23rd March 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Michael Gove has announced that new standards are to be introduced to assess and monitor the standard of teachers in schools in the UK, the BBC has reported. Gove has previously expressed concern regarding the standard of teaching in some schools, and wants to weed out poor performing teachers. However, the announcement has been met with mixed feelings, as some existing teachers feel that the changes are more about politics than teaching.
Currently there are 102 standards that a teacher must meet to become fully qualified (32 for a trainee teacher). Gove has argued that many of these standards are ‘woolly aspirations’, and do not address the important factors that determine the performance of a teacher. Only two of the standards relate to skill and knowledge of a teacher’s subject, and only two relate to a teacher’s teaching expertise.
Gove was speaking at the annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), and said that he has received support from many head teachers and teachers, and they have said that the current standards are meaningless and ineffective. Brian Lightman, chairman of ASCL agreed, and said that a move away from bureaucratic and ‘fluffy’ standards has got to be a good thing.
The NUT were not so welcoming of the announcement though. Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT said that it is remarkable that each Education Secretary for the last ten years has commented that our teachers are working at the highest standards ever, but they have also sought to reform teaching standards. Blower said that she thought the new standards were more about politics, and less about genuine improvements.