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Education quandary

'Surely allowing young graduates to teach in London after just six-weeks' training is an insult to properly qualified teachers? You would never have doctors or lawyers trained like this'

Thursday 13 June 2002 00:00 BST
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Hilary's advice

The scheme that drew this yelp of agony is "Teach for London", a plan to fast-track élite graduates into the capital's classrooms by giving them a crash teacher training programme in exchange for a two-year commitment to teaching. And while it might sound flaky to put such sketchily prepared youngsters into tough city schools, the indications are that – if properly done – it could be a boost to schools where teacher shortages are crippling pupils' learning.

The scheme is a direct lift from the US's "Teach For America", which has been successfully putting high-flying graduates in deprived schools from Alabama to Los Angeles for the past dozen years.

These youngsters are often, on their own admission, naive when they start out. But they are smart kids. They learn fast about discipline and classroom management. And they have a commitment to the task that is nothing short of scorching. To talk to them is to imbibe all the fire, enthusiasm and determination that is so often lacking in older, more disillusioned teachers.

So it's not surprising to hear that existing teachers feel threatened by the thought of these shiny new footsoldiers, and want to put up the shield of their year-long post-graduate teacher training. (Nor is it surprising to find that the greatest opposition to Teach For America came from the entrenched forces of the teacher training world.) But there is no natural law that says it takes a year to learn how to teach, and significantly, in the US, three out of four school heads rate their Teach For America corp members more highly than their other newly qualified teachers.

The American scheme has never had any problem getting good applicants – Teach for America looks great on a CV – and if Teach for London can channel the same kind of top-class recruits from universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, London, Warwick and Nottingham, into schools from Hackney to Hounslow, then it will have done a good service, especially as half the recruits are likely to stay on in teaching once their two years are up.

However, there are things that the programme needs to watch out for if it is to get its act together faster than its ground-breaking parent. London businesses need to get behind it fast. Training sessions must be carefully crafted, volunteers must be made to focus hard on raising standards, and solid support mechanisms need to be in place.

Readers' advice

I am constantly amazed at all the new initiatives for keeping warm bodies in front of classes to avoid politically embarrassing figures of the actual crisis. How can graduates be qualified to teach after six weeks?

I am an overseas trained teacher from outside Europe. We are a very desirable stop-gap – teachers are often recruited from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada – but we are paid an unqualified salary, in spite of doing exactly the same job, with the same responsibilities as qualified teachers. Generally we get around £13, 000 for six years' experience. Why not reward dedicated "unqualified educators" with six-week courses leading to qualified teacher status, thereby giving them parity in the job market? They in turn will show loyalty to the system that actively recruits them.

Dee Snook, Telford

I think most of us go to doctors or lawyers because we believe that they know things that we don't, not because they are going to teach us medicine or law, and trainee doctors certainly perform operations and are part of general practices.

When I began teaching in London in 1966, a degree or equivalent professional qualification was sufficient. My only "training" was in coming from a family of teachers and preachers, and what I learnt through observing teachers at work in my own schooling. Around me, full of useful advice, there were many "unqualified" teachers doing a fantastic job with unpromising student material. Craft subjects were frequently taught by real craftsmen and women with years of experience and skill to impart – I recall a needlework teacher who had made by hand, in a former life, silk underwear for Vivien Leigh the actress who appeared in Gone with the Wind.

I think that anyone who wants to enter this demanding and fulfilling job should be allowed at least to have a go, rather than rely on those who, in spite of their training, are half-hearted and discouraged. This is what insults children more.

Mary North, Derbyshire

I taught for 40 years with "only" a degree behind me. My grand-daughter has just finished her postgraduate teacher training, but when I look at what she has spent her last year learning I know I did better to get on with the job than having my head filled with some of the gobbledegook theories that she has been taught.

Don Melland, Cornwall

Send your letters or quandaries to Hilary Wilce by next Monday, 17 June, at The Independent, Education Desk, Second Floor, Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS; or fax 020-7005 2143; or send e-mails to h.wilce@btinternet.com. Include details of your postal address. Readers whose letters are printed will receive a Berol Combi Pack containing a cartridge pen, handwriting pen and ink eraser.

To share your views with other teachers, log on to www.eteach.com and click to get into its Staffroom

Next week's quandary

My grandson, age nine, attends an all-boys school, where sport plays a major role. He is keen and knowledgeable about all sports and spends hours practicing, but is never chosen for a team, which is making him downhearted and putting him off school. (He is brilliant at English, spelling and art.) Should my daughter say anything to the teachers? And should they include some keen but not so good players in the teams?

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