Academisation.

Today I taught a class that I can only describe as Feral.

In the last year, I have worked in over 20+ Schools within a 40 mile radius of Rugby as a cover/supply teacher. I have finally found a place I like, so i'm chuffed (And in this post I am not explicitly criticising my current place of work) .

However, Something I have noticed has to be discussed.

A lot of the schools I have worked in have been turned into Academies. And essentially, it means they are no longer ran by the local Council, for the benefit of the public and the kids, but ran by private businesses, who tend to own several schools. I even worked in one owned by the Carphone warehouse...

When you turn a public service, such as a school or a hospital, into a business, there's something inherently lost. Perhaps its a duty of care towards its staff or kids, or perhaps its its beating heart or soul.

Whatever the case may be, so many of these Academies are suffering massive turnover of teaching staff. Unhappy with new demands placed upon them, or unhappy with the general attitude these new business led schools give towards them, or just generally angry, so they leave. This is not one school, but practically all of the ones I went into that were turned into Academies.

So what happens when kids are constantly having different teachers?
Inconsistency. Which then in turn, leads to Disinterest. Which in turn, leads to poor behaviour. Which in turn can’t be turned around, because good teachers go in and face this torrent of poor behaviour, and then leave. Vicious circle that seems to be worsening. But who suffers?

The Kids.

I actually find it extremely concerning, and consider the possibility of there being an entire lost generation of young people, I also think when they are older and they realise they were screwed over by the system, not their own ineptitude, you’re going to have a LOT of angry young people. The balance of power has shifted in two ways in our schools. The first, which is technically the most damaging is the transfer of the administration, from public to private, people power to capital power. The second, which is actually the more damaging to those on the frontlines is the transfer of power from the adults to the students. The more teachers leave, the more kids take control of the schools. This happens because when a teacher leaves the worst kids take it upon themselves to wear the responsibility for it as a badge of honour. Thus, good kids are left behind and the vicious circle continues.

 

What is the solution to this? We have an election in May, and after reading up on the policies for schools for all the main parties this is what I’ve found on their official websites:

Labour - Want more qualified teachers, new directors of school standards for local areas, new vocational qualifications
Lib-Dem- Have a petition to stop privatising schools, with 70 signatures, and say they will increase spending into pupil premium

Tory - Securing a good school for every child, ensuring Apprenticeships. Pro academy, pro free school
UKIP - Support free schools, bring back grammar schools, make Offsted sign a petition before they can visit a school, introduce apprenticeship qualification.
Green - Scrapping Offsted, turning all academies back to local council, revitalising the education system

 

I consider the issue to be drastic, and I also think it needs to be fixed and soon before more kids are lost to this system. After a recent rise in profile, I think its obvious to me only Greens offer a solution in their manifesto, Labour seem keen to fix a broken system but make no mention of scrapping academies.

Things need to change, and quickly, before we lose the future generation to this desperate situation.