NASUWT Presidential Address

13 April 2009

Julian Chapman
National President 2009/2010

Conference, Colleagues, Friends

In these uncertain and troubled times it is a particular joy to be able to ask you to join me in a celebration; a celebration that has been imminent for a couple of years, but that has now become a reality. For quite some time it has become clear that teachers across the United Kingdom have valued being represented by an organisation that listens to their concerns and views, and acts upon what it hears, and does so with a down to earth pragmatism, embedding dialogue and constructive consultation as a way of negotiating change for the better in conditions of service and pay, rather than endless confrontation and discord. Teachers have noted and welcomed many improvements in their conditions of service as a tangible result of the NASUWT's commitment to social partnership. They have seen their professional status raised, and have seized the opportunity to have their voices more clearly heard in matters pedagogical. That groundswell of realistic expectation and delivery has been reflected in continued growth in membership of the NASUWT, and it was with huge pleasure that we received the news in December last that the NASUWT is indisputably the largest teacher trade union in England and Wales. The education press published the figures in December, and their calculations were conducted as a like for like analysis, making our success clear cut and official.

For a number of years I was Chair of the Recruitment Committee, and month on month it was clear that the NASUWT would eventually attain this landmark. It was not a matter of 'if' but 'when'. So it is particularly pleasing for me to take up office with this celebration so fresh in our minds. For me and for many others with connections to the NASUWT, it is a long-held ambition finally achieved.

I am reminded by former General Secretary of the NASUWT Nigel de Gruchy that 2009 marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the NAS, which went on to become the NASUWT. In 1919, a breakaway group of male teachers from another teacher trade union met in the Creamery Café in Cheltenham to discuss forming their own, distinct trade union. There is a pleasing resonance, for me at least, that in this year celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of what was to become the NASUWT this President should be a teacher from a school in Cheltenham.

I want now to thank a number of people without whom it would not have been possible for me to have the honour of taking up the office of President of the largest teacher trade union in England and Wales.

Undoubtedly, the first to be thanked are my family: my wife Fran, my daughter Ketti and my son Tad. Their patience, understanding and support have been the bedrock of my NASUWT career. Their collective sense of humour and their down to earth view of my various union roles have, I hope, helped keep my feet on the ground.

I am indebted to many NASUWT friends whose guidance and advice started me on the road towards this current office but, in particular, I want to mention Tim Bacon, an Honorary Life Member, who when I became a National Executive Member said: "Next stop – National President" (and to my surprise he meant it! And he constantly supported and harried me until I took him seriously!). As well, I want to thank my predecessor in District 19, Dorothy Baker, who encouraged me to stand as her successor. There are many, many others throughout District 19, and indeed across the whole of the South West Region, who have shown encouragement and support, and I thank every one of you, even though I don't have time to mention you all by name.

I want also to thank my school, Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre, for allowing me to have time to develop my NASUWT role, and thanks, of course, to Gloucestershire Local Authority whose generosity has allowed me the facility time to support members there, as well as across the South West Region. Working with a succession of Chief Education Officers and Directors of Children's Services has always been a genuine pleasure, even if we didn't always totally agree on every issue. I am proud to say that on no occasion did we leave meetings acrimoniously, and our interactions have always been polite and cordial.

As an Officer of the NASUWT I have had to spend a significant number of hours travelling the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. Some of those hours I spend catching up on the reading of the stack of documentation I am required to understand, but also some of those hours have found me reflecting on the very nature and purpose of current education practice, both as we are required to deliver it, but also how we would like it to be.

If you ask teachers why they chose their profession, many of them will answer along the lines: "Because I wanted to make a difference", or "I wanted to give young people chances to make the very best use of their lives".

Almost all will, in effect, show that they are keen to give: to give of their own experience, their own knowledge, to give of themselves. That's what makes teachers such special people.

