In the Moodle

In the past “Virtual Learning Environments” were regarded with suspicion by teachers as a sci fi concept in which teachers are replaced with computers. After attending Moodlemoot ’06 at the Open University, I can honestly say that Moodle, the open source course management system, is actually whatever the teacher wants it to be.

The course seminars included teachers from diverse disciplines from Science to English to Music and of course ICT who all used Moodle to teach in the way which suited them.

Although the system is based on a social constructivist model of education, teachers frequently start out using it to replicate traditional classroom activities like essay-writing, feedback and redrafting or quizzes/tests with the slight difference that these are self-marking and pupils get instant feedback. Teachers only then go on to some of the more unusual features of Moodle like Wikis, blogs, asynchronous discussion groups and podcasting.

And because it is Open Source free software, teachers can contribute to the future design of Moodle without some acquisitive corporations we could mention seeking to block them under the pretext of “business secrets”.

Moodle is now used by over 100000 registered users, including the Open University. It is free to download and use and many schools and local authorities who have poured hundreds of thousands of pounds into the coffers of Microsoft are keen to find free software.

If you want to find out more there is a website which talks about the conference and demonstrates the program at the same time. It is called http://moodlemoot.org/ and all of the conference is available as audio or video files. I recommend the audio file because the video quality will depend on the quality of your computer.

You can also contact wsta_addresses(at)yahoo.co.uk if you are interested in developing Moodle in West Sussex. Responses may be delayed by holidays :)

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is fast becoming the standard online repository of all knowledge and wisdom. Although it contains much that is inaccurate, the rigorous scrutiny each new entry received from around the world means that inaccuracies do not remain on the books for long.

There is even a page about the West Sussex Teachers Association

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSTA

And like everyone else on the internet, you can edit it.

Workload and Performance Management

13 July 2006




Workload Campaign and Performance Management
The General Secretary referred to the letter from the School Workforce Group, which followed the NUT’s application for a judicial review over the consultation on new performance management regulations. This letter announced the decision of the Minister to extend the consultation period for an additional six weeks and furthermore to give schools until 31 January to agree plans for their staff that reflected the revised regulations. These decisions represented a victory for the NUT.
The Executive decided to prepare guidelines on workload, consistent with the resolution passed by Conference 2006 and including reference to the proposed new performance management regulations. The Executive agreed that preparations should be made for a national ballot of members to provide backing for the guidelines and to ascertain the readiness of members to take action in support of these guidelines. The Executive agreed to the holding of a briefing for division secretaries early in the autumn term and for a special Executive meeting to consider an action strategy to take forward the Union’s campaign on workload and performance management.

Education & Inspections Bill
The General Secretary reported on the highly successful rally and lobby of Parliament held on 27 June. The theme for the NUT had been the marketisation of education. The NUT had made a significant contribution to the day with the second highest number of representatives attending the rally, behind the PCS.
A message had been given to the lobbyists by Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC that, “the whole of the trade union movement is committed to defending our vital public services and celebrating the commitment and dedication of those who deliver them”. Brendan said that the rally was “yet another demonstration of the determination of trade unionists everywhere to oppose privatisation and commit to genuine reform based on upholding the public services ethos.” Brendan Barber had made clear that the TUC would initiate a campaign in support of public services that would match the undertaking given by the unions involved in the Public Services Not Private Profit rally and lobby of Parliament.

Meetings with Government
The General Secretary reported that on the morning of the rally and lobby of Parliament, he had attended a meeting with the Prime Minister as part of a TUC delegation. The topics for the meeting were pensions, energy policy and public services. The belated publication by government, through the Prime Minister’s Unit, of the document “The Government’s Approach to Public Service Reforms” had been considered unhelpful, including as it did a range of questionable assertions about the public service ethos not being destroyed by privatisation. A further separate meeting was being arranged on public services.
A first meeting had also been held with the Secretary of State for Education at which the NUT had been able to explain the history of the Union, its values and concerns, and what had been its motivation across three centuries.
A number of very important issues were touched upon and could be the subject of further meetings. These included the broad issue of the relationship with Government and other unions and the NUT’s publication, “The Costs of Inclusion”.
The General Secretary reported on a meeting with the Chancellor. He had reminded Gordon Brown about the commitment made in the Budget Statement to increase funding per pupil in the state sector to the 2006 levels in the independent sector, in order to match their pupil:teacher ratios. The General Secretary’s comment had been made in the light of remarks made by David Bell, Permanent Secretary at the DfES, that the Chancellor’s promise was merely aspirational. Gordon Brown said he wanted a national consensus on education expenditure.

International matters
The General Secretary reported that he had raised with EI the situation regarding government attacks on teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Mexican teachers’ affiliate to EI had supported EI making a regional case appeal on the issue. The approach from EI had resulted from the NUT’s instigation.
The General Secretary would be taking up with the Foreign Office the effects of the deteriorating situation in the Middle East; on teachers and children in the area; on essential services; and on the economy of Gaza. The General Union of Palestinian Teachers had reported to the NUT that, like most public servants, teachers in Gaza had not been paid for months. The General Secretary reported that he was due to head an EI delegation to the area in a week’s time. Discussions had been held with the TUC to explore initiatives the TUC could take forward in relation to the situation facing teachers and education in Palestine.

TUC Matters
The Executive agreed to submit motions to TUC Congress on the Education & Inspections Bill and on Workplace Bullying. The Executive further agreed that an amendment concerning the Trade Union Freedom Bill should be considered as one of the two amendments to be submitted, if appropriate, once the preliminary agenda was known.
The General Secretary reported that the NUT had done well in the annual TUC Press and PR Awards. It had received a “Highly Commended” award for “The Really Useful Pack” in the recruitment material category and was “Commended” for its website.
The Executive re-elected the General Secretary and Lesley Auger to serve on the TUC General Council for 2006-2007.

