Posts Tagged teacher training
Teaching the teachers
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Education, Politics on 22/11/2010
On Wednesday, the Government will publish its white paper on the future of state education in England. The reforms proposed are wide-ranging, but one is particularly welcome; the reform of teacher training.
Short-selling our most precious assets
Posted by Anastasia de Waal in Education on 16/03/2009
Over the last decade the government has made a number of attempts to revolutionise the teaching profession, some less successful than others. The most recent proposition is particularly questionable. The plan is to implement a ‘fast track’ teacher training course, in which candidates are fully trained and working in the classroom within six months. As if this was not controversial enough, it is said to be geared towards ex-City workers. Read the rest of this entry »
The end of the B.Ed: one step forward or two steps back?
Posted by Anastasia de Waal in Education on 02/03/2009
Rumour has it that the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) is facing the axe. According to the Times Educational Supplement, university education departments are claiming that the government is planning to ‘kill off’ undergraduate teacher training. Whilst the claim has yet to be confirmed, it has brought a pressing matter to the fore. Since the inceptions of the graduate training routes – the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, Teach First and the Graduate Teacher Programme – the B.Ed has been in decline. Criticisms of the three-four year-long B.Ed revolve around three perceived weaknesses, the first arguably more valid than the others. Firstly, that their current failure to attract the most able students; secondly the perception that they are not cost effective; and thirdly, that the B.Ed ‘only qualifies you to teach’. Given that it is a teaching qualification, this latter criticism in particular, seems somewhat misguided, writes Emily Dew.
IPPR’s school prescription: more management
Posted by Nick Cowen in Education on 07/05/2008
IPPR’s latest report, ‘Those Who Can’, accurately highlights many of the new pressures that are now impacting on teachers, including a greater demand for skilled school leavers in the economy, changes in family structure and even artificial pressures generated by political agendas. The funny thing is their solution for dealing with these pressures is not the common sense approach: to set teachers free from these bureaucratic and political demands so that they can deal with the genuine needs of children. Quite the opposite!