The Guardian – Staff Writer
“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and the current climate in education is no exception. We’ve all read the headlines: Sats stress made children cry, teachers are quitting in droves, forced academisation against our wills – and so it goes on. The danger is that we teachers feed off the media and get so caught up in the outcry that we fail to maintain a sensible – or even professional – perspective. For me, it started with articles appearing on Facebook. When the first headlines emerged, it felt like the tone of the national media had begun to shift from teacher-bashing to recognising the difficulties our profession faces. I liked and shared posts with gusto. Sympathetic comments and supportive words of encouragement from the online community fuelled an acceleration in awareness-raising.”(more)