Hugh Reilly: You'd think staff rooms were full of Aristotle-mad Luddites

Published on Friday 20 November 2009 21:46

IF ONE were to believe the hype, a new breed of teacher is required to deliver the Curriculum for Excellence.

Old sweats such as yours truly are apparently incapable of being part of a flexible, creative and learner-centred teaching profession. Anyone reading the government's rationale behind the review of teacher-training would think that Luddite doddery dominies are teaching kids using the didactic method favoured by Aristotle.

Laugh? I almost tossed away my chalk and writing slate. The majority of classroom staff are readily embracing the latest changes; after all, much of the new curriculum is nothing more than reinforcing current good practice. Like any workforce, however, there are those resistant to change and devising ways out of the profession might be a more cost-effective way to ensure enthusiastic implementation of the new curriculum.

In my opinion, initial teacher-training has improved a great deal. Longer placements in schools mean more "on-the-job" training and less airy-fairy theories with no practical purpose. A weakness, however, is the present lack of formal supervision and mentoring of student teachers who are left to sink or swim in the classroom.

I hope Graham Donaldson, the man charged with leading the review, makes recommendations to end the misery felt by many newly qualified teachers when their probation year ends and a trip to the Benefit Agency beckons. Each year, the teaching profession haemorrhages highly skilled individuals who could be making a difference in the nation's classrooms.

A key aspect will also be to evaluate the quality of in-service courses offered to classroom staff. While much of it can be very interesting and can improve learning, too many chalkies have horrific tales of being compelled to sit through the musings of an education guru who fled the classroom years ago.

I am certain Mr Donaldson will call for a complete overhaul of continuous professional development (CPD). In my experience, the majority of teachers are interested in developing their knowledge and skills, but some establishments pay lip-service to ensuring that CPD is carried out by practitioners. I think the greatest challenge is for older teachers to learn to "let go" and happily accept that they are not the font of all knowledge. Child-centred education, eg where Sir provides materials for the pupils to read and evaluate, empowers the learner but also places on young shoulders much of the responsibility for effective learning.

The teacher-as-facilitator model works for me although, perhaps due to institutionalisation, some pupils still hanker for a return to the simple life when copying from a worksheet was all that was expected of them.

Just tickle the tummy of a teaching old dog and he'll endeavour to learn tricks.