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Teaching, testing and technology
An interview with John Bangs, Head of Education and Equal Opportunities, NUT
By Clare Richards |
John Bangs hasn't taught in a classroom for 15 years but he still misses the buzz. "I miss schools as a community," he says. "Happy schools with happy staff are some of the finest places in the world." Templars Special School in Tower Hamlets, where he taught art for 15 years, sounds like it was a positive place to be. The school had a link with the Whitechapel Art Gallery with resident artists spending time in school and children exhibiting their art work in the gallery.
These days John Bangs does art in his spare time and spends his days working for the NUT as a passionate advocate of the teaching profession, representing their views and needs at the highest levels - so what are some of the current issues close to his heart?
With his own background in teaching children with special needs, John Bangs is strongly in favour of the use of ICT in this area. "I think it's a fantastic motivator and in fact the availability of computer technology, particularly for some of our most disturbed children has been a real boon. Obviously you've got to have some of the best teachers in the business to tackle some of those most challenging kids, but I think ICT is a great support," he says.
"We have our disagreements with the Government's School Workforce Agreement but the School Pathfinder scheme has been fascinating. One of the most innovative things has been an inspiring group of teachers who really know what they're talking about and can advise others about what material is out there, so that they don't have to keep reinventing the wheel," he says.
He has strong views on the current high stakes testing system. "The consequences for teachers of not getting a decent percentage of kids at Level 4 and above in mathematics and English at Key Stage 2 can be pretty bad - you could trigger an early inspection and your school could go into special measures. There's nothing wrong with the tests themselves - but their consequences make them 'high stakes' and all our evidence shows that this tends to undermine innovation," he says. He is also concerned about the state of the creative arts in the curriculum: "I think that's where innovation really ought to have an impact. There should be a much greater sense of freedom about using visual disciplines and music as a way of learning," he says.
And what does he feel are the challenges that will face schools and teachers in ten years time? "I think a big challenge for teachers in the future will be the expectation that what you've invented and what you do must always be marketed to other schools. The positive side of that is that we should expect schools to share their best practice. But the downside is that we're involved in a commercial culture that sells knowledge. I think the challenge for schools will be how to buck the trend that the only knowledge and experience you can share is something that you can sell and buy," he warns.
He is also concerned about wider societal issues, which will necessarily impact directly upon teachers. "I have an enormous amount of hope for teachers and schools and most of the kids in them," he says. "But we do have a situation, which is at a cusp, where there are kids and families - and not necessarily from deprived backgrounds - who simply do not care about school and don't have an underpinning sense of the importance of learning. The question is whether teachers and schools can cope with that. I don't mean violence, I mean low level unacceptable behaviour, which is a worsening problem and I think one of the biggest challenges facing teachers," he says.
I was curious to know if he would ever consider returning to teaching. "I enjoy the company of kids but my constituency is teachers now and it's important that I listen very careful to their needs. I think if I did go back I'd be a better teacher than I was 15 years ago but I'd have to have a couple of years of intensive training," he muses. But I suspect he was just humouring me: with the election for NUT General Secretary looming on the horizon, John Bangs' eyes are set firmly on the future.
Links
www.johnbangs.com: John Bangs' campaign website for the election of the General Secretary of the NUT
www.teachers.org.uk: National Union of Teachers
www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/remodelling/pathfinders: read case studies of schools who participated in the government's Transforming the School Workforce Pathfinder Project
January 2004
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