Teachers In This

Many years ago I lived in semi squalor in Brighton, I shared a flat on the seafront with my friend. One sunny day we decided to escape the madding crowds of that seaside town and go out into the country. We got a train to a little town called Lewes. As we strolled through the countryside I told my friend that I was thinking of becoming a teacher. I'd had a couple of ales and I expounded the joys of being a school master in a little village, deep at work in my books, being asked my opinion on things by the respectful locals. I was obviously lampooning the status of a teacher but in my mind it was rooted in reality. Teachers had respect, they had a certain status. I saw this on my flights back to Northern Ireland when the stringent security checks would ask my occupation, in the past I'd say 'student' , 'unemployed' , 'work in a hospital' each time I'd undergo a search of me and my belongings. When I said 'teacher' I was waved through. (Although by the time I'd become a teacher the troubles had ended so that might be a reason).

Over the last twenty years teachers have been reduced in status. The last two weeks have seen the media calling teachers out. It's our time to be heroes, get back to work. Michael Gove, one time Education Secretary, has started to refer to the profession as 'the blob' again. This was his term for us if we resisted any of his wide spread reforms from 2010 onwards. This was a phrase coined by Dominic Cummings who is now a chief adviser to the Prime Minister. The journalist Isabel Oakeshott tweeted on a Thursday that "Tonight thousands of teachers will clap for the NHS. Time for teachers to show the same bravery!"  Taking aside the reality that thousands of teachers are still in schools teaching and looking after children of key workers and vulnerable pupils, this is a fairly common view.

So why has the status of teachers declined. There are a few reasons. One is something I've talked about before, the neo liberal view that we all have agency, the large structures of society should not impose on our liberty. This was vocalised by Michael Gove during the 2016 referendum on the EU when he stated that no one was interested in experts. This ties back to his 'blob' comments too. Both authored by Dominic Cummings who has written extensively on such things.

It is also linked to the changes in education due to the demands of globalisation. A sociologist called Stephen Ball believes that the neo liberal perspective of education is that it can only succeed if it is treated like a business. In a globalised market place we do not only compete amongst ourselves but with other countries as well. The Conservative government in the 1980s deindustrialised the UK so that it could become a service industry - this would mean our economy could compete with other countries, the services we provided in finance and leisure would propel us upwards. Asked on a children's TV show what she thought of pop music Mrs Thatcher said it was very good for the economy. In 1988 the Education Reform Act was introduced, this provided key skills for work. It also introduced coursework and New Vocationalism which meant that women could be skilled up to take part in this service revolution. This led to a marginalisation of working class boys, something sociologist Mac an Ghall referred to as a 'crisis of masculinity' and something we still see in our housing estates and on our streets today.  The Reform Act also introduced competition amongst schools. They had to compete with each other. No longer were you confined to the local school, you could shop around. Like a supermarket. League tables helped parents out. This was carried on by Tony Blair's New Labour government. They gave Ofsted more powers to ensure that schools were meeting targets (they invested more in schools than the Conservatives but wanted results for their bucks) and introduced the academy system which went nuclear under Michael Gove. The idea behind academies initially was to rescue failing schools in impoverished areas. The academy would be run in conjunction with local business money, this would lead to high resources and less interference from LEAs. Under the coalition this was expanded and the ambition was that every school would become an academy regardless of performance or the area.  Large academy chains such as Dixons and Oasis appeared. Michael Gove went further - he introduced free schools. Here parents, businesses, faiths, football clubs, journalists anyone could set up a school. This meant even more choice. Gove then reset how to become a teacher, no longer did you have to go to university and train. Now you could train on the job. Academies had different working conditions and pay. this was to lessen the 'blob' because the 'blob' was heavily unionised. 

The effect of all of this according to Ball is that the role of a teacher was diminished. They became facilitators rather than teachers. They looked at exams and how to pass them. Like any business their eye is on results. Their management sometimes is not academic but business. Results are how things are measured in business. Education became the same. Ofsted is now interested in the customer's experience. Deep dives are carried out in schools, looking at the entire experience of the pupil.

When lock down began many schools had already closed. Mostly because of safety. Because of choice pupils traveled to school from various areas with many other people. Schools are often over subscribed because of formula funding (money for amount of students), corridors are bustling places full of bodies in close contact. But to say they closed is not true. I spoke to a deputy head of a school in West Yorkshire, he has been turning up to work since lock down. Vulnerable pupils and those of key workers are still attending. His school sends out food parcels to those children on FSM who can't travel into school. Another primary school teacher in South Yorkshire tells me they have been doing the same. As has the academy around the corner.  My sister in law is a dinner lady at a school. She's been working throughout the lock down.

The government's concern about disadvantaged pupils missing out on the school experience is not unfounded. Many sociologists would agree with them. Because of material and cultural deprivation many pupils do not have the resources to fully engage in education. They also need the discipline. Parsons said school was part of a resocialisation process. It filled in gaps that families may lack. In other words it provides a social experience, gives rules and boundaries. This may be lacking at home. This is before we look at abusive home environments. Smith and Noble looked at the home environment as far as schooling is concerned and saw that school had a huge role to play in making up the difference. The problem is that in the past people went to the local school. In an age of globalisation and competition this is less likely. It is difficult to get pupils into school. Most schools will operate with disadvantaged pupils who often live near by as they cannot afford to travel to school. The advantaged will stay at home doing remote learning.

So, it is really complicated. The neo liberal approach to education is about choice, this means that schools are now varied places, recruiting where they can. All this is fine until restricted movement and social distancing is the norm.  then it becomes complicated. The media has tried to uncomplicate this by comparing teachers to NHS staff. One stays at home whilst the other bravely fights the virus. Teachers have died but not in the same numbers as NHS staff. Teaching is not as dangerous as being a nurse. The recent EU referendum and VE Day celebrations have made the media see things in the terms of the second world war. The search for heroes continues as it helps with social solidarity. Teachers don't fit the hero bill today.  The economy needs schools open is one view. Children need to go back to school because of social, material and cultural deprivation is another view. Both are credible.

To go back to the initial view. Teacher's are no longer awarded a high social status because they are now part of a blob. Not Michael Gove's 'blob' but one of which he is an advocate. They are part of the business economic global blob.