I'm a teacher and I'm striking

I want to write this post.  I really want to write this post.  But you see, I'm a Maths teacher, not an English teacher so I can't put it as eloquently as I feel I should.  I'm scared of saying the wrong thing and letting down my profession.  I've been thinking about what to write for the past week now.  I know that the press is going to be full of anti-teacher comments tomorrow.  So will Facebook and Twitter. 

Firstly, I know the country is short of money and cuts need to happen.  I am not saying that education is any more or less important then the NHS, policing, fire service etc and I do hate it when the public sectors turn on each other but that's another story.

There are many perks of being a teacher and if I start to say what the government are trying to do, and why we want to defend it I know there will be many that say we have had it too good for too long and we should try the 'real world'.  Perhaps they are right, not for me to say.

I'm not taking this strike action for my own benefit.  I'm currently working as a supply teacher so the pay and conditions I am fighting for don't actually apply to me.  I am currently working 3 days a week so I am loosing a third of my pay this week.

I  have taken this strike action for Little Owl.  I want her and all the other toddlers I know, to have good education and for that you need good teachers.

There is one thing that Mr Gove and I agree on.  The children of this country deserve the best teachers.  Mr Gove thinks that having a first class degree makes a good teacher.  I disagree but that doesn't matter.  The only way you are going to get the best teachers be it those with first class degrees or not is to make teaching a desirable profession.

It currently isn't.

I'm not going to spout facts and figures that may or not be true, but I would like to share what I have seen happen as a maths teacher.  I have been lucky to have had a job in a good school which as a result attracts good teachers.  Even so, finding maths teachers isn't easy.  You don't get hundreds applying for each job but if you are lucky you might get two or three, often less. 

I know of young adults who went through their entire secondary education without having a specialised math teacher.  And I'm not talking Mr Gove's standards of having a first class maths degree because the truth be known the majority of maths teachers I know haven't got maths degrees.  They are however highly committed individuals with degrees and specialist teacher training in Mathematics (in my case this meant my teacher training was two years instead of one).  But these teachers are hard to come by which is perhaps why Mr Gove is making it possible for your children to be taught by adults with no teacher training (which kinda contradicts himself....).

Its not just pay and conditions that teachers are striking about.  This is where I wish I was more eloquent in the written form.  Its the crap that they are placing upon us, the extra work that we are being expected to do that we as a profession do not believe is necessary (or even helpful) to the education of our children. This is why many teachers are voting with their feet and leaving.  I know, I have one foot out of the door...

I received an email from my employment agency last week.  They are seeking maths teachers for various posts.  Full time, part time,  long term, permanent, short term and day to day.  I think that says a lot.

What I'm trying to say is that there is a real crisis happening in schools already, its not just maths. Once a teacher has left the profession it is very unlikely that they will return.  Training new teachers takes time and with so many leaving will people still be willing to join?  In the meantime the children in the schools are not getting the education they deserve. 

Will striking help?  I don't know, one day won't make a difference I am sure but what else is there to do?  For Little Owl's sake I have to do something.

I hope you understand.  I hope you don't think I am work shy or greedy.  I hope you realise that I am making a stand for what I believe is best for all the children in this country not just my own. 

Thank you for reading.