Regular readers of this column will know that much of my focus is on how to improve the status of teachers. Indeed, over the years that I have written for SecEd, we have discussed everything from the portrayal of teachers in the media to the public’s perception of them, from morale to pay.
These themes have usually been chosen in response to ever-increasing evidence that teachers feel undervalued in their role. Morale among teachers is “dangerously low” and has “declined dramatically in recent months”, an NUT survey revealed in January.
In June this year, Sir Michael Wilshaw talked about the “indifferent teaching” that pupils were being “consigned” to, as he raised the notion of a network of “national service teachers” that would improve standards. In 2012, the Ofsted chief also suggested teachers and headteachers “too often make excuses for poor performance – it’s just too hard, the children are too difficult, the families are too unsupportive, this job is far too stressful”.
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