The British government is going to start up a new TV channel devoted to teachers and teaching, presumably in order to recruit more teachers.
The usual story put out by all who preside over failing policies, in this case the policy of trying to contrive more and more effective state teachers, is that "the message isn't getting across". But usually the message is getting across only too well. People just don't agree with it.
Who among us does not know that the British government is desperate to get more good people to go into state teaching, and once in, to stay in? So why don't we become state teachers? Because we don't want to, is why.
This new TV channel will cost quite a lot, and merely publicise the government's policy failures, either by being putrescent propaganda which fools nobody, or by telling the truth. Either way it will be an embarrassment.
This is an absurd idea. As a secondary science teacher I can think of nothing it could provide that would be of any use.
Will they show unruly students throwing chairs around the classroom and how to control them? Will they show how much time teachers have to spend on setting, organising and marking a plethora of tests and how this impacts on real teaching? Or how to get coursework out of kids who don't care and parents who've given up?
Save the money and buy a few more textbooks, employ some more classroom assistants or build a secure educational detention centre ... but don't waste money on broadcasts nobody will watch.
