I started teaching in 1978, as a French teacher in London’s East End. I was 24 years old, full of optimism and had energy to burn. I found my first year tough and absolutely exhausting but I was slowly getting on top of the job by slogging hard and learning from experience. Just like the starry-eyed young people who feature in government recruitment ads, I felt I was “making a difference”.

That bubble has since burst spectacularly and I now have a completely different view of the profession.

I spent my whole career working in London comprehensives, as a middle leader and a NUT rep. Not everything was utopian or even very good about the education system in the 80s and early 90s. Pupils in the areas I taught in were disadvantaged compared to those in leafier locations, and the standard of teaching and discipline varied.

In general, though, sensible management, firm structures of good practice underpinned by the use of experienced teachers to guide and inform others and the inherent support network amongst staff - which was always most prevalent in the toughest schools - ensured a stable and generally peaceful atmosphere.

Then, suddenly, something changed - and teachers seemed less willing to support each other as a result.

Political bandwagon

I cannot put it down to a date or even a year. For once I cannot even blame Thatcher; that would be far too convenient. It was a toxic mélange of various influences from all political directions, not least New Labour’s involvement in unleashing the whole bandwagon of populist timebombs such as league tables and Ofsted.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am in favour of accountability. I have mentored student teachers, observed their lessons, given feedback, suggested improvements and discussed strategies. The process was always supportive and inclusive and the aim was to portray it as a learning curve along which progress would most likely be made through cooperation and guidance.

But things have now become manic. Simplistic observation of bland league-tables has spawned panic, finger-pointing and a completely unscientific and knee-jerk move towards performance-related pay. Lesson observations seem to be predominantly judgmental. Ofsted inspections are preceded by pre-Ofsted inspections and, in some cases, even practice pre-Ofsted inspections. Almost overnight and without any hint of warning, Corporal Jones had been put in charge of education.

Meanwhile the Tories’ politically-driven academisation programme has been pushing forward longer hours, extra lessons, more duties and an ethos, endorsed by many parents, which advocated that kids spent more time at school and worked more while they were there. The effect on the long-term wellbeing of both staff and pupils of this new ‘exam factory’ system is only just being realised and might take a generation to fully manifest itself.

Hijacking the profession

When I retired, I had become weary of the endless grind, the prescriptive lesson plans and the lack of flexibility or scope for exploration. I don’t know anyone who has recently retired who wishes they were still working as a teacher. Indeed, I know several with years to go who envy me.

I can’t blame new young teachers for being afraid to speak up and upset the status quo. It’s tough coming out of university saddled with debt and unable to buy the most modest of dwellings, unless social privilege overrides the new order. Meanwhile, my generation, particularly those who stand up for themselves or others, are squeezed out, often by nefarious means. We are expensive, sometimes seen as reactionary and we don’t always toe the party line.

Increasingly school managers are using disciplinary procedures to get rid of perceived troublemakers. What is staggering is how often such miscarriages of justice occur without the victim’s colleagues standing up for them.

And that, more than anything else, is what saddens me about this shameless hijacking of a profession I once loved. I can accept the motivation of the establishment, but I despair at the attitude of colleagues who see a fellow worker unjustly victimised and who react with silence.

The literal meaning of education is not about indoctrination or force-feeding, it is about enlightenment. There are teachers out there telling the kids about Emmeline Pankhurst and Rosa Parks, but who are too scared to support their own colleagues. There are good people teaching about Galileo, Darwin, Dickens, Peter Tatchell, Mandela and McCarthyism who are not challenging this new authoritarian regime. What does that teach the kids?