Recently on twitter I noticed a comment by Fearghal Kelly . He wrote:
“As you can probably tell this has irked me. Ive been paying thousands for my MEd/CT I don’t want to be told what I can do with it”
I tried to trace the conversation that led up to him becoming so irritated and I discovered an exchange of views about the role of Chartered Teachers in Scottish education. it was apparent that there was a difference of opinion as to what this role should be. I’ve copied some of the comments from the twitter conversation here (I’ve left out the names of the contributors because some of them have chosen to protect their twitter updates).
- Do we encourage our best teachers to become CTs, to do research to apply for promoted posts or do we not want to lose them?
- is it not all about promoting cpd/learning however teachers want to do it? Then you end up with a great workforce.
- Is it not recognition for the process & learning which you have undertaken – in the past. That doesn’t go away when you leave!!
- So if they move into something else, what harm will that do? You now have a masters level educator out there you might not have
- Why? If you’ve paid yourself through a Masters why on earth should that close doors? Couldn’t disagree more!
- What are you going to do about CT’s who stay in the classroom but don’t do much to warrant the status/cash?
- I think financial rewards via promotion are readily available. CT status, for me, is a recognition rather than a promotion!
- Seems, again, just as with Senior Teacher, Chartered T is being used as a stepping stone away from the classroom.
- I thought the entire point of CT was to reward those that stayed in the classroom, without forcing them into promoted posts?
But it was the following statement that caused much of the controversy:
- I think any teacher leaving the classroom within 5 years of gaining CT status should have it rescinded!!!!
As a result of the ‘debate’, Andrew Brown wrote this post.
I’ve copied just a small section of his post here:
“ …….To me, the entire point of CT was to reward and recognise someone’s dedication to classroom teaching. I have no objection to people taking up secondments and spending some time out of the classroom – in fact, I think many educators would benefit from doing so. But if someone is out for more that 5 years, are they dedicated to classroom practice? Should they go back in at the same level? I think that rescind is too strong a word, but I would call into question someone’s commitment to classroom teaching if they haven’t been doing it for more than five years.”
I’ve tried to view the debate objectively, but this has been difficult because every individual has their own personal reasons for deciding to embark on the Chartered Teacher journey – different incentives. The reason for this blog post is to help me clarify what motivated me to spend almost 6 years (and a lot of money!) to gain full Chartered Teacher status. So here’s my story ….
- I’ve now been teaching for 15 years – and I distinctly remember graduating as a mature student swearing that I was finished with studying and writing essays/assignments. I’d spent 4 years at Moray House and had sacrificed a lot of time and effort getting that honours degree whilst bringing up three young children (thanks to JV’s contribution!)
- 7 or 8 years on, I was aware that the initial ‘buzz’ I’d felt at the start of my career had begun to dwindle. Things were beginning to feel a little repetitive. Around that time, the Chartered Teacher initiative was launched and (after a LOT of soul searching) I was ready to ‘go for it’
- I learned loads during the first 8 modules (2 a year for 4 years) but it was a great deal of hard work …. Christmas and Easter holidays were always spent writing up essays explaining what I’d learned from the various action research projects I’d been involved in.
- I decided to combine the last 4 modules (2 years worth) into one large dissertation. It took me a while to collect the evidence (and a lot of blood, sweat and tears) so that I could write up the case study, but I’m enormously proud of it
- After graduating as a Chartered Teacher, I applied for a secondment post as an ICT Curriculum Support Officer. It’s a two year secondment, and I’ve spent my time sharing all the great things I learned from my C.T. journey about how the use of free online tools can improve learning and teaching.
The twitter debate has led me to ask questions about my right to retain C.T. status if I was given the opportunity to continue to share what I’ve learned after my two year secondment was completed. I suppose the two questions in my mind are:
- Would my time be better spent back in the classroom using what I’ve learned to improve (hopefully) the education of my own primary school class?
- Would my time be better spent trying to spread what I’ve learned to colleagues who can then use this, in turn, to (hopefully) improve the education of their pupils?
No matter what the answer is – I believe that I’ve earned the title of ‘Chartered Teacher’ and, as long as I’m continuing to try to make a difference to learning and teaching, why should it be rescinded? Or maybe it’s the financial aspect that’s upsetting people???
Anyway, I’ve copied a bit from a post I wrote a while ago on here after attending the launch of The Association of Chartered Teachers in the Scottish Parliament building:
“…….I felt very proud to be part of the Association. The speeches were uplifting (as was the music!) and I’ll ‘bullet point’ just a few of the messages I heard on the day:
- It has to be a group decision as to what our role now is – it’s important not to sit passively and be told the way forward
- We are now in a unique position to take things forward…….”
provided a link on twitter to a photograph taken on the evening in the 
Entries (RSS)