Young Teachers
Beth Goddard writes:
NUT Young Teachers’ Conference 6th- 8th June 2008
As an NQT at the very start of my career, I became interested in union activity and particularly the union’s active young teacher’s section as a means of support for quite a difficult year! I was very pleased to know that the NUT fund such useful weekends as the conference I attended for young teachers, and I believe that such weekends can have a real impact on retaining teachers both within the union and within the profession.
So, the conference was useful and interesting. It provided me with a chance to meet other young teachers in a similar position to myself from across the country. Social events such as the pub quiz on Friday evening really helped provide time to wind down; very apt considering the theme of the whole weekend was “Work to live, not live to work- getting the balance right”! It also gave me chance to meet teachers who had been in the profession longer, and as both an NQT and a member of staff in my first year at a school this was an invaluable weekend in that respect- so many times I have felt totally in isolation this year and the conference showed me so many others in a similar position.
The conference proper started on the Saturday with an illuminating speech on work/life balance from Steve Thorp. This theme of work/life balance was something I have considered (perhaps unsurprisingly) rather often during my NQT year and both this speech and that that followed, from John Dixon, reaffirmed my own belief that no teacher should be working a 60 or 70 hour week which is so common amongst my contemporaries.
The weekend also featured two task groups, the first of which focussed on creating a ‘positive school’. It was perhaps inevitable that this started with a list of what made the imperfect school rather than the perfect one! Rather than being a depressing exercise however, it was encouraging to see so many teachers who had a positive vision for what a school should be, and refreshing to talk about education outside of the confines of school.
Following the task group was one of the two workshops of the weekend. The workshops were based on a wide range of themes; general topics concerned with education to workshops focussing on the role and purpose of the NUT. - I attended a very interesting hour on creativity in the classroom, and I found it a positive experience to talk about education in a way that was not dominated by target grades and GCSE results!
One major topic of conversation over the weekend was the NUT pay campaign, which as a young teacher with rising student loan debts is quite a concern of mine. In the afternoon there was opportunity to discuss this during a question and answer session with Bill Greenshields, the current NUT president. The debate was quite heated, with members both calling for more action and questioning why further action should not have taken place during the summer term. Other delegates voiced a note of caution- perhaps wisely remembering the thousands of union members who were not at the conference and whom perhaps felt differently.
The second task group of the weekend focussed on the issue of pay and how it affected young professionals; both in terms of the general cost of living and also more specific concerns such as the housing situation regionally. There was also feedback from members in different regions as to how strike action took place back in April. It was both encouraging and interesting to hear accounts from all over the country.
Other highlights of the weekend included Sue Palmer’s interesting portrait of life for children in the 21st century. The issues she highlighted which face children on a day to day basis were a cursory reminder for young teachers who find it difficult to remember that students face their own pressures! John Illingworth’s presentation of his findings on teacher’s mental health was both moving and worrying in terms of the statistics of quite how many teachers were affected by mental health problems during their career.
So, the overall theme of the weekend then was on a work life balance, and this being my first visit to Stoke Rochford I was impressed by what you could explore in the ‘life’ part! I really enjoyed the weekend, both in terms of the conference itself and the opportunity for me to go away and think about teaching outside of the confines of my school. Christine Blower’s closing address was illuminating in terms of the union’s wider work across the world and a fitting end to a weekend that left myself, and I imagine others, inspired to become more involved in the union.
NUT Young Teachers’ Conference 6th- 8th June 2008
As an NQT at the very start of my career, I became interested in union activity and particularly the union’s active young teacher’s section as a means of support for quite a difficult year! I was very pleased to know that the NUT fund such useful weekends as the conference I attended for young teachers, and I believe that such weekends can have a real impact on retaining teachers both within the union and within the profession.
So, the conference was useful and interesting. It provided me with a chance to meet other young teachers in a similar position to myself from across the country. Social events such as the pub quiz on Friday evening really helped provide time to wind down; very apt considering the theme of the whole weekend was “Work to live, not live to work- getting the balance right”! It also gave me chance to meet teachers who had been in the profession longer, and as both an NQT and a member of staff in my first year at a school this was an invaluable weekend in that respect- so many times I have felt totally in isolation this year and the conference showed me so many others in a similar position.
The conference proper started on the Saturday with an illuminating speech on work/life balance from Steve Thorp. This theme of work/life balance was something I have considered (perhaps unsurprisingly) rather often during my NQT year and both this speech and that that followed, from John Dixon, reaffirmed my own belief that no teacher should be working a 60 or 70 hour week which is so common amongst my contemporaries.
The weekend also featured two task groups, the first of which focussed on creating a ‘positive school’. It was perhaps inevitable that this started with a list of what made the imperfect school rather than the perfect one! Rather than being a depressing exercise however, it was encouraging to see so many teachers who had a positive vision for what a school should be, and refreshing to talk about education outside of the confines of school.
Following the task group was one of the two workshops of the weekend. The workshops were based on a wide range of themes; general topics concerned with education to workshops focussing on the role and purpose of the NUT. - I attended a very interesting hour on creativity in the classroom, and I found it a positive experience to talk about education in a way that was not dominated by target grades and GCSE results!
One major topic of conversation over the weekend was the NUT pay campaign, which as a young teacher with rising student loan debts is quite a concern of mine. In the afternoon there was opportunity to discuss this during a question and answer session with Bill Greenshields, the current NUT president. The debate was quite heated, with members both calling for more action and questioning why further action should not have taken place during the summer term. Other delegates voiced a note of caution- perhaps wisely remembering the thousands of union members who were not at the conference and whom perhaps felt differently.
The second task group of the weekend focussed on the issue of pay and how it affected young professionals; both in terms of the general cost of living and also more specific concerns such as the housing situation regionally. There was also feedback from members in different regions as to how strike action took place back in April. It was both encouraging and interesting to hear accounts from all over the country.
Other highlights of the weekend included Sue Palmer’s interesting portrait of life for children in the 21st century. The issues she highlighted which face children on a day to day basis were a cursory reminder for young teachers who find it difficult to remember that students face their own pressures! John Illingworth’s presentation of his findings on teacher’s mental health was both moving and worrying in terms of the statistics of quite how many teachers were affected by mental health problems during their career.
So, the overall theme of the weekend then was on a work life balance, and this being my first visit to Stoke Rochford I was impressed by what you could explore in the ‘life’ part! I really enjoyed the weekend, both in terms of the conference itself and the opportunity for me to go away and think about teaching outside of the confines of my school. Christine Blower’s closing address was illuminating in terms of the union’s wider work across the world and a fitting end to a weekend that left myself, and I imagine others, inspired to become more involved in the union.
Labels: conferences
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