Speaking in London at the president’s reception last night (Thursday), Kim Knappett said: “Teachers need to reclaim our TIME. We need to stop doing things that have little or no effect on the pupils we teach and start to prioritise our own time – doing tasks that have a tangible impact on students.
“We’ve told politicians teachers are spending too many hours entering data that nobody needs or reads, and that we spend too much time writing detailed lesson plans – not to improve our teaching or students’ learning, but in case someone should drop in and observe us.”
A secondary science teacher of almost 30 years, Mrs Knappett also strongly believes education staff no longer have the space to TALK to colleagues, to share ideas and concerns, and to work out what would work best for students’ learning.
“Many of the solutions to the problems in education could be found if those with the professional know-how, who teach our children and young people on a day-to-day basis, were given the time and space to TALK and were listened to.
“In the past, when you had a challenging pupil in your class you chatted informally over a cup of tea with colleagues and shared ideas about how to get the best from that pupil. When you noticed from informally sharing results that another class has done better than yours, you asked how their teacher had taught that section of the curriculum.”
Mrs Knappett added: “In too many education institutions staff have become isolated by busywork and by the fear Ofsted, performance measures, and league tables, both between and within schools, have created.”
Mrs Knappett challenges education professionals to have the courage to TALK, and challenges politicians to have the courage to LISTEN believing they “just might learn something”.
Talking about the third key theme for her presidential year – TRUST - Mrs Knappett criticised the Government for not treating education professionals as such – professionals who should be trusted to use the information they gain from working with children and to work out what is best for them and their education.
She said: “When I started in the profession, teachers were trusted to do what they knew was best for the enquiring minds in their care. They were free to try new and different ways to get across a concept that they had observed students struggling with, to go off at a tangent, to slow down or speed up depending on the class in front of them. Now we have rigid schemes of work, assessment schedules that mean there is no time for learning to take place before we test pupils again, and marking policies that demand comments in three, or sometimes more, different colours of ink.”
However, Mrs Knappett accepts that teachers should be accountable for children’s learning, and for the public money that is spent. This is why ATL has developed its Vision for Inspection that holds teachers to account, and is supportive and knowledgeable too.
Despite all of the changes and challenges that have happened to education, and all of the barriers that have been put in place to make teachers’ jobs harder, Kim Knappett still believes that every child has a right to learn and develop as an individual within a community. She also believes teachers and teaching assistants are some of the most creative people she has ever met and that they want the best for the pupils in their care.
Mrs Knappett concluded: ”My message to the Government, and those who make the decisions that affect the education framework in which children and young people learn, is this: every teacher, every lecturer, every head and every teaching assistant is an individual – a professional who wants the best for every learner.
“I urge those who make the decisions to give us the TIME to do the work that matters and most benefits our pupils. Give us the space and time to TALK to share concepts, to solve problems, to develop new ideas. And most of all TRUST us – the education professionals - to know what is best and let us get on with the job. We can, and do, make a difference.”