, after the election, it will be SecEd’s job, and

the responsibility of the education community as a whole, to hold the victors to account. This of course means, first and foremost, ensuring that

promises are kept. But it also means lobbying and fighting for the winners to abandon the policies that teachers do not believe in and fundamentally disagree with. I pledge now – and you can hold me to this – that after

May 6 we will scrutinise the legislation and policy of the government, whatever hue, and will hold them to account on what they promised us. I pledge now that we will, guided by our editorial board

of practising headteachers and teachers, oppose the policies and legislation that threaten education. Whatever happens in three weeks’ time, there will be

battles ahead of us, to not only ensure promises are kept, but to ensure that some are not.

SecEd

editor@sec-ed.co.uk or visit www.sec-ed.co.uk. SecEd also produces Delivering Diplomas magazine. Visit www. deliveringdiplomas.co.uk. SecEd will run its Election Watch coverage in every issue from now until Thursday, May 6.

www.sec-ed.com

Having their say: Teachers vote at the NASUWT annual conference in Birmingham

Voting for change

Pensions

Teachers described themselves as being “on the eve of battle” at the NASUWT as they vowed to fight to protect their public service pensions. The first motion to be discussed

at the union’s conference in Birmingham urged government to “honour agreements reached on public sector pensions and ensure that decent occupational pensions remain an entitlement for all”. The debate took place amid a

backdrop of what delegates called “openly political” pressure in the media for public sector pensions to be cut in the wake of the economic crisis. The motion, which was agreed unanimously, threatened the possibility of strike action to “challenge any attempt to worsen the pension provisions of teachers”. Dave Wilkinson, a member

of the NASUWT executive, told delegates: “We say to all political parties, this is our line in the sand. We will not allow public service workers, including teachers, to pay for an economic crisis caused by the greed and stupidity of the financial sector.” Brian Cookson, NASUWT

honorary treasurer, slammed the insinuation of gold-plated pensions for teachers, quoting an average of £9,000 for teachers. Mr Wilkinson added: “Be in no

doubt, if the Tories get elected on May 6, they will move to attack our pensions. I’m talking about national industrial action potentially if the Tories get in.” In our election special this

week, Michael Gove, Conservative education spokesman, said he had “no plans to reform teachers’ pensions”. For his full response, and that of the other main political parties, see pages 8 to 10.

Racism

Teachers should not be barred from the profession if they are a member of the British National Party (BNP), according to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). A motion passed at its conference

in Manchester said the union should oppose any attempts by General Teaching Councils to ban people from teaching on the grounds of their membership of a legal political party. The issue has been a hot topic

since a leaked document listing BNP members showed that a number of teachers had joined. The NASUWT has since campaigned for BNP members to be banned from the profession.

6

Over Easter, thousands of teachers took part in debates on some of the major issues in education as the ATL, NUT and NASUWT unions held their annual conferences. SecEd was at all three events and reports on some of the key debates

However, a report by the former

chief schools inspector, Maurice Smith, claimed that there were already sufficient checks in place to stop the promotion of racism in the classroom. ATL member Phil Whalley said:

“I want to make it clear that I find the racist values of the BNP repugnant. We should throw the book at any teacher found guilty of promoting racism. “But what about Christian

and Islamic groups who feel homosexuality is a sin? Should we ban them from their churches and mosques? And what about teachers who vote for the BNP but are not members. Aren’t they just as likely to promote racism?” However, Diana Manville, an

ATL member from Bromley, said she was in favour of banning BNP members: “We need to make a stand, quietly and firmly,” she said.

Licence to Practise

The new Licence to Practise, also known as an MOT for teachers, came under fire by both the NUT and ATL. Jeremy Taylor, from the NUT’s Brent branch, said the licence was based on a “fundamental untruth that our schools are full of failing teachers”. He added: “It is wrong, unnecessary and costly.” A survey of 700 student teachers,

carried out by the NUT, found that more than 70 per cent disagreed with the proposed licence, while 35 per cent said they would have been less likely to start a teaching course if the licence had been in place. Christine Blower, NUT general

secretary, said: “Government can now be left in no doubt that teachers will not stand for yet another layer of accountability being forced upon them. There is no shortage of accountability measures against which teachers are judged, from initial teaching training, performance management and Ofsted.” At ATL, a motion calling for

the union to campaign against the licence was also carried. However, this week, the

government was forced to shelve the Licence to Practise after it was blocked by the Conservatives in

the pre-election “wash up”. But Ed Balls, the education secretary, has made clear his intention to re- introduce the licence if Labour wins at the polls. See page 4, Election Watch, for more.

Lesson observations

The unanimous vote by members of the NASUWT to “reject the inappropriate use of student voice” in lesson observations and on interview panels made headlines over Easter. Less widely reported was a

second motion which slammed the “excessive, punitive and destructive” use of classroom observation by senior managers. The conference heard that

drop-ins and so-called “learning walks” were being “hijacked” by some school leaders as a way of monitoring teachers. The motion also claimed that the increasing use of “drop-ins” by people including governors who do not have qualifications or experience was having a “detrimental impact on the professional standing of teaching”. Phil Kemp, a NASUWT

member from North Tyneside, talked about the increasing incidents of governors, senior support staff or students conducting lesson observations and critiquing the performance of qualified teachers. He said: “I cannot think of

another professional that would allow somebody without a qualification in that profession to sit in professional judgement.” The motion, which was passed,

calls for only those who are qualified, have recent classroom experience and appropriate training to be allowed to observe lessons. It also calls for a national protocol for lesson observations.

Discrimination/harassment

The issue of discrimination against Black teachers came to the fore at the NUT, with a number of delegates telling their own stories of harassment. During a motion that called for

better training for equal opportunity officers and the establishment of a system to monitor discrimination

in relation to promotions, Beverly Sutherland, a member from Birmingham, said: “Far too many Black teachers leave the profession because of discrimination.” Speakers detailed stories of

Black colleagues being overlooked for promotion and excessively scrutinised by management. Herbert Bukari, a Black teacher

from Brent in north London, who works as the area’s equal opportunities officer, said that in one case, 10 Black teachers were all overlooked for threshold. This was despite one of them having been at the school for six years and recently finishing a Master’s. According to a survey by the

Teacher Support Network, 72 per cent of Black teachers have experienced similar discrimination.

Behaviour

Schools should not be penalised for excluding unruly students as a last resort, and parents of disruptive children should be given classes to help them improve their child’s behaviour, the ATL heard. Molly Giles, an ATL member

from Warrington, said teachers needed to find a solution to the “persistent disruption by one or two students that spoils learning outcomes for other children”. She told the conference: “Why

are schools penalised for excluding unruly students? Ninety per cent of our members have suffered disruption in our lessons from individual pupils, and we should have a right to (exclude them).” Following a vote, the union

called for the penalties faced by schools for excluding students to be withdrawn and classes for parents of persistently disruptive children.

Homophobia/transphobia

NUT members called on their union to help counter the “endemic levels of homophobia still existent in our workplaces”. A motion, carried at the NUT conference, called for effective and practical resources to counter homo- and transphobic bullying to be made available, and for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) History month to be embedded in school curricula. Annette Price, from the Amersham, Chesham and District branch, said: “Like it or not, homophobic bullying still exists in our classrooms and in our staffrooms. It affects us all as teachers, and can have a devastating effect on staff and pupils.”

SecEd

• More conference reports can be found online at www.sec-ed.co.uk

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