Congress notes that:
- The Government’s white paper, ‘The Importance of Teaching’, proposes that Initial Teacher Education (ITE) takes place almost exclusively in ‘training schools’;
- The proposed model characterises teaching as an activity that involves the transmission of a set of skills learned best ‘on the job’.
Congress believes that:
- This is not only an ideological battle about the nature of teaching but also a cost-cutting exercise that will bring about huge job losses and the closure of many university education departments;
- These changes have to be seen in the context of the attack on arts and humanities courses, the rise in student fees and increasing privatisation across all sectors of education.
Congress resolves to:
- Oppose the plans for ITE as outlined in the white paper
- Resist the closure of education departments and fight the loss of jobs that will result from these proposals.
Proposed: Clare Kelly
Seconded: Maggie Pitfield
Passed 10 February 2011