Where now for ASTI? ****ASTI Action- Part III - See 1st Post***

feardeas

acequion wrote:

And as for your remark about breaking directives, I don't know of anybody in my school or region who breaks directives.And as for sanctions not being applied, thanks for giving me an important point to bring up at the next branch meeting or perhaps email to head office.

I would advise caution. There is no thumping mandate. Being in the majority does not necessarily imply virtue. Over reach might be dangerous. No need to attack me or anybody else, you have your victory.

This is my last contribution as from next week I'll no longer be a member and as such it would not be my place to comment. All the best to everyone, I hope the campaign will bring some measure of what you may consider success.

PureClareGold

feardeas wrote: »

I would advise caution. There is no thumping mandate. Being in the majority does not necessarily imply virtue. Over reach might be dangerous. No need to attack me or anybody else, you have your victory.

This is my last contribution as from next week I'll no longer be a member and as such it would not be my place to comment. All the best to everyone, I hope the campaign will bring some measure of what you may consider success.

That will be my next step also. For the sake of my students. Can't seen what the union can achieve on their current path. I'm done

MrJones1973

Ah Feardras dont go. I enjoyed your perspectives. These debates can get over heated. You're perfectly entitled to walk away from any organisation. I walked too for different reasons but will rejoin.

Overall without a Union we would be totally screwed. The union has made many cock ups but you have only to look at the UK to see what a weak union can do.
Please dont stay away from boards or the ASTI forever-we need you. We need to hear all sides.

But you must know new JC is dumbing down academia-the 10% will be sorted. External examiners will be sent in.

Your students wont ensure you have decent working conditions or a decent pension.

judeboy101

PureClareGold wrote: »

That will be my next step also. For the sake of my students. Can't seen what the union can achieve on their current path. I'm done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RybNI0KB1bg

acequion

I see Mrwhite's point in urging feardeas to remain. But I feel he is doing the right thing in leaving,as is PureClareGold.

A few posts back feardeas revealed that he [sorry,perhaps a she but we'll assume fear implies he] is a permanent teacher with no immediate fear of redundancy. To me that type of union member is only thinking of himself and not the bigger picture. I fully expect to be attacked for saying this and that's fine.

In this last ballot I could see the logic to voting Yes in two situations:1.A non permanent teacher wanting a quicker access to a CID and 2.A teacher in danger of redundancy in the foreseeable future. As for the others, I can see no merit whatsoever in their reasoning and am convinced that it is largely to do with selfishness /fear or both.

They will argue that we are better off inside agreements with all the other unions.Really? How on earth can they ignore the overwhelming evidence that each one of these agreements has worsened teaching conditions and hence teacher morale.

They will argue that we should be at the negotiating table for the forthcoming pay talks and successor to the LRA. Again where is the evidence that any union has ever achieved anything meaningful at these so called "negotiations"? Especially when threatened by Fempi. These agreements are nothing other than a straitjacket, which completely suits the employer, and the trade union movement en masse should be calling to wind them down now that the emergency is over. I'm glad our union remains outside,though of course I'm am well aware that we'd have more clout if we had company outside. But at present,we don't and that is not a good reason for scampering for cover.

So I personally feel that a lot of these Yes people have nothing to contribute to the campaign for equal pay and the campaign to maintain the equity of objective,external assessment,the campaign for standards such as the maintaining of different levels in subjects and the fight against overload in working conditions, because they accept the very things we are campaigning against.