However, and here comes the rub, after some years trying hard to achieve the high ideals with which they started, many teachers find themselves caught up on the treadmill of simply trying to achieve numerical targets, allegedly proof that they have delivered sufficient educational progress to their students – targets often unrealistic, and sometimes totally unattainable. There is precious little time to address 'making a difference' when you are under constant pressure to demonstrate how effective you can be, and how effective you have been, against targets that do not necessarily accord with your own understanding as to what education should really be about. If a teacher is forever trying to satisfy criteria laid down by others, it leaves precious little room for experiment and innovation in one's own delivery style. To risk failing is to jeopardise a department's, or even a school's, position in league tables, and then having to endure an inquiry, to explain the reasons why. Where accountability is seen to be given such a high level of importance, it is surely discouraging at best and destructive at worst to the delivery of a broad education that which acknowledges the links and relevance between traditional subject disciplines.

These simple statistical snapshots can hide the facts and realities of what goes on in classrooms up and down the nation on a daily basis: teachers striving to improve the opportunities and quality of life of this country's future citizens are optimistic even in the face of criticism, which from time to time is promulgated by some of the less scrupulous media sources, for whom a sensationalist headline can be easier and more lucrative than a sober evaluation of the facts. 'Teachers Blamed for Society's Ills' sometimes seems to be the easy headline rather than the more truthful, but obvious statement that 'Teachers Work Very Hard'.
So I come to the question – and it's asked every so often by parents, teachers, governors, and indeed Government: 'What do we need to teach, in order to improve the life chances of young people growing up in the first half of the twenty-first century?' It is a question that should lie at the heart of everything we do in the classroom and should shape the core and content of a school's curriculum.

I have no intention of giving you my own shopping list of what I believe is needed – that would take too long, and it would not be a list we would all agree on anyway. We all have our own ideas on that score and, indeed, such a debate could last longer than a single Annual Conference, and you can hear such discussions on a daily basis in staffrooms up and down the land. It is by those teachers constantly reflecting on their purpose that we can be proud to be called a caring profession.

What I want to do instead is to question the general purpose, direction and suitability of the National Curriculum as it stands today. I want to pose a few questions as to why we teach what we teach. I am not necessarily calling for a wholesale rewriting of the National Curriculum, but simply asking whether or not it is time to reflect on the priorities, and just whose priorities are the most important? Are we seeking to develop a work-ready labour force, or a generation who can make the best use of learning skills to be adaptable, useful and caring citizens?

Firstly, then, we need to ask: is a mainly academic-based curriculum fit for purpose when the economy of this country and of the world is in turmoil? Should we perhaps be concentrating mainly on the sorts of skills that will help restore economic stability? What are those skills? There are those who believe that manufacturing and assembling goods and artefacts is the only answer to the country's problems, and others who think the intellectual and managerial skills are more important. The academic versus vocational debate has raged long and hard over decades, but perhaps we need to take a long hard look at both, and we might reach the conclusion that the one cannot thrive without the other. The NASUWT has fully endorsed the changes in 14-19 education, which has introduced diplomas, with its proposed raising of the status of vocational education, and which could be one possible solution to making the curriculum more balanced. However, it has become apparent in recent months that there has been a measure of confusion over their introduction. There are still some teachers for whom the real value of diplomas is uncertain, as it is less than clear how they will be received by higher education, and employers. Incidentally, I am encouraged by the now more common use of the term 'applied education', as opposed to 'vocational'. It may help to disabuse some of the notion that an education that is not wholly academic is somehow second best. Sadly, the employers of Great Britain still, in general, seem to want to retain what they call 'traditional qualifications', relying on what they see as the comfort zone shorthand of A level results – and even then they complain that they believe standards are not the same as in their day! I don't have time to explore and expose the inaccuracy of such prejudiced thinking. Suffice it to say that the quality and quantity of work being produced in sixth forms is truly astounding. And I don't need to remind most of you sitting here that this is more than apparent when you go and look at what is actually being achieved in those places.

Additionally, the NASUWT welcomes the reinvigoration of apprenticeships. The work being undertaken on both diplomas and apprenticeships affords, for the first time in some 50 years, the opportunity to achieve parity between academic and vocational (or should I now say 'applied'?) education.

