Should we have more teachers and fewer teaching assistants

[barbiegirl80]

I just feel sorry for the kids. They don't know where they are half the time! I've even had my daughter crying on the way to school, saying she doesn't know who will be teaching them today. One for the headteachers, I think, if any are following this.

[espadrille]

yes, and for kids on the autistic spectrum staff changes can also be a nightmare for them.

[espadrille]

It depends on whether we want a higher quality education or a lower quality one.

Personally I'd like to see a system based on the Finnish model but for that to happen in this country there would need to be a complete cultural change in attitude towards education from everybody concerned.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4073753.stm

 

Funny that. I just mentioned the Finnish model on the thread about kids going to school on their own.

[onetwo07]

Good teaching assistants are great, bad teaching assistants can be a bit of a pain. The number of teaching assistants isn't so much an issue as the variance in quality - that's my opinion as a (still relatively new!) teacher. Having a good TA in a difficult class or a class with a good number of SEN pupils is a Godsend. Having someone who talks at the same time as you or who attempts to impose their own heavy-handed disiplinary touch on pupils (without/despite prior consultation) is not so good...

[Rupert_Baehr]

I think we should have more PERMANENT teachers.. My daughter has had 3 teachers up to now and the last one's just left. They are now sharing the responsiblilty out between 4 teachers on a rota until the end of the term. Not good for the kids I'm afraid. In fact, the teaching assistants have been the only permanent fixture!

 

If you want more permanent teachers, make the job attractive enough to persuade them to take it, then make the realities of the job attractive enough to persuade them to keep doing it.

 

We had a shortage of teachers a few years ago. Graduates were persuaded to enrol in PGCE courses. The supply of newly-qualified teachers improved.

 

The percentage (not just the number) of NQTs leaving the profession within 3 years increased. Why was that?

 

In 2008 (I haven't seen the figures for last year) the number of graduates who started PGCE courses was 9% lower than in the previous year.

 

And that's in spite of a shortage of jobs for graduates.

[espadrille]

If you want more permanent teachers, make the job attractive enough to persuade them to take it, then make the realities of the job attractive enough to persuade them to keep doing it.

 

We had a shortage of teachers a few years ago. Graduates were persuaded to enrol in PGCE courses. The supply of newly-qualified teachers improved.

 

The percentage (not just the number) of NQTs leaving the profession within 3 years increased. Why was that?

 

In 2008 (I haven't seen the figures for last year) the number of graduates who started PGCE courses was 9% lower than in the previous year.

 

And that's in spite of a shortage of jobs for graduates.

 

Is that here in the Uk or in Germany?

[Guest sibon]

If you want more permanent teachers, make the job attractive enough to persuade them to take it, then make the realities of the job attractive enough to persuade them to keep doing it.

 

We had a shortage of teachers a few years ago. Graduates were persuaded to enrol in PGCE courses. The supply of newly-qualified teachers improved.

 

The percentage (not just the number) of NQTs leaving the profession within 3 years increased. Why was that?

 

In 2008 (I haven't seen the figures for last year) the number of graduates who started PGCE courses was 9% lower than in the previous year.

 

And that's in spite of a shortage of jobs for graduates.

 

There has been a steady increase in the standard of graduates entering the profession in the last five years. That is probably partially because of limited opportunities elsewhere. It is also because salaries are more competitive and conditions of service were radically improved during the "workforce reforms". There is still a lot to do to make teaching in state schools a really attractive proposition, but the advancement is undeniable.

 

There is a lot of Labour bashing on here, but they worked wonders in dragging education provision into the twenty first century. I only hope that the coalition remove their blinkers, recognise the improvements and try to build upon them.

[slimsid2000]

No the other way around. Fewer teachers and more assistants.

[Tomataheeed]

The other thing to mention is that quite a number of TAs are in fact qualified teachers - they don't want to do all the paperwork and preparation that teachers have to do these days.

 

As I understand it, in Sheffield, the projections are that fewer children are entering the school system as a whole, so the number of primary school teachers required is dropping. There have been redundancies.

[espadrille]

The last that I heard was that there are more children starting school soon than we have the number of places for so just shows you how stats get confused.

I know that tHe City council is looking at how they are going to manage the increase in the birth rate for children who will start school in the near future. The problem will be the actual space that they take up rather than the number of teachers as recruiting teachers should be a relatively easy task when compared to the logistics of getting children in a space that just doesn't accomodate the numbers...