Teachers can’t learn easily

The Irish Independent reported on Tuesday a report has found that up to 500 of 1,400 student teachers have “significant weaknesses in their teaching skills”. Hopefully at this stage those 500 teachers received feedback about their weaknesses so they are now able to take action, resolve these weaknesses and reach their full potential. After all in a constructive learning environment is n’t that supposed to happen?

However I am doubtful whether teachers in general are supported in their skills development. Up till recently most training was provided by the unions not their employers. Teachers can find it very difficult to access training.
The “in service” training days so beloved of working parents focus on the new syllabus not on teachers' personal development. Once a teacher qualifies they need never do any further professional training unless the syllabus changes! Yet our understanding of how people learn and develop is improving all the time. The classroom of twenty years ago is very different to to-day’s classroom.

Imagine you’re a receptionist in a busy firm. You feel you need some additional training, but you have to keep on applying year after year for the training until you get it. Then when you finally get accepted onto your much needed course you’re told, well reception will have to close down while you’re away.
Most people in the business world would say this is just sheer madness. Yet this is exactly what happens in the teaching world.

It gets worse. Teachers are appointed into leadership positions with very limited training. A primary school principal has to lead by consensus –He/she’s a teacher with an additional allowance for being Principal. Consensus is fine until you can’t achieve it then some body got’s to take a decision. Very difficult for Principals under existing rules.

But of course they get loads of support from their Board’s of Management. (All volunteers) Well may be some of them do but again there is no comprehensive training programmes for Boards of Management. This is why we’re beginning so see so many awards against Boards of Management from student expulsions, to traveller and teacher discrimination. It’s why the under performers (present in every profession) are not managed effectively.

How can we have a positive continuous learning environment when the people responsible for delivering this get so little support?
With the existing environment the headline should read it’s amazing how much our teachers achieve rather then they’re not up to the mark.


Keywords
teachers learning
continuous learning
skills development