Blogs
Our anonymous blogger is a Teach First teacher in an inner-city school. These are their individual views. As children, we battled with my mum over certain “brain foods” she deemed vital. Fish was my nemesis, forcing me to think creatively and come up with various strategies that allowed me to get the nasty stuff down…
As the new school year approaches and over 30,000 new teachers begin their career in the classroom, Katie Ashford gives us the final part in her three part series. Katie is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. The last two posts in this series have talked about…
As the new school year approaches and over 30,000 new teachers begin their career in the classroom, Katie Ashford gives us the second part in her three part series. Katie is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. At the end of summer institute, the prospect of entering…
As the new school year approaches and over 30,000 new teachers begin their career in the classroom, Katie Ashford gives us the first part in her three part series. Katie is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. Every teacher knows that things will never be as…
Katie Ashford is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. Teach First: the teacher training equivalent of a bungee jump; an exhilarating, frightening, all-or-nothing experience that is not for the faint hearted. The six week training period, known as ‘Summer Institute’ is like standing on the edge of…
Laura McInerney was a teacher for 6 years and is the co-founder of Teacher Tapp. These are her individual views. To be a McDonald’s floor manager you have to pass 3 exams; to be a teacher, if trends continue, you won’t have to pass anything. How Michael Gove has looked at the problems of our education system…
Katie Ashford is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. As we all know, being a teacher is tricky. There are so many plates to keep spinning every lesson that sometimes, when we aren’t looking, they come crashing down around us. Is my learning objective clear and measurable?…
We asked Laura McInerney for her views on the rules of education reform. Laura was a teacher for 6 years in London and is the co-founder of Teacher Tapp. Last night I had a dream about a faceless nameless education secretary. In the dream I invited him to watch a play I was directing. The…
This blog post comes from our anonymous blogger working in a secondary school. The other day one of my Year 8 students said something disconcerting: ‘If you’re so smart why didn’t you become a lawyer or a doctor? Why are you just a teacher?’ This ‘just’ has haunted me for weeks. For that little just…
Every Easter the education sector holds its collective breath, waiting for the next politically driven diatribe to be launched from the teaching unions’ conferences. “It’s not our fault”, comes the cry from the unions, responsibility for our actions lies with the Secretary of State and his political meddling. True in part, but such tirades, and…