The Government’s proposed College of Teaching has to be ‘genuinely’ independent to avoid ‘unmanageable proportions’ of work, according to the National Union of Teachers chief.
A report by campaigners describes how the college could work, citing it as having the potential to re-establish teacher professionalism after years of government policy depriving teachers of autonomy.
Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), says the body would need to work with the ‘whole of education’ to create a culture for their own needs and not the government.
Ms Blower said: “Teacher professionalism is today seriously compromised. Government policies have increased workload to unmanageable proportions.
“At the same time they have placed the classroom work of teachers in the rigid grip of Ofsted and its accountability agenda.
“The college will need to be committed to working with the whole world of education – in universities and in schools – to develop a rich culture of professional learning, responsive to teachers’ own needs’.”
“Looking towards the experience of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the NUT will work with other organisations to create a professional body that is genuinely independent of government.”
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and Schools Minister David Laws promised in December that they would fund the college, placing teaching on ‘equal-footing’ with professions like law and medicine.
The publication, which has been released by the campaigners, wants teachers to be responsible for ‘its own professional destiny.’
The college would be an autonomous, voluntary body, independent of government but ‘working alongside it’ and ‘complementing it’.
But more crucially, the college would regulate itself and government standards would ‘become redundant’
Ms Blower claims that there are a ‘range of issues’ to be resolved if the initiative want support from teachers in establishing a College of Teaching.
“The National Union of Teachers is broadly in support for ‘Claim your College’, the initiative aimed at setting up a national College of Teaching in England,” she said.
“The Union supports the College of Teaching as one – though not the only – means by which teachers can reclaim their rightful role as educationalists, with a strong and influential voice on teaching and learning.
“The initiative is in its earliest days and there are a range of issues to be discussed and resolved before there is a proposal that will be able to command the informed support of teachers.”
Image courtesy of SoCal Mak, with thanks.
