THE FUTURE OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION

Conference believes that the educational needs of children and young people can only continue to be met if teaching remains a full graduate status profession. Conference rejects Government proposals for a ‘two tier’ teaching force.

Conference believes that the Government has failed to set out a programme for supporting and enhancing the role of qualified teachers and that many features of its policies pose a threat to the future of the teaching profession, including: 1. a failure to trust the professionalism of teachers; 2. a curriculum that does not allow teachers to use their skills, with an approach to learning that is increasingly designed to undermine the professional expertise of teachers; 3. the failure to tackle the causes of teachers leaving the profession; 4. a schools funding crisis, which has triggered a major reduction in the number of teaching and support staff posts; 5. legislation which allows persons without teaching qualifications to undertake teaching work and to teach whole classes; 6. the denigration of qualified supply teachers whose role it is to provide cover and a complete failure to respond to the professional needs of these teachers; 7. a failure to fund schools sufficiently such that there are enough support staff to undertake administrative and clerical tasks from teachers and provide support in the classroom; 8. the downgrading of teachers’ continuing professional development and the slashing of programmes designed as an entitlement for teachers; 9. increases in class sizes; 10. a failure to enhance all teachers’ access to technical support and the latest developments in ICT.

Conference further believes that the Union must continue to protect and promote the status of the teaching profession. To this end, Conference instructs the Executive to draw up a charter for the future of the teaching profession, which would focus on: a. securing legislation which guarantees an ‘establishment’ of qualified teachers in each school and which requires local education authorities and other employers to ensure that there are sufficient additional qualified teachers to provide cover to ensure: i. sufficient qualified teaching staff to enable PPA time to be provided for all teachers within the school timetabled day; ii. a maximum weekly limit on teaching of 22.5 hours for all teachers and for a limit to the teachers’ working week of 35 hours; and iii. mandatory limits on class sizes in Key Stages 2-4, in line with Union policy; b. the need to tackle teacher shortage by addressing its root causes; c. the need to increase the opportunities available for people to become fully qualified teachers so that the teaching force increasingly reflects the population of this country. d. the need to develop proper career structures for classroom assistants, including opportunities to acquire full professional status for those that want to. e. the need to provide sufficient resources to enable all schools to function effectively, with schools in the most challenging circumstances receiving enhanced levels of support; f. securing for teachers the ability to exercise autonomy and creativity in terms of the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; g. highlighting the importance of professional development to meet the needs identified by teachers themselves and which is properly funded and accessible by all; h. the importance of creating a ‘high trust’ culture in education, with school self-evaluation and teacher assessment of pupil achievement at its heart; i. ensuring that teachers are at the heart of innovation in teaching and learning, professional development and research; and j. ensuring that every teacher is provided with a laptop.

Conference instructs the Executive to: A. develop, as a top priority, a campaign to achieve the objective set out in the charter, focusing on the Governments in England and Wales, the National Agencies, OFSTED, Estyn, local authorities and other employers and schools; B. link the campaign with the achievement of Union policies which would ensure improvements in teacher supply, salaries and conditions of service; and C. approach other teachers’ organisations and other campaigning organisations to seek support for these objectives at national and local levels.

Conference congratulates those members who have participated in Union action against the Government’s ‘remodelling’ agenda.