rainbowtrout wrote: » You are living in cloud cuckoo land if you think that's going to happen.
endakenny wrote: » Why do you say that? Doctors, nurses and lawyers, if they are aware that colleagues are acting unethically, are expected to report it to their respective professional organisations. Teachers are able to do the same. You didn't explain why you believe that reporting to the Teaching Council won't work.
rainbowtrout wrote: » It may not even be the principal where the pressure is originating, it may be the parents.
endakenny wrote: » The parents' representatives on the board of management won't be able to bring about the sacking of the principal just because the principal is being professional. Teachers are already subject to pressure from parents with regard to the disciplining of pupils. The principal and deputy principal of my alma mater said that disrespect towards teachers would not be tolerated. My alma mater is a voluntary secondary school (VSS). VSSs are under patronage of either the Catholic or Anglican church and the work ethic that priests, monks and nuns instilled when they ran these schools means that their discipline is quite good. It is possible that the State-run schools' discipline is not as good, as the following case shows.http://www.independent.ie/life/family/learning/union-dumps-teachers-after-row-over-press-release-claims-25889959.html
endakenny wrote: » Jan O'Sullivan said on the Saturday programme that the JCSA involves the spending of more money, not less money, and that the State Exams Commission would also stand over the school-based assessment.http://www.rte.ie/radio1/saturday-with-claire-byrne/
km79 wrote: » I'm sick of having to stop posting in threads/ ignore threads that are very relevant to my working life due to poster(s) outside the profession hijacking them with misinformation/heresay/trolling
km79 wrote: » I'm sick of having to stop posting in threads/ ignore threads that are very relevant to my working life due to poster(s) outside the profession hijacking them with misinformation/heresay/trolling another thread bites the dust my final contribution about the upcoming strike (that's what the thread is about right?).....I think at MOST there will be a single day of strike action before the unions come back with a new "deal" there is a lot of posturing going on from both sides
implausible wrote: » We voted not to cooperate with assessment. I am not conducting formal assessment, nor am I getting them to compile a portfolio of work. It is quite offensive to suggest that I am betraying my colleagues when all I am doing is teaching my classes. For example, I have just finished teaching "Back in the Playground Blues", I spent a bit longer than I usually would getting the students to compare their first day at school with each other and at the end I got them to recite it and my scheme of work has some coding in it referring to the Learning Outcomes, but other than that, I have taught the poem in the same way. The kids are learning, what exactly is the problem? You seem to have a right bee in your bonnet about 'fluffy' terminology and are quite dismissive of anything new. What exactly is wrong with two stars and a wish? I have students whose confidence and interest in my subject would be destroyed if I didn't give some positive feedback to them. I wouldn't call that nonsense. Maybe you have excellent students who are fully engaged and will learn regardless. I don't. We are frequently bombarded with new initiatives and ideas, not all of them suit everyone, but as teachers, we cannot be dismissive of all change if it might serve the interests of our students. It reminds me of a colleague at a recent event, who, while dismissing the info that had just been delivered on questioning and mindmapping, stated, "I'll keep teaching the way I like because my way of teaching suits me!" I am teaching 15 years and would hate to get to a stage where I feel I know everything and am not open to change. The new JC will still have a terminal exam - 60%. I'd still call that good preparation for the Leaving Cert. We can still tailor the course to our students with the prescribed texts, like the LC. I did not post here to defend the new JCSA, though I do think it has merit, but to contradict the notion that English teachers are ignoring the new course.
acequion wrote: » I completely agree about the trolls,but I hate your cynicism about the campaign. I know that the unions have let us down very badly recently,but we have no other redress and would be a lot worse off without the union.It is up to each one of us to make the union work by using our influence as members. If every member became active and vocal,rather than just complaining and criticising,we would be in a much stronger position.
km79 wrote: » I am an active vocal member the problem is the majority of members are not . and no amount of work on my behalf before last few ballots changed this. A new " deal " WlLL be brought back to us after Xmas. We WILL be told its the best deal possible despite teachers assessing own students work still being included and it WILL be accepted by teachers too afraid of losing a days pay/ too shortsighted / too lazy to care about the implications of it in the future. I was an optimist I'm now a realist
acequion wrote: » No,you're being a pessimist.Look,I'm not fighting with you. I very much appreciated your contributions during the anti HR campaign and understand that you've more than done your bit and why you feel aggrieved. But,you're not a clairvoyant and can't say with certainty what will happen. You may well be right. But I hope you're not. Why don't all of us get writing to our union leaders applauding them for their efforts to date and telling them to hold firm! Many people [myself included] heaped on the pressure during HR and while it ultimately failed and the leaders eventually sold us out,the pressure certainly did no harm. So,let's do it again!
paddybarry wrote: » There is a palpable anger out there amongst teachers. We are sick of the erosion of our terms and conditions over the past few years. Croke Park hours are soul destroying and we have had enough. I don't see the Union backing down. I was disappointed with previous actions by the Unions, but I now see they were picking their battles wisely. It is time to fight back. I strongly believe that Union officials are aware of the anger amongst it's members and will not let us down.
