Why bother qualifying to teach?

On 31st July I sent an email to Michael Gove the Education minister:

Dear Mr. Gove,

I have seen reports in several newspapers over the weekend stating that you are planning to allow academies to employ unqualified teachers. As a chair of governors at an academy I find this move concerning.

Over the last 20 or so years moves have been made by Conservative and Labour governments to raise the standards of the teaching profession. And rightly so. The consequence is that now the vast majority of teachers at the school I am involved with (and I suspect most other schools too) are professionals seeking to encourage young people to learn and develop the skills they need for an increasingly uncertain world.

Your latest initiative sends a clear message to qualified teachers “They are not good enough” and their qualification is worthless. Moreover, this idea of yours further knocks the confidence of an already demoralised profession.

Of course why stop at teaching? I have a degree in law (though did not take the professional exams needed to qualify as a lawyer) But why shouldn’t I now be able to appear in court? Is Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke proposing to do the same as you? No of course he isn’t because the professions need properly trained professionals. So why should teaching be treated differently?

Please drop this silly idea.

Today I've received a reply from one of his minnions:

Dear Rev'd Gray
Thank you for your email of 31 July addressed to the Secretary of State regarding your concerns about the employment of unqualified teachers in academies. I hope you are able to appreciate that the Secretary of State for Education receives a vast amount of correspondence and is unable to reply to each one personally. It is for this reason I have been asked to reply.

It was announced on 27 July that academies can employ teaching staff who they believe to be suitably qualified without the requirement for them to have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). The Government remains committed to the importance of QTS as a benchmark for teacher quality and the vast majority of teachers will continue to have QTS which remains the highly respected professional status for teachers. We know that we have the best generation of teachers ever, while the quality of people training to teach and meet the QTS standards is rising each year.

The new freedom recognises that academy headteachers are best placed to make appointment decisions, including on occasions where, in their judgement, a suitably qualified teacher without QTS is the best person to employ. It will enable academies to employ professionals, such as scientists, engineers, musicians, trainers or experienced teachers from other sectors, who are well qualified and excellent teachers but do not have QTS. The highest quality of teaching is paramount to the success of each school and we trust headteachers to employ staff they believe to be well qualified for the job. All schools will remain accountable for the quality of teaching and the publication of school performance data.

Once again, thank you for writing.


Yours sincerely
David Chapman
Public Communications Unit
www.education.gov.uk


The message is very clear, Gove doesn't value teachers as he thinks anyone can teach.

I have two degrees; one in law and one in theology. They indicate that, at the time I was awarded them anyway, I knew something about the respective subjects. But that doesn't mean to say that I was capable of teaching the subject. Teaching isn't just about passing on knowledge. It is about encouraging, enabling, mentoring and communicating. Skills that someone who posseses knowledge doesn't necessarily have.