I’m never sure how many people actually read newspaper editorials.  I know when I worked for Ministers we used to expend quite a bit of mental energy about them if they were particularly negative, but I think that was more because it might be representative of the wider approach of the paper. Then we would console ourselves that we were probably among the minority that actually read them.

Thus I am not sure how high a state of dudgen to get in about this morning’s bitter diatribe in the Dominion Post. Essentially it is an all out attack on the teaching profession- pinging them as political appratchiks, unprincipled and simultaneously describing them as “not the pivot around which education should revolve”  and as being responsible for the failure of anyone who has been through the education system.

It seems the root of this rant is the reluctance of some teachers to implement the governments national standards/testing regime.  What the writer ignores is that legislation implementing the standards was put through Parliament under urgency with no opportunity for public input.   The initial timetable (now delayed) for putting in place standards was rushed and teachers felt they were only being given a token opportunity to be involved.  Moreover what I have heard from teachers is that they felt there was a total lack of respect for, and understanding of,  the work they had done over recent years in improving the assessment and reporting of student achievement.

Reading this editorial I suspect the author has not been in a classroom for many years.   I visit at least a school a week and I can say with certainty that the quality of education being delivered by teachers is high, and the approaches they take innovative and world leading.  Of course there are exceptions and of course it can be improved, but that won’t happen with the kind of attitudes evidenced in this editorial. It also won’t happen if the government cuts professional development funding as it has done this year.

In my view teachers are in fact the key to quality education.  The focus must be on the students, but the key to their success is the passion, knowledge, training and skill of the people who are in front of them every day.  They also are part of a partnership with parents and communities to ensure that children show up ready and able to learn.  We need to invest and support teachers to continually improve their skills, use new technology and adopt new and innovative teaching practices.   That will happen by respecting the professionalism and dedication of teachers not by taking silly, ill-informed pot-shots at them.