acequion wrote: » It is also quite offensive to throw out the standard non teacher accusation that I'm "not open to change". Where did I say that I ,personally,am not open to change? I didn't. Just because some of us don't buy into what's in vogue doesn't mean we're not open to change. Change is an inevitable part of the job and teachers have always shown flexibility and adaptability.Personally, I'm very open to new ideas and suggestions which will improve my teaching.I think it's great to have a large menu of options to choose from when delivering lessons. What I'm absolutely not open to is having some new pie in the sky methodology forced upon me because some bright spark somewhere thinks it's the bees knees. Such is how I feel about two stars and a wish and all the other "fluffy" stuff. If you like it and it works for you,great. But don't assume that my methods of feedback are not equally positive and enriching. One of the major problems,nowadays,in my opinion,is a standardisation of everything,because that suits the business model that teaching has become.We're all expected to be doing the same thing,in the same way. I very much value freedom to choose and use different approaches and methodologies and likewise to reject what doesn't suit,for whatever reason. The nature of being a professional is being able to use professional judgement. I also do not agree that prescribed texts give the same flexibility.It is proposed that Shakespeare be mandatory for higher level,which I don't agree with. So,a lot of previous freedoms swept away.In the interests of standardisation and uniformity,no doubt. And to the detriment of????? And please stop talking about the JCSA as a fait accompli,because by doing so you undermine the campaign of which you profess to be a part.
implausible wrote: » I did not accuse you of not being open to change. Your dismissal of new methods as nonsense, fluff and pie in the sky however, gives a very negative impression. As I have already said, learning outcomes are not "some new pie in the sky methodology" we've already used them. The changes in methodology really only apply to the oral element of the exam and a focus on oral skills (which incidentally are in the current Junior Cert, but have never been assessed) can only be good for students, in my opinion. A curriculum has to be standardised for it to operate across an entire country. Nowhere in the new JC does it demand that you use certain methodologies, you are free to use whatever methods you want to get your students talking, for example. Shakespeare is more or less prescribed for HL currently and in my opinion prepares them for the demands of Shakespeare at LC level. It's also pretty good for sorting the wheat from the chaff when it comes to levels and is only as difficult as the teacher makes it. Do you feel that prescribed texts at LC level are detrimental? To me, it is a fait accompli, the new curriculum is in. This is where the unions have failed. I spoke at union meetings, wrote to the area rep and spoke to the education and research officer of the TUI at length in April about the awfulness of the inservice, my reservations about assessment and certification and the position they were putting English teachers in. I repeatedly warned that once the curriculum was in, there would be no stopping it, only room to modify it. And look where we are now - the campaign has only gathered pace in the term after the curriculum was imposed on English teachers. We will not get the JCSA thrown out. The Govt have already given in on certification and offered external moderation, that addresses my two main concerns. If this strike results in anything, it may be additional resources or the creation of JCSA posts, but I will put my house on us not going back to 100% external assessment. I have a full timetable of English and FETAC modules, corrections, planning and a family to take care of, so I am keeping myself sane by planning for the new, while mixing with the old.
acequion wrote: » I disagree about Shakespeare. We have some very weak classes in our school where the kids do higher level at JC level,without doing Shakespeare,who is not the be all and end all.I also disagree that the teacher can somehow make it easy. Shakespeare is difficult which is off-putting to a lot of youngsters. I would do some Shakespeare sonnets with such classes,primarily to prepare them a little for Shakespeare at senior level. In fact several other English teachers in my school [a huge school] do likewise and there has never been a problem when the kids get to 5th year. Those capable do higher level for the LC and those who aren't, don't. Not having studied a Shakespeare play,in no way hinders their development.
km79 wrote: » I'm sick of having to stop posting in threads/ ignore threads that are very relevant to my working life due to poster(s) outside the profession hijacking them with misinformation/heresay/trolling another thread bites the dust
rainbowtrout wrote: » Totally agree. Trolls are NEVER banned in this forum. On the other hand, teachers who post here are given plenty of on thread warnings. Why should we have to put trolls on the ignore list? Why can't they just be removed? It's a mirror image of school where you cannot get the disruptive student removed from your class but you as the teacher are always to blame and are just told to put up with it.
acequion wrote: » As with the HR capitulation,the real obstacle is not the union,nor the DES. It's teachers like you who just roll over and give in to each new demand. I'm sorry if you don't like my saying as much,but unfortunately,it's true.
Armelodie wrote: » As per usual procedure.. Do not respond to this warning.
implausible wrote: » Rainbowtrout's concerns about the Science syllabus are the type of thing that should be addressed now, before implementation and maybe industrial action will yield adjustments.
rainbowtrout wrote: » There is an option for teachers to give feedback through an online survey on the draft syllabus. I made sure they got my (horrified and angry) feedback at the decimation of the science course. I hope other science teachers do similar.
Inspector Coptoor wrote: » I found the survey and slated the proposed new syllabus and I'll be bringing it up at the next dept meeting in school
km79 wrote: » the asti released a statement end of sept saying that any union member who completed this survey was in breach of non compliamce directive ABSOLUTELY DAFT luckily I had already completed it
rainbowtrout wrote: » Now that is daft. How can you register your dissatisfaction with the proposals if you can't tell them you are dissatisfied? Because there are two separate battles going on. Changes to syllabus and changes to assessment. Don't have a major problem with changes to a syllabus if it's done properly. I do have major problems with proposed changes to assessment. Surely ASTI can see that the main bugbear is the proposal that we assess the coursework and not the actual concept of coursework?
km79 wrote: » no they can't. I emailled them on it and they were crystal clear. No comoliance with any aspect of it. so basically ignore the appalling new syllabus until it comes in!
