Marching Again

Dear friends in education,

I am travelling into London as I write this. Another strike, another march. Another attempt to tell this government and this education secretary that their policy to align education to global economic demands and outcomes is not the right way to engage learners. Education is not about measuring progress and diminishing a breadth and depth of experience to a selective few subjects where learners will continue to regurgitate 'knowledge' to secure grades. It is not about securing quotas of students into a higher education system where this attack is further along the line than we currently see in secondary and primary schooling. It is not about offering up a free system of learning to corporate practices that carry both political and economic agendas. Education remains about instilling a love of learning for life. My own educational measurement is reasonably poor - 8 Scottish standard grades (only 4 of which were graded 3 or higher) and 2 Scottish highers (1 graded B and the other a D). Hardly earth shattering. Yet I am in the classroom teaching the next generations. Why? Simply because I was encouraged to love learning, both inside school (despite reasonably poor academic attainment) and at home. This love of learning sat dormant until I turned 20 when I decided to return to college, apply for university to study Fine Art and then practice secondary pedagogy in Art & Design. I am now half way through an MA (and doing considerably better at academic attainment!) At 35 years old my desire for knowledge - real knowledge, is still increasing and my daily job is to instill this life long love of learning in others. I strike again today not to break a child's education or to cause their families disruption. I strike for exactly the opposite reason; to warn children and their families that without teachers who care so passionately for their children's quality of education they are walking blindly into an education model that is, at a fierce rate, destroying their educational chances to become life long learners who love to be educated and want to educate others. Sometimes you have to fight in this life. This is one of these times.