tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post5996039180300201801..comments2024-03-14T02:53:31.171+00:00Comments on Tom Bennett's School Report: The elephant in the classroom is behaviour- until we fix that, nothing else mattersTom Bennetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03211959016018081924noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-30974061608383380982011-09-13T13:40:42.153+01:002011-09-13T13:40:42.153+01:00Ah, if only the voice of the chalk board were more...Ah, if only the voice of the chalk board were more valued- anyone would think that the heads of teachers were filled with dust. <br /><br />It's a pity that sense is overlooked for the 'I clearly know better'. Just because everyone has an experience of it the door is opened for judgement by those who forget that this is a trained for vocation where skill and knowledge is required... where is that reverence and respect for people who still fight this good fight for our youth who deserve people to give them a chance and empower them for a future. Why does support come at a cost and from those who think they know better and yet have no experience of the realities of what our young people and our teachers face- young carers, pregnant, homeless, being sent away for cultural reasons, or lacking in any spoken or written English just to name a few. <br /><br />Fighting the good fight- take the punches, stay your ground. Our young need us to care- clearly crazy and stupid- but someone has to do it! Why not us?!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-85931814992865279272011-04-26T19:34:13.174+01:002011-04-26T19:34:13.174+01:00'Because they are allowed to.' Add to tha...'Because they are allowed to.' Add to that because they have to be retrained by teachers on how to behave properly in many cases. In our school we are beginning to think we are three quarters mainstream, and one quarter PRU. Those very few we send to the real PRU get sent back to us pretty pronto!! Luckily many SLT in our school agree with the 'because they can' mantra but it is still a daily battle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-74507762131454477382011-04-25T21:12:08.118+01:002011-04-25T21:12:08.118+01:00You hit the nail on the head as usual.
The bigges...You hit the nail on the head as usual. <br />The biggest problem is that teachers are no longer regarded as professionals, and therefore any Tom, Dick and Harry's opinion is just as valid as anyone with a teaching qualification (for reference look at the couple of twits who posted on the Dream School 7 entry under the name Changethefuture. Barely out of nappies yet they see fit to lecture you and create a 'do things our way' pressure group). <br />Part of this is the fault of teachers as a collective, be it the oxymoron of scientific education research, or the embracing of fads such as Brain Gym, and Learning Styles. <br />Other blame lies at the feet of politicians, who seem to treat education as a political dead horse, the flogging of which is used to gain votes, all wrapped up in tasty sound-bites without actually addressing the problems.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-56514246232252942362011-04-25T17:47:02.246+01:002011-04-25T17:47:02.246+01:00This is an excellent post, and I love the new desi...This is an excellent post, and I love the new design. <br /><br />I like how you've highlighted that teacher's experiences are often discredited. <br /><br />What I'd like to know is what is going to be done with the findings of the union surveys that you've mentioned. <br /><br />We all know the reality, and the evidence is right there, but is anyone going to do anything about it?The Edudicatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17209287614254644135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-90467466971486973192011-04-25T14:47:33.552+01:002011-04-25T14:47:33.552+01:00Ah but, appeals panels are now no longer allowed t...Ah but, appeals panels are now no longer allowed to overturn heads’ decisions any more, the exclusions remain permanent – so goes the propaganda of Mr Gove’s dazzling reforms. What journalists fail to notice when they publish the latter is the fact that schools will be responsible for funding the provision of kids that they have excluded – since they may well end up in PRUs, this will be eye wateringly expensive. I can only imagine that, as budgets are stretched, schools will be even more disinclined to exclude – this being a function of financial constraint as opposed to an improvement in behaviour – not that this will prevent Gove from puffing his chest out in a couple of years and claiming that diminished exclusions are a consequence of his reforms. <br /><br />As for your comments on the media – why do I do it, why do I keep looking at the blogs? It’s like pressing your tongue against a mouth ulcer, wobbling a loose tooth, picking a scab – the vitriol and unpleasantness directed towards the teaching profession has reached new heights; the Telegraph blogs are amazing in this respect, (unless your name happens to be Katherine Birbalsingh, in which case you’ve ‘lifted the lid on education’, ‘told it how it is’, give me strength. Apparently it’s ‘middle class Guardian readers’ who object to their children being disciplined in the classroom – ‘Arabella, Quentin why can’t you follow Wayne and Chelsey’s good example and get on with your work.’). <br /><br />I’m almost glad the Easter holidays are at an end so I can go back to work and be....let me see: under-qualified, lazy, in possession of too many holidays, gold plated pension hugging, left-wing, trendy, liberal, guardian-reading, oh, and incompetent. At least I won’t have time to read the crap put out by people whose sole qualification to comment is that they went to school once.PogleWoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06385834481358495541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-63812509776803702172011-04-25T09:45:05.031+01:002011-04-25T09:45:05.031+01:00@ Poglewood
