A college of teaching is not a panacea for the education system’s problems
Commenting on the publication by the Prince’s Teaching Institute of its blueprint for a College of Teaching, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers' union, said:
"The NASUWT has continued to make clear that it has no objection in principle to the creation of a College of Teaching.
"However, the Union remains concerned about the diverse and often contradictory ambitions for the College expressed by its proponents, as well as the extent to which it seems to increasingly be regarded as a panacea for the wide range of problems faced currently by the education system.
"In its evidence to the Prince’s Teaching Institute, the NASUWT highlighted important issues raised by the Institute's initial proposals on the remit, governance, funding and political impartiality of a College of Teaching.
"In particular, the Union has questioned the credibility of a College created in an environment where teaching has become an effectively deregulated profession as a result of the policies of the Secretary of State.
“Other occupational sectors where professional colleges play a useful and constructive role, such as medicine and law, benefit from clear, professionally-derived codes of conduct to regulate professional behaviours and practice, overseen by a statutory regulatory body.
"These considerations will inform the NASUWT’s evaluation of the proposals set out in the blueprint.
“Whatever its potential merits, a College of Teaching cannot repair the damage inflicted by the Coalition Government's ongoing attacks on the professional status, pay and conditions of teachers.”
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