so here's the thing. the government have decided to run education as a business and the profit margins aren't good. forget about it being people and the future. you aren't showing a good enough return for our investment so we're going to stick it to you. and at intermediates we're feeling the full force.
what does 1:27.5 mean for me? three technocraft teachers gone. and in order to keep the other three, three classroom teachers gone. that means only foods, fabric and workshop taught because those are the 'core' areas. no more art, music or information technology. so for my school, to keep those three core subjects, that means for the 360 students we have we'll have 10 classrooms because tech teachers are part of the equation. that's 1:36 by my reckoning. a far cry from the 1:27.5 purported by the government...who have never once asked us.
they want to encourage 'quality' education by 'quality' teachers. to do this they suggest we test the bejeebers out of these kids via 'national' standards (which are open to interpretation) and then cut all the resources we have available to help us. this includes funding for teacher aides, access to resource teachers of learning and behaviour (RTLB) and denying the teachers of older students access to a resource teacher of literacy (RTLit). our RtLit likes me so my students get her help.
they also have said the 'quality' teachers will need a master's degree. then they only fund student allowances and loans for four years. a master's programme takes 5 years. and then where is the teacher training component? the bit that gives you practise in a classroom. these people haven't set foot in a classroom for 30 years. i've been in one for 15 years and you would not believe how much it has changed in that time.
fuck you john key. fuck you national government. you have no idea and do you really care?
strong worrds i know. we have been told to keep it all about policies and not about personalities but i find it hard to be neutral. i vote for all the teachers who voted national to go first. you wanted it...you can have it.
