The accountability system is creaking and driving too much of the wrong type of work; sorting it is a necessary step in addressing workload. This would still leave much to do. Teachers’ contact ratio is currently too high; we exacerbate the problem by providing poor quality irrelevant CPD.
“Building bridges across the chaos… because we are standing on the edge”
We feel closer to the edge than ever before; there are bright spots in the education system but overall it feels stressed, appears fractured and lacks a cohesive national narrative. Insufficient funding is affecting provision for pupils and limiting teachers’ salaries; excessive invalid accountability is creating perverse incentives and fear leading to poor short term decision-making plus there is a woeful lack of retention and recruitment. Dr. Mary Bousted wrote a brilliant article for SecEd that you can read here.
Having provided the necessary click bait in the title; I’m very tempted to write my shortest ever blog by giving the following solution “You must do less marking, as a teacher; demand less marking, as a school leader or parent”. End of; problem solved. Continue reading