In the days of the 11+ the best schools would cram, they would have pupils practicing the tests over and over again. The tests were supposed to be secret, so where did they get their questions? he answer was that teachers would copy them from the set ones to be spirited duplicated to make the practice copies. If you asked if this was cheating they would tell you, "of course not, these children are the most intelligent, but we try to ensure there are no accidents.
Today there are more accusations of cheating and nobody is at all surprised. Teachers used to be regarded as professionals, pillars of the community and people who could be relied on, but they don't match that description now.
Anyone who has worked in a factory would know just where they are in a modern school. There is someone at the top who you rarely see. Perhaps Ofsted serves that role. The factory was run by foremen or chargehands. These were not necessarily the brightest but they were the most ambitious. They tended to be authoritarian and were often humourless and given to profanity to get the work done because, after all, they were paid to get results.
Walk into a headeacher's office and you'll probably meet a foreman, someone who's job is to get results. A headteacher, you will find, can be as cynical about his results as the foreman could be about his. Many of us have driven a Friday afternoon Ford.
Work in progress
No comments:
Post a Comment