Why would anyone want to be a teacher nowadays?

dingerone: It amazes me that some people still want to be teachers, despite the following list of items that make it more and more difficult to generate any enthusiasm for the task of actually teaching. No improvements in salary for the foreseeable future. Pension contributions increased. Lower benefits. Increased working life. The chaos around Curriculum for Excellence. The introduction of National exams. Interference of all sorts of groups (unqualified) in the school curriculum. The role of the “new, improved” HMIE (Education Scotland) and its reports. The proposed “MOT” for teachers every five years or so. The abolition of the chartered teacher scheme. The rising anxiety of headteachers and their attempt to overcome by micro-managing anything that moves. The changing kaleidoscope of initiatives to motivate the young and bring about teacher “accountability” - for example Learning Journeys and associated red tape. And this list was just off the top of my head. The reader will have noticed that very little in this list has anything to do with actual teaching. Is it not time that teachers (not practitioners) stood up and fought back against this tsunami which is ruining the morale of those charged to educate our young people?

Mrs RuckSack: It’s no better in any other job.

Airy: Has it not always been like that?

Si N. Tiffick: I’d love to be a permanent teacher if only the naysayers and moaners would push off and let those of us desperate to get a foothold in.

www.tes.co.ukscotland.