N U T conference 2008 The Easter miracle
A personal view from Derek McMillan
I thoroughly enjoyed NUT conference. Bill Greenshields’ presidential address was inspiring with its emphasis on the class basis of British society and his more-or-less unflappable demeanour made for a well-organised conference. Sometimes his avuncular chairmanship put me in mind of an uncle from my youth, Joe I think his name was.
The way the conference worked, the Executive Priority motion meant most calls for action were ruled out of order. This gives the National Executive an enormous opportunity to display flexibility. With an apparent left numerical majority on the Exec (depending on how you calculate these things) they must prove to be our flexible friends and not the government’s.
On Sunday on the tram there was a lot of talk about the Jerry Glazier Easter Miracle where Jerry apparently saw the light on the road to Damascus and ended up agreeing with Martin Powell-Davies on the need to link action on class size, workload and pay together.
After the Classroom Teacher http://www.classroomteacher.org.uk discussion on Sunday I look forward to April 24th and recruiting new activists from the first-time strikers who will be involved. The classroom teacher flier will be available for people to download and print out
The WSTA delegation had a gender balance of 7:2 which reflects the gender balance of the union. Other delegations can do likewise and perhaps the National Executive too.
We recorded our thoughts on the conference blog http://wsta1.org.uk from which you will see that two first-time delegates who are supply teachers were moved to see the consideration the union is giving to their plight.
I thoroughly enjoyed NUT conference. Bill Greenshields’ presidential address was inspiring with its emphasis on the class basis of British society and his more-or-less unflappable demeanour made for a well-organised conference. Sometimes his avuncular chairmanship put me in mind of an uncle from my youth, Joe I think his name was.
The way the conference worked, the Executive Priority motion meant most calls for action were ruled out of order. This gives the National Executive an enormous opportunity to display flexibility. With an apparent left numerical majority on the Exec (depending on how you calculate these things) they must prove to be our flexible friends and not the government’s.
On Sunday on the tram there was a lot of talk about the Jerry Glazier Easter Miracle where Jerry apparently saw the light on the road to Damascus and ended up agreeing with Martin Powell-Davies on the need to link action on class size, workload and pay together.
After the Classroom Teacher http://www.classroomteacher.org.uk discussion on Sunday I look forward to April 24th and recruiting new activists from the first-time strikers who will be involved. The classroom teacher flier will be available for people to download and print out
The WSTA delegation had a gender balance of 7:2 which reflects the gender balance of the union. Other delegations can do likewise and perhaps the National Executive too.
We recorded our thoughts on the conference blog http://wsta1.org.uk from which you will see that two first-time delegates who are supply teachers were moved to see the consideration the union is giving to their plight.
posted by classroom teacher at
07:13
4 Comments:
Excellent. You're united on the class basis of British society. Your delegation's gender profile matches that of the wider NUT, although I'm sorry you don't appear to be monitoring the race and sexuality profiles.
Now all that remains is to find out why State education is so poor.
One of those remarks which sounds very clever until you question its factual basis.
The rich can afford a private education and their children get smaller class sizes. And then deride state education.
I was born into a poor (single-parent) family. I had an excellent State education, and now I'm not rich but I'm not poor either.
I sent two sons to State comprehensive and realised that they weren't getting the same quality of education that I got thirty years back.
If I'd been born thirty years later to the same poor mother I'd be in trouble now. Grammar school was the key. I pity any bright child born to a poor family now. The abolition of the grammar schools (not coincidentally by public school lefties like Crosland) stopped social mobility in its tracks and was the first great betrayal of the British working class by the Labour Party.
There have been others since.
When I was at school we looked down on the local public school as being "for thick rich kids". My old school, now comprehensive, has only
just come out of special measures. It's no coincidence that the public school down the road takes twice as many kids as it did in grammar school days.
I sent my third son private. Poor parents don't have that choice.
State education is poor in some areas due to a variety of causes -
bad management, lack of parental support, large class sizes, anti-academic culture, boring curriculums, government red tape and over worked teachers are all factors. Rather than harking back to 'the good old days' (for some) of selection, why not look for solution to these problems.
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