Boom in Tuition Industry!

[mystery]

I'm not sure we have ever given teachers high status have we? Or expected amazing standards across the curriculum? A relative of mine taught in the 60s in a primary and a secondary modern with no teaching qualifications whatsoever. Or was it better in the decades preceding that?

[Cranleigh]

Before the 1960s when some say the average person of school-age was far more competent in mathematics, for example, than people of school-age today.

[wonderwoman]

Why despair? Would have thought you would be glad they were improving themselves?

They've all been in their twenties, failed at maths for whatever reason in school, and now really want to get the qualification so they can work towards the career they want. The man I'm tutoring at the moment spent all 5 years of secondary school in set 6 of 7 for maths. He just got a B in his first module, and clearly has so much potential. It sounds like you'd rather write him off like his school did.

I love teaching adults, they are so hard-working and determined.

I would not write them off - I have no problem with adults continuing in education, I do that myself. But perhaps they should not be aiming to be a primary teacher. The person I quoted as wanting to teach KS1 would probably make a fantastic music teacher at secondary school; she is incredibly talented and passionate about music.

Amber has made a much more eloquent case than I could, I agree completely with her post.

A primary school teacher's expertise should be in teaching those basics upon which a child will build. Perhaps I have just been unfortunate, but the standard of students entering classrooms just seems to be on a downward spiral, punctuated by a few talented individuals. I have at least 2 students to supervise every year. Last year I was very concerned and spoke to the university, because I really felt that the student would not make a competent primary teacher - but she is now a full time teacher, apparently they had far worse students.

[wonderwoman]

Maybe we like to think that the standard of basic maths and English of primary teacher training students used to be higher. There is no reason why it should have been. The man who gets a b now will be more up to date with his maths than a trainee who got their b 6 years ago and hasn't touched maths since. Good for him.

I have no problem with keeping up to date, but don't think this is necessarily true. My DS is just doing differentiation for A level maths, I did differentiation as part of my O level maths course. That is just one example of changes in the curriculum. My grandfather taught maths from the 1930s and retired in the early 70s. He used to moan about the decline in standards too.

I should state that I'm impressed by adults continuing in education in case I get accused of writing anyone off again.

[Amber]

I'm not sure we have ever given teachers high status have we? Or expected amazing standards across the curriculum? A relative of mine taught in the 60s in a primary and a secondary modern with no teaching qualifications whatsoever. Or was it better in the decades preceding that?

The turning point in how teachers were seen was probably the Education Black Papers in the late 1960s, a reaction to excesses in progressive education, which Britain had formerly led the world in but which arguably got a bit out of hand (there was one school, I think it might have been in Islington, which was pretty much held up for national ridicule, and probably rightly so, on account of the wild excesses of 'progressiveness' going on there. Not sure the Daily Mail was around at the time but it would have had a field day). Attention became focussed on the teacher training colleges, many of which were undoubtedly hotbeds of radicalism, and teachers started to be viewed as left-wing radicals intent on overturning civilisation and ringing in a communist state. Which to be fair I think some of them were; and standards were possibly a bit dubious in some cases too. That is a very potted version and I'm relying on memory and poetic licence. But I don't think teachers have really been trusted ever since.

[wonderwoman]

Again I think you're probably right Amber.

My grandfather taught maths and my grandmother taught German and Latin from the 1930s to the early 70s. They had both paid their own way through university and loved their jobs. My grandfather, in particular, seems to have been held in high regard and many ex-pupils stayed in touch for years and wrote lovely letters when he died.

My mother and aunt both followed in their footsteps becoming teachers. My grandfather wrote me only one letter in my entire life (usually granny wrote), it was a long, passionate letter, when I was 17, begging me not to take up a place a university on a teacher training course. He felt that teachers were losing their professionalism, that the government was meddling, standards in education were falling and he thought teaching was attracting the 'wrong type'. He finished with a page of alternative careers. I ignored him of course.