I believe it is important that society takes a long hard look at its perception of what is of worth to the community. The community as a machine for the common good; a machine that should value equally the contribution of all its members, from those who do the essential manual work to those whose intellect privileges them to plan, organise and manage; and such a machine must value those who generate income whether through manufacturing, or by selling services. Whilst every sector of society can make perfectly valid arguments for their own importance, it is the interaction, co-operation and understanding between these parts that ensures the success or otherwise of a healthy society.

Next we must ask about how the curriculum can address society's ability to care for its members; to have respect for the views of all its people; to be able to show compassion in the face of need, and firmness where people lose sight of the rights of others. How important is tolerance and understanding of others? How can we turn the tide on the cult of possessions and consumerism that divides rather than unites people?

Of course we have to address the issue of personalised education. Not necessarily as envisaged by the DCSF at present, but a personalised education that addresses the needs of all the stakeholders. The problem is how to deliver an individualised curriculum diet to students, who have such a diverse range of needs. That is the challenge that every teacher faces each day, and is one of the reasons teaching is such a tough job. And there is enormous pressure to keep students engaged and attentive at all times.

In recent statements, OFSTED has claimed that some of the levels of misbehaviour in schools can be attributed to pupils having to endure boring lessons. On the one hand, one has to argue that teachers today are struggling to compete with the sort of presentations seen on television, but without the benefits of the resources available in a studio. Students' concentration span appears to have been tailored to the sound and vision bite, rather than having to undergo the more rigorous process of in-depth learning.

On the other hand, one might argue that teachers are being asked to deliver a National Curriculum, parts of which they know are not particularly relevant, to their students, who are certain that such topics have no relevance to their ambitions. Fortunately we do not have the nightmare scenario of bored and less than enthusiastic teachers delivering boring and irrelevant topics to bored and unreceptive students.

Teachers I have met strive daily to ensure that their students are offered lessons that are both fascinating and germane to the students' needs. I am glad to note that Sir Alan Steer, in his work on pupil behaviour has recognised that teachers need support rather than denigration to manage student behaviour, which is a step in the right direction as far as many teachers are concerned.

Let's be quite clear – I am not saying that there aren't bits of essential education that are not a bit boring at times, but what I am saying is that we need to be certain of the relevance and context if we are to keep students engaged and willing partners in the education process. That will become increasingly important as students will become obliged to be actively involved in education or training until the age of 18.

One solution to the question of student engagement might lie in allowing greater freedom for teachers to make professional decisions as to what and how and even when they teach, within much less restrictive guidelines. That would include the freedom to be more reactive to individuals' needs – something that good teachers do, by instinct, on a daily basis. Most people will acknowledge that there is a need for a core curriculum dealing with the basics of numeracy and literacy together with life skills. Beyond that we need to examine what pathways to learning a student can take. That will involve considering their aspirations and collating that with the reality of what is required to achieve such aspirations, and the practicality of being able to provide what is needed. Additionally, of course, it would allow teachers to regain their status as professionals and trust them to exercise their professional judgement. It is that professional autonomy that encourages the teacher to deliver truly personalised learning to the students, without constant reference and deferral to the leaden hand of accountability.

There are optimistic signs that the process of reflection that I am calling for is already well under way. The recent Interim Report into Primary Curriculum, undertaken by Sir Jim Rose, has begun to explore the relationships between the traditional subject strands, pointing out that academic disciplines might have discrete values, but in the real world those divisions are less instructive than the interdependence between them. That suggests the possibility that teachers might take control of how they teach to a much greater degree than might be seen to be the norm in some educational establishments. Sir Jim Rose says: "if we are to establish a 'world class' high quality curriculum, we must face the reality of prescribing less so that teachers can better teach and children can better learn."

At the end of February, the Cambridge Review of Primary Education warned of the dangers of focusing too much on literacy and numeracy to the detriment of the broader curriculum. It is no surprise to the education professional that in emphasising two particular aspects of learning, other areas will suffer as a result.

