The cart and the horse

I have said to a few colleagues this year that if I went back into the classroom in September, having spent just one year in ITE, I would be a better teacher. Better because a year of teaching about the big theories which have shaped education over the last century has reminded me that I once new them quite well. I certainly remember beginning my career all those years ago with a determination to teach in particular ways and with a sense of which approaches I held with and which I wasn't so sure about.

After eleven years of 'doing it' in the primary classroom though I had become frustrated. Over the course of this year the the reasons for that frustration have gradually become more clear, to the point where I can now say with some confidence that the vacuum of ideas, values and philosophy had alienated me. The current culture in education is one in which teachers are forced to be goal driven. We look at what we are expected to achieve and everything we do is aimed at this.

I can't remember the last time, whilst teaching, I sat down with colleagues and discussed what we collectively valued or believed was important, or established common philosophies as a starting point for curriculum development. I don't think I even heard the word 'Pedagogy' after graduating! Practice was driven by desired outcomes, almost never by beliefs. We look at our eventual goal and say "we'll do x or y to achieve it." We never say "this is what we believe, therefore we'll do x or y". The semantic difference between these two approaches is a small one. The difference in practice is vast. Especially when you consider that many of the goals themselves are being set by someone else and read something like.... 'All pupils must make progress in the (1 hr) lesson,' something any teacher will tell you is in itself a nonsense.

So, I ask, where's the pedagogy? Where are the educational beliefs? How did our profession, which is a wonderful mixture of psychology, sociology, physical, emotional and neurological development lose touch with ideas and become dominated by pragmatism?

What were we thinking??

Let's imagine you, as an employee, were monitored, judged and valued against a set of assessments whose outcomes you had only partial control over. Let's also assume that you were remunerated according to these same outcomes. And let's, for argument's sake, assume that the criteria for these assessments were inconsistent with the realities of performing your daily routines and that they ignored a range of key determining factors, well outside of your control. Now let's add into the mix the idea that others would be using these outcomes to make judgments about you and the quality of your work, many of whom have little or no real idea what you job entails or how your institution operates; and others who once did your job, but not well enough to keep doing it, now use these assessment outcomes to make judgements about you. And finally, just for good measure, we'll imagine that a list was published every year which compared you and your work place against all the others who do the same work.

Now let's imagine that you had the opportunity to choose not to do those assessments. Wouldn't you jump at the chance??? To keep doing your job well, in dialogue with you colleagues about how maintain the quality of your work. Developing from the inside, based on the values and philosophies that you hold dear.

Only 15% of primary schools in England opted to boycott SATs this year. 15%!!! The proverbial spanner was dangled near the wheel, but decidedly not shoved in!