AS THE major employer of teachers, local education authorities support Sir Herman Ouseley’s call for improvements in initial and continuing teacher training with regard to equipping teachers to teach in multi-ethnic contexts.
The Local Government Association is encouraged that the Teacher Training Agency’s draft standards for induction include a requirement for new teachers to demonstrate a positive response to the multi-ethnic teaching context, but we are not yet convinced that they can be guaranteed to have the tools to do the job when the training providers are not required by the TTA’s criteria for the award of qualified teacher status to cover multi-culturalism and anti-racism in their syllabuses.
Nor are we yet convinced that OFSTED inspection of schools is consistently identifying race equality issues. This has implications for the priority given to race equality in school development plans, and staff development priorities.
The LGA will work with OFSTED, the TTA and the Commission to ensure that teachers are willing and able to develop the potential of all students to the full.
Graham Lane. Chair, LGA education committee. London SW1P