In Gloucestershire, I am delighted to tell you that work has been ongoing for a number of years to make the Curriculum more relevant to students. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has recently cited work that started out being known as the Gloucester Curriculum as an excellent example of innovative curriculum development. In Gloucester, the city is the resource at the centre of the pupils' learning, which feeds the strands of the curriculum, ensuring a real coherence and relevance to students' understanding and educational experience.

In his valedictory article in SecEd newspaper in January, the retiring Head of Curriculum with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, Mick Waters, says that the challenge is (and I quote) "..to encourage schools to make learning irresistible through the design of the curriculum diet of young people." I love that phrase – "…to make learning irresistible!"
That is an invitation for us to use our ingenuity as teachers to lead the debate. His concluding words in that article are equally encouraging, leaving him (and again I quote) "… knowing that the curriculum is in safe hands. It is where it should be: with conscientious, dedicated professionals, who work on the detail to secure the expectations of our country for its children."

So I am optimistic that together we can make the changes, but that comes with a gentle word of warning to the Government: listen to and trust the teachers. If you fail to heed the advice and wisdom that comes from the true education professionals – those are the teachers in the classroom – you will miss out on the best possible opportunity to give the emerging generation the tools and skills they need to become a generation that cares for its members, that values the contribution of all its members, and considers the future prospects of mankind.
Before I finish, I want to draw attention to one of the lesser known aspects of the work the NASUWT undertakes: the international dimension.

The freedoms we enjoy and take for granted are, sadly not universal. In places such as Colombia, Iraq, Turkey and Zimbabwe, just being a member of a trade union can be fraught with difficulty and danger. I will give you a couple of examples.

Last year, I was privileged to be invited, along with Jerry Bartlett, to attend the Congress of Egitim Sen, the Turkish Teacher Trade Union. It was sobering to hear that, just one week before the Congress, members of that union had been on the receiving end of beatings with rifle butts and baseball bats as they were being prevented, by the authorities, from holding a May Day Rally in Istanbul. A number of the union's members had been imprisoned some time previously – one young teacher told me she had been a political prisoner for advocating that children be taught in their mother tongue, Kurdish. One of their union leaders had been jailed in a governmental attempt to destroy the union. The delegates and representatives of Egitim Sen expressed their gratitude to their international guests for their support through attending the Congress. Egitim Sen believed that by exposing their plight to trade unionists outside of Turkey it would make governmental oppression less likely. The NASUWT wrote to President Abdullah Gul emphasising sanctions that will be enacted against the country's rulers if they continue to violate human rights.

I spoke to a delegation of teacher trade unionists from Iraq who visited NASUWT Headquarters in Rednal last year. It was most sobering to hear them say that when they left for work each day in Iraq they had to be certain to say a proper 'goodbye' to their wives and children. They were genuinely uncertain as to whether or not they would see them again. It is very difficult to be able to really understand how that must feel, but it made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle just to hear it. The NASUWT has worked with colleagues from Iraq and Education International to develop and establish a five-year training programme for Iraqi teachers and trade unionists.

Similar work is being undertaken wherever the NASUWT finds teachers being discouraged, disadvantaged or in danger. Solidarity between professionals whose major aim is the developing of minds of the coming generations, is of paramount importance, and is the source of pride for those who attempt to achieve it. I believe the NASUWT can hold its head high as one of the world leaders in this work.

Conference, colleagues and friends, this week's Conference will exercise the minds of those who care about nations' futures, whether close to home or further afield. It will establish NASUWT policies that will in turn help shape the destiny of the citizens of tomorrow. It is a serious task, and a difficult one, but one to which I know all delegates will devote their energies this week. It is a task that marks the NASUWT out as the union that has pragmatic policies that it can, and does, deliver. It is a task that has ensured that the NASUWT has become the largest teacher trade union in the land, and a task that will ensure it continues to grow and thrive.

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