His name is Sir Michael Wilshaw and Micahel Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, has described him as his hero. He has a reputation for being one of the best headteachers in the country and is nicknamed "sergeant major". He has turned around a failing school in Hackney until last summer they had around 10% of their sixth form be offered places at Oxford or Cambridge, including one girl who was a mother at the age of 14. Every lesson at Mossbourne Community Academy begins with the chanting of the school motto, and pupils now study latin. You can understand why Gove likes him, but let's be honest, based on his record so far as Education Secretary, what does he know? Wilshaw made an inner city academy a success, which is a good thing, but can his educational template work in all schools in the country?
The main worry for teachers his comments about "10% of teachers in every school need help to leave as quickly as possible". That's fine, it's no secret that some teachers aren't really up to the job, and I've had a few as colleagues that this describes in my time if I'm honest. The trouble is that there are around 450,000 teachers in the UK, and you don't have to be a great mathematician to work out that Wilshaw is saying 45,000 teachers aren't up to it. Not only is that 45,000 livelihoods in the balance in a worsening economic climate (no doubt the unions' stance) but also, who's going to replace those 45,000 "incapable" classroom practitioners?
I know from personal experience that it takes a while to establish an air of authority in the classroom, an authority that is regularly challenged by "nice" students, but experience in the classroom gives me more ways of dealing with those challengesand hopefully sorting them out, although not always I hasten to add. Presumably the people who are going to replace the "incompetent" teachers are going to come from newly qualified members of the profession as 10% of those who are doing the job are clearly not up to it. I can also say from experience that newly qualified teachers take time to "bed in" snd rely on experienced colleagues to back them up. They also rely on schools discipling children effectively, somethings that's become increasingly tougher during my career.
Wilshaw likes newly qualified teachers though, as he makes them believe that working 15 hour days for no extra money is a good idea. Mossbourne Community Amademy is open early and closes late, as well as opening on Saturdays to give the students a safe and stable environment to do their studies, which can only be commended, but it does smack of Wilshaw taking advantage of impressionable young teachers who don't want to get on the wrong side of the boss. Does Wilshaw really think that burning young teachers out by making them work long hours for little money is the way forward?
What Wilshaw doesn't seem to appreciate is that not all schools are populated with children who come from troubled backgrounds. The school I teach at is populated in part by spoilt middle aged brats who can't wait to get excluded so that they can get good at Fifa 12, something they can't do during the evenings as they are out in big groups intimidating people and drinking cheap cider. Ok, so I'm exaggerating a little, but where Mossbourne's children find solace in school until late or at weekends, students in other schools can't wait to get away.
Whereas Wilshaw's students at Mossbourne see education as a ticket out of what we are told is a downward spiral of poverty and deprivation, the students at lots of schools see education as a meaningless waste of time before they can sponge off their parents whilst getting RSI in their thumbs, or perhaps getting a job in the family business until their family realise that they are essentially lazy and unqualified to perform the functions required of them.
The main worry is that Wilshaw appears adament that it's his way or the highway, which hasn't worked in the past - Chris Woodhead anyone? It's been nice to see that Woodhead had been offering "chip off the old block" Wilshaw some wise advice, although Wilshaw could be described as an "extreme Woodhead".
If Ofsted wasn't bad enough, Wilshaw's ascension to head of the organisation can only make it worse. I fully expect to be forced to grow a small moustache and have to goose-step around the school come our next inspection.
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