Yes, the equation has always seemed f...@ Poglewood<br /><br />Yes, the equation has always seemed fairly straightforward to me, and remains so: there are a tiny minority of children who choose to disrupt lessons. For their own good they should be removed and given different provision, because if they are allowed to remain then everyone suffers- the teacher ages visibly, the class receives a damaged education, and the pupil obviously doesn't get the handling they require.<br /><br />The next problem this encounters is that we don't have a substantial alternative provision for these children. Internal Units, PRUs etc are often a stop gap measure. Anything that could make a difference to them would cost money. And that's where the argument runs out, because there's no appetite for that. Which means that schools are forced, if they care about the educational well being of their children, to either exclude permanently (which is an imperfect solution, but often a necessary one) or include (which is almost always an awful solution for everyone).<br /><br />Glad you liked the illustration. TTom Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03211959016018081924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-59119591950192204812011-04-25T09:36:48.005+01:002011-04-25T09:36:48.005+01:00@ Byrnesweord
Thanks.@ Byrnesweord<br /><br />Thanks.Tom Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03211959016018081924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-33786640429127629342011-04-24T22:23:31.634+01:002011-04-24T22:23:31.634+01:00‘Because they are allowed to’ – absolutely.
I thin...‘Because they are allowed to’ – absolutely.<br />I think people forget the extent to which kids are active decision makers. They wouldn’t tell a policeman to f**k off in the street because they know they’ll get pulled for a public order offence. They probably wouldn’t say it to someone a lot bigger because they would fear physical retaliation – thereby emphasising that they know what they do is offensive. Yet, in schools kids exhibit offensive/aggressive behaviour, because they know that they’ll get away with it; at worst they might get a day off and have to say ‘sorry’. It’s a mystery to me why the laws of consequence seem to be suspended in schools. If I go to a Doctor’s surgery, hospital, Burger King, the post office etc, I see signs up on the walls informing me that offensive behaviour won’t be tolerated and that Police will be called and I’ll be jettisoned from the premises. Again, if this obtains in the rest of the world, why not schools?<br /><br />In my school, and it may be the experience of many, (I wouldn’t presume to know for sure) it’s certainly the case that there a very few key players who bleed the life out of opportunity for the rest of the kids. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that 95%+ of the kids I encounter are biddable and generally co-operative. Sure, some kids push at the fences like little velociraptors – but that’s their job, they’re kids and they can be dealt with. It’s the 2 or 3% hardcore, serial disruptors that, it seems to me, are beyond the capacity of mainstream schools to deal with. Invariably its parents at the root – I never see parents of the worst behaved kids at parents’ evenings; but that’s a cause and schools should be empowered to deal with the symptoms. What’s the answer? Maybe give schools the right to remove a tiny percentage of their intake every year to the local PRU; no appeal, no fine – in practice this might amount to 4 or 5 kids, enough to make a significant difference because the next in line would be looking over their shoulder. I’m tired of hearing the mantra that schools are failing to engage such kids and if lessons were more inspirational’ they’d behave; this is crap, they come locked and loaded and ready to disrupt. The sad thing is that such kids have made their life decisions and look to affirm them by bringing everyone down to their level. Who are the adults? Who is more culpable – those who habitually disrupt or those legislators/educators who fail to acknowledge the fact or enact intelligent strategies to deal with them? <br /><br />Still giggling at 'child-centered nutrition'.PogleWoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06385834481358495541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-65830132522388229572011-04-24T21:53:46.657+01:002011-04-24T21:53:46.657+01:00Superb Tom! Agreed with all said and enjoyed the v...Superb Tom! Agreed with all said and enjoyed the vigorous and earthy language. Would only have added how increasingly bloated,divorced and disabled Senior 'Management' in schools have become and why.<br />Cheers HarveyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3019828684971971203.post-26436736852249411092011-04-24T19:56:09.194+01:002011-04-24T19:56:09.194+01:00An astonishingly well-argued, internally logical a...An astonishingly well-argued, internally logical and enlightening tour-de-force. I must admit that my own knowledge on the matter is fledgling, but this insight is invaluable. A masterful piece of writing.Byrnsweordhttp://byrnsweord.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com