Jenny Gilruth's critics should realise high standards are not bullying

PA

Teachers and politicians share many similar burdens, not least that neither will ever be universally adored. Both must navigate huge responsibilities, an intense workload, and people routinely underestimating the pressures they face. They must mask any hint of private struggles when carrying out their role.

Acting in service to many, while also juggling inter-departmental differences with colleagues, they know that – perhaps no matter what they do – many they work with will simply not like the cut of their jib.

Cultivating an approachable but professional air, with sufficient charm, a streak of good humour, and the ability to keep calm when challenged is no mean feat. I speak from experience.

It’s 12 years since I was a full-time Modern Studies teacher, in a leafy suburb of Edinburgh. But, given my last post was covering a two-year secondment for a woman who now happens to be Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, I think back to my time making her classroom far messier quite regularly.

Jenny Gilruth, former Education Secretary, is now in charge of our nation’s finances among other duties. During her time rising through the SNP ranks – as in her time as a teacher who was swiftly promoted after her secondment – she’s gained a reputation as an effective operator, but also an abrasive one; a strict disciplinarian who can be quick to anger.

Accusations she has bullied staff in her new department have hit headlines in recent weeks, claims made by a civil service insider. These have been dismissed as “baseless” by First Minister, John Swinney. A rumoured email, reportedly sent to all staff by mistake, listing the people she wants removed - along with their perceived failures - has yet to emerge at the time of writing.

Gilruth’s sometimes unpleasant, snappy retorts to political opponents in parliament have regularly fallen foul of online meme-culture and led to public mockery over the years. I’ve nevertheless had twinges of empathy when commentators bring up her reputation as a teacher to further put the boot in.

Yes, Ms Gilruth had exceptionally high standards. No, that is not a bad thing. Yes, some pupils don’t respond well to hot-and-cold temperament in an educator – the unpredictability can be unsettling. But in terms of effectiveness and getting results, that isn’t wholly a bad thing either.

Complaints about Gilruth centre on her – allegedly - finding some civil servants inadequate. We’re not party to the details, or whether those people may deserve such an attitude. Of course, as in the classroom, developing an ability to persuade rather than hector people into following your wishes is always better management than shouting, insulting, or reducing people to tears.

However, as with becoming a teacher or an MSP, being a civil servant is also an important – and far from ordinary – job. While bullying cannot possibly be condoned, it’s an open secret some MSPs and ministers are frustrated with work-from-home lazybones and job-for-life inadequates in the civil service. So are many of us. Oh, for serious jobs to always be undertaken by consistently serious people.

Much merriment has followed the publication in recent days of a column by Ms Gilruth’s former pupil Michael Simmons, now economics editor of the Spectator. He reports she was a teacher pupils often feared disappointing.

But, going beyond the headline, this - once again - isn’t presented as an entirely bad thing. She had high expectations, and kids of a certain type – those who’d go on to become successful editors of a longstanding political magazine, for example – would aim to meet them.

In Simmond’s amusing column, we read of a teacher making “bizarre” off-the-cuff jokes about shin-thrashing the school hockey team’s opponents, and mouthily telling a kid he’s “useless” for ordering the wrong pizza crust during the dinner break of a drama rehearsal. Memorable anecdotes, that paint quite the picture.

But the boring truth is Ms Gilruth was more admired in the school than she was ever feared. I had big boots to fill. That a Modern Studies teacher was so involved in wider school activities, from sports to drama, given many teachers don’t bother a jot with such things, is a sign of someone deeply committed to her pupils.

No teacher is universally respected or admired across the board: that’d be impossible given the range of personalities, interests, and preferences of the well over 100 pupils a typical secondary school teacher will face every week. Ms Gilruth was no different. She also had the most immaculately organised desk drawer I’ve ever seen.

For every kid who fears irking a sharp-suited, strict teacher, are several others intent on meeting high standards and receiving praise. For every teen who warms to the ‘down with the kids’ teacher who doles out high-fives in the corridor, are a bunch of outsiders thinking such a person a mockable idiot.

It’s admittedly some time since I had a boss in any formal sense, but I know every workplace has this dynamic, too. Being liked is not the same as being competent. Someone in a high-pressure role losing their temper on occasion is surely to be expected.

There have been cynical calls for an investigation into the Deputy FM’s alleged ‘bullying’ by Scottish Labour and the Tories. This is entirely unserious, end-of-summer prankishness.

Nobody sensible goes into teaching or politics expecting a smooth ride with no unruffled feathers. In both vocations, you can’t ever be entirely perfect.

I’ve no love for her party, and impatience for her politics. I also see no concrete evidence -despite the headlines - that she’s done anything wrong. So, whether it’s due to former teacher solidarity, or recognition of the double-standards routinely applied to women’s exertion of authority, I can’t help but hope Jenny Gilruth weathers this particular storm.