I had wondered what might bring about a new blog during this Easter break. I hadn't particularly expected to have two things to talk about, although of course the ATL and NUT conferences were in the diary a while ago. As, it seems, was the closure of Teachers TV. I'll start with that. When I first heard of Teachers TV back in 2006, I was a little sceptical about it. It was one of a lot of new channels that appeared on my first Freeview box, and my goodness there were (and still are) a lot of pointless experiments. But what I thought was an obscure corner of the schedules actually turned out to be quite the reverse. So often, education websites are limited to a subject or an age-range, but Teachers TV had something across every area of the sector, and was growing rapidly. Only TES Connect covered the same breadth of subjects and age-ranges while providing a community for teachers to share ideas and participate. Teachers TV differed from TES Connect, though, by having a specific purpose to raise standards and boost professional development, while also promoting the shared goal to save time for people working in the sector. It's also believed that it saved valuable money on Continuing Professional Development, and it certainly was increasingly frequently referenced on the CPD courses I attended since 2006.
But perhaps the most important thing about Teachers TV was that it was editorially independent from the government. It was a trusted resource, and a big one. It wasn't 'telling people what to teach', and its mix of output struck a good balance between celebrating the hard work and success of teachers and suggesting new ideas and approaches. The DfE pledges to make all the 15 minute programmes available for free, but will now pick and choose what it will continue to make new- if anything, leaving us without the self-renewing video-rich resource bank that was Teachers TV. TES Connect, for all its many positive points, has its flaws and it not quite as immediately accessible in many ways, and lacks the range of chances to see lessons in action visually rather than by reading accounts of them.
For various reasons, Teachers TV helped me a great deal in my early years as a teacher. I had a disrupted NQT year, and my first full year in class actually came after I'd passed the induction. Without the NQT support to provide extra space for creativity and advice on how to deal with the day-to-day aspects of being a class teacher, the programmes on offer helped me out a lot. In losing Teachers TV as we know it, the profession has lost another supportive pillar which shows no sign of being replaced. It is the latest in a concerning approach from the DfE, whereby rapid and straightforward decision-making (a good thing in principle) is being done far too casually in pursuit of a largely cosmetic vision by Michael Gove's department.
Finally, a word on the NUT strike ballot. I see that all it took was a decision to ballot before the phone-ins and media debates all kicked off again. Many of the general principles that apply here are explored in my Holidays post from a few weeks ago, but it's interesting that the NUT feel they've explored all other options but NASUWT don't. Are the NUT just being militant or are NASUWT being pushovers? That's a debate in itself. In the meantime, what is worth saying is that changing the way someone's pension works while they are in service is a dangerous precedent to set and should not be shrugged off as a necessary budget cut. This applies to every job. Teachers do not, contrary to the view of one Radio 5 Live caller the other night, believe themselves to be the only people who should take a stand. I would certainly support anyone who argued the unacceptability of this type of pensions change, regardless of their career. So, now we await the outcome of the ballot. In the meantime, watch Teachers TV while you can- and let's hope TES Connect are able to pick up some of the slack it leaves behind.
And, of course, enjoy the rest of the holiday!
Monsieur Chips
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