In my family, where my mum, dad and sister are all teachers, we had a special family rule during my two stints as a schools minister. We didn’t discuss education at family get-togethers! Having been a teacher myself, I totally understand the traditional school staffroom temptation to grumble about the government.
As Woody Allen once said, ‘I had a terrible education. I attended a school for emotionally disturbed teachers’.
But this weekend’s Observer suggests that things may now be getting beyond a joke in terms of teacher morale. The NASUWT, the largest teaching union report a survey in which half of those responding said that they were thinking of quitting the profession and the same proportion said that their job satisfaction had declined over the last year. Respected former Ofsted chief, Christine Gilbert was reported as saying that despite the level of teacher professionalism being higher than ever, there was widespread disillusionment in schools.
The Labour government made big demands on teachers – higher expectations of pupil success and progress; tougher accountability through the publication of school performance data; more rigorous Ofsted inspections. It wasn’t just in my family that tensions emerged between teachers and Labour ministers. But, despite this, I genuinely believe that there has been enormous progress in the last 15 years. I taught for 11 years before entering parliament in 1997. I was a good teacher, but today’s teaching profession is much better trained, better resourced and more effective than the teachers of my era were. Furthermore, there has been a change in the way the profession is viewed. When I left Oxford University, people looked askance at my decision to enter teaching. Now, thanks to initiatives such as Teach First and better pay and prospects, teaching has become a graduate career of choice for our brightest and best young people.
It would be immensely damaging for our children and our economic future if this government’s understandable aim to continue the challenge to teachers tipped over into attack and denigration. When Michael Gove spoke last week about the prevalence of privately educated people in positions of power and influence in society, I found myself asking. ‘I see your point, but you’re the education secretary – what do you intend to do about it?’ It was left as a message which has been interpreted by many as another attack on state school teachers.
I have enormous respect for the record of new Ofsted chief, Sir Michael Wilshaw, but picking a row with teachers about whether they are or are not stressed, as he did in a speech last week, wastes time and energy which should be devoted to ensuring that teachers are doing the best possible job.
Labour’s shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg is getting the balance between challenge and respect right. He has cited Sutton Trust research which shows that the difference between an excellent and a poor teacher is the equivalent of a whole year’s teaching. He has promised that a future Labour government would use best practice from home and abroad to drive teaching improvement and he has emphasised the need for teachers to keep training throughout their careers.
No politician should devote their time to defending teachers from high expectations, inspection, accountability and rigour. Our children need a system which demands the best from teachers and supports them to achieve it. But if this week’s surveys turn into an exodus of good teachers and a failure to recruit the best into the profession, it will not be politicians who will suffer, it will be the life chances of children across the country.
—————————————————————————————
Jacqui Smith is former home secretary, writes the Monday Politics column for Progress, and tweets @smithjj62
—————————————————————————————