Nicky
Morgan vows to ease needless bureaucracy for teachers
A The education secretary has promised teachers she will tackle unnecessary bureaucracy in
schools by establishing working groups on marking, lesson planning and pupil
data, following years of complaints from those in the profession.
B Nicky Morgan said she would ask the three committees to
look at the administrative burden
faced by teachers and school leaders. She suggested teachers could reduce
workload simply by not answering emails after 5pm. “Teachers and leaders
have told us that much of the work they do every day – such as marking,
planning and tracking pupil progress – is essential, but that it’s the
volume, duplication, bureaucracy or detail that can prove unnecessary or
unproductive,” Morgan said. “So that’s why we’ll be setting up new working
groups to address the three biggest concerns that teachers raised in the
workload challenge: marking, planning and resources, and data management.”
C Morgan warned that “there’s only so much that government
can do to reduce workload and that the real battle is about changing behaviour”.
The three working parties will look at schools that have developed effective
techniques without generating unnecessary workload, and recommend models for
other schools to follow. “I can say that the working parties will be made up of
frontline professionals who will look at these key areas and produce
real and concrete recommendations for the department, for schools and for heads
to minimize unnecessary workload,” Morgan said.
D In recent years teachers have complained about the
adoption of double and triple marking of student work as a means of giving
feedback to pupils, encouraged by Ofsted inspectors. Lesson planning is one
of the most time-consuming areas of preparation, according to many
classroom teachers. Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National
Association of Head Teachers, said it was a key issue. “The workload challenge
can be solved by more intelligent accountability,
better planning and fewer changes from government,” Hobby said.
E In
her speech, Morgan also made a further plea
for retired professionals to consider retraining as teachers, as unions
and school leaders warn of a recruitment crisis. “But I stand by that
statement, because just as I want dynamic young graduates to bring their energy
into the classroom, so too do I want those with years of experience in a range
of careers to bring their wealth of knowledge into the classroom as well. I
believe that those at the end of their careers have a huge amount to offer our
classrooms.”
Adjusted to (1)
tackle
– poprat se
burden
– břemeno, zátěž
accountability
– zodpovědnost
plea
– žádost, prosba
1) Read the
article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1 Morgan wants to reduce workload
2 Morgan calls for help of retired teachers
3
Workload and Hobby’s recommendation
4 Bureaucracy in schools should be
reduced
5 Morgan wants to establish three
committees
2) Read the
article and answer the questions.
1 What is bureaucracy in schools?
2 Who is Nicky Morgan? What does
she say about administrative
burden of teachers?
3 How does
she want to solve the situation?
4 What do
teachers complain about?
5 Why does
Morgan call for retired
professionals?
3) Explain
the following words and phrases.
1 reduce workload
2 marking, planning and tracking pupil
progress
3 frontline professionals
4 lesson planning is one of the most
time-consuming
5 consider retraining as teachers
4) Answer
the following questions.
What
are duties and responsibilities of a classroom teacher? What are duties and
responsibilities of a preschool teacher? What
are their everyday activities?
Video:
Tips, sources of information:
Source:
(1)
ADAMS,
Richard. Nicky Morgan vows to ease needless bureaucracy for teachers. The
Guardian [online]. 2015 [cit. 2015-09-20]. Available at:
http://www.theguardian.com/ education/2015/jul/29/education-nicky-morgan-unnecessary-bureaucracy-teachers