MrJones1973

The no vote was narrow. The big guns will be wheeled out. I'm totally against FEMPI and bullying deals. I plan to rejoin as I was mistaken about back bone of union but the Union will be hoping for a new government as things stand they (gov)won't move. A long strike might change that but little hope of that. So we hold position and box clever.
But I would not dismiss the likes of feadras or other critics. Fast majority of Asti members are just not that worked up about things as posters are here and can sway in the wind. 28℅ decline in no vote. Engagement of all members has to be ongoing. You dismiss feadras and perhaps me at your peril

feardeas

acequion wrote:

They will argue that we are better off inside agreements with all the other unions.Really? How on earth can they ignore the overwhelming evidence that each one of these agreements has worsened teaching conditions and hence teacher morale.

acequion wrote:

I see Mrwhite's point in urging feardeas to remain. But I feel he is doing the right thing in leaving,as is PureClareGold.

acequion wrote:

A few posts back feardeas revealed that he [sorry,perhaps a she but we'll assume fear implies he] is a permanent teacher with no immediate fear of redundancy. To me that type of union member is only thinking of himself and not the bigger picture. I fully expect to be attacked for saying this and that's fine.

acequion wrote:

In this last ballot I could see the logic to voting Yes in two situations:1.A non permanent teacher wanting a quicker access to a CID and 2.A teacher in danger of redundancy in the foreseeable future. As for the others, I can see no merit whatsoever in their reasoning and am convinced that it is largely to do with selfishness /fear or both.

acequion wrote:

They will argue that we are better off inside agreements with all the other unions.Really? How on earth can they ignore the overwhelming evidence that each one of these agreements has worsened teaching conditions and hence teacher morale.

acequion wrote:

They will argue that we should be at the negotiating table for the forthcoming pay talks and successor to the LRA. Again where is the evidence that any union has ever achieved anything meaningful at these so called "negotiations"? Especially when threatened by Fempi. These agreements are nothing other than a straitjacket, which completely suits the employer, and the trade union movement en masse should be calling to wind them down now that the emergency is over. I'm glad our union remains outside,though of course I'm am well aware that we'd have more clout if we had company outside. But at present,we don't and that is not a good reason for scampering for cover.

acequion wrote:

A few posts back feardeas revealed that he [sorry,perhaps a she but we'll assume fear implies he] is a permanent teacher with no immediate fear of redundancy. To me that type of union member is only thinking of himself and not the bigger picture. I fully expect to be attacked for saying this and that's fine.

Thanks, I've never been selfish. What said is true and rather than showing me as selfish I see it as bring reasoned. I see the bigger picture, just a different one. Enjoy the echo chamber you seem intent on inhabiting. Mr White, you and I don't agree but your passion is obvious. Your grace also. Acquien, I think your thinking needs to be careful. It's bordering on calling for a purge. Mind you from what I hear it won't be needed.

I'm not going to answer the points that weren't attacks. Not my issue anymore. I'm just going to concentrate on doing my job to the best of my ability now.

man_no_plan

judeboy101 wrote: »

Just talking to a 'man in the know', SEC have plans to externally access the 10%.

It was always going to be externally assessed. It was to be carried out in class under the supervision of a teacher.

acequion

Mrwhite1970 wrote: »

The no vote was narrow. The big guns will be wheeled out. I'm totally against FEMPI and bullying deals. I plan to rejoin as I was mistaken about back bone of union but the Union will be hoping for a new government as things stand they (gov)won't move. A long strike might change that but little hope of that. So we hold position and box clever.
But I would not dismiss the likes of feadras or other critics. Fast majority of Asti members are just not that worked up about things as posters are here and can sway in the wind. 28℅ decline in no vote. Engagement of all members has to be ongoing. You dismiss feadras and perhaps me at your peril

You, yes Mrwhite but not feardeas and that ilk of Yes poster. feardeas was Yes all along. No offence feardeas and I'm not trying to be personal here as I don't know you. I'm referring to a certain cohort of Yes members of which you are one.I don't see what they have to contribute to the current union campaigns. But I agree with Mrwhite that I hope you will stay posting here. Different viewpoints are indeed healthy.

Nor am I suggesting that all Yes voters should pyss off. That would be outrageous. There are quite a lot of Yes voters who did so because they lost faith in the union last November. I really hope we can get them back onside.

By the way,I'm delighted you've decided to rejoin Mrwhite. And to be fair to you,though I wouldn't approve of you leaving at that critical juncture, you were one of the first to realise that the No vote would get a huge hair cut. At the time I thought you were calamitising but I soon realised that you were right.

Hopefully the union will