Pay Claim
The Executive approved the NUT’s submission to the STRB on teachers’ pay and responsibilities. In its pay claim the NUT opposed the imposition of a two year pay award and called for a return to annual awards. It called on the Government to request the STRB to reconsider teachers’ pay – levels and structure – from 1 September 2006. The claim stated that teachers’ pay must rise significantly in real terms to levels that would enable the profession to compete effectively in the graduate market. The claim set out the changes requested by the NUT to the pay structure. It called for an increase of £2,500 or 10 per cent, whichever was the greater, for all salaries. It called further for the merging of the main and upper pay scales into a single scale; and significant increases in the two London and the Fringe allowances.

Consultation responses
The Executive urgently approved a record number of responses to consultation documents to be submitted before the summer. These included the Early Years Foundation Stage; Changes to Key Stage 1 English; Initial Teacher Training Requirements; and the Education (Performance Management) (England) Regulations 2006.
In this latter response, the NUT criticised the use of RIG as the appropriate forum for the development of the performance management proposals prior to statutory consultation, excluding as it did the largest teachers’ organisation in England and Wales, and being inconsistent with the intentions of legislation. The proposed timetable for introduction was too hasty and should not be before September 2007. The new requirements would have a profound impact on staff relationships within schools and teachers’ ownership of their professional development.

Black Caribbean Boys
The Executive agreed to convene a round table group including teachers, pupils, parents, and experts to look into educational underachievement among black boys from families of Caribbean origin.

Farewell to Andrew Wills, Accountant
The Executive gave Andrew, who had worked for the NUT for 30 years, the last 18 years as NUT Accountant, a very warm send-off and thanked him for his dedicated commitment to the Union over the years. Andrew was retiring from employment and moving to France.

NUT national training.

If you are a union rep, new or old, training is available for you next term from 13th to 15th November and 6th to 8th November.

If you are interested in these or any other NUT national training courses, contact us on wsta_addresses(at)yahoo.co.uk - replacing the (at) with @

A full list of Autumn term courses is available here

Fish!

Simon Yorke-Johnson, a former NUT cluster rep, is now teaching angling and he is keen to offer his services at a reduced rate to NUT members.

Contact wsta_addresses(at)yahoo.co.uk (substituting @ for the (at) obviously) and we can forward your details to him.

Parents vs. Academies

Parents in Merton have opposed the setting up of academies in their borough.

The Legal Team, acting for parent Rob MacDonald, was successful in their application for a Judicial Review at the Oral Permission Hearing on Wednesday 5 July, on the basis that parents were not properly consulted about the council's proposals or provided with sufficient information

They have a website where you can keep up to date on this campaign which has implications for every Local Authority in the country.

Campaign Against Academies in Merton

Teacher Power! - a report on the National Education Conference

Education Conference

Five members of WSTA attended the National Education Conference: Marje Hammond, Nick Isherwood, Derek McMillan and Malcolm Peppiatt. Also Veronica Peppiatt chaired two of the sessions on behalf of the National Executive.

The first session was a fascinating speech from Mick Waters of the QCA. Most teachers think of the QCA as a very top-downwards, authoritarian body producing highly prescriptive “advice.” Mick Waters brought an entirely different perspective. While recognising the tension between national testing and local autonomy he was perfectly clear that “people in schools need to set their understandings of their children alongside the learning they should meet to create learning which is irresistible.” Unlike the run-of-the-mill bureaucrats he prefers to spend his time in the classroom working with teachers.

This set the tone of a conference which was about (apologies for the jargon) empowering teachers. Teacher power! It has a certain ring to it!

This was continued with a discussion of “personalised learning” and the somewhat ambiguous definitions available from the government. It was felt that “personalised learning” could be used to promote teacher autonomy (teacher power again) and the concept that learning should be related to the needs, aptitude and ability of the pupils. There was also a warning that “personalised learning” could be misinterpreted as a system which involved pupils interacting with computers without any teacher intervention and the delivery of education could be in the hands of unqualified staff.

Paul Crisp is the managing director of CUREE and although his presentation was heavily focussed on the research methodology of his work on mentoring of teachers, it is clear that much useful material has come out of this research which will be of use to Union Learning Reps in the future. Much of it is now available online.

Elizabeth Wood of the University of Exeter talked about research on the issue of the underachievement of boys. Although she was restating much of the existing knowledge on this subject it is clearly important to go on stating it in a climate where the underachievement of boys is misunderstood. In many ways it is an oversimplification to talk about boys’ underachievement and her research was firmly based on the observation of children and her insights into the role of play. “When girls performed less well than boys it was not called underachievement. It was because they were all dumb blondes.” She has some very interesting and provocative research.

The future of the National Education Conference was a wide-ranging discussion somewhat depleted by some football game taking place at the same time.  It is proposed to promote the National Education Conference to teachers who take part in NUT Continuing Professional Development. They may well include the future leadership.

Maurice Galton’s research on “The Cost of Inclusion” tackled one of the conflicts in education at the moment. How can inclusion be helping pupils when the resources are not being provided to support the pupils being included? It is unsual for speeches to be interrupted by applause at the NEC. His remark that “these pupils have a right to be taught by qualified teachers” did receive a spontaneous ovation.

The final session of conference was a speech by Peter Mortimore who is not only an accomplished orator but also a powerful voice in educational circles. He had done a comparison between the NUT’s “Bringing down the Barriers” and the government’s Education Bill. The NUT had no input as to what his final result would be. The results are available online.
http://wsta.org.uk/mortimore.pdf

As Bill Greenshields concluded, “We are involved in a battle for ideas, every school is a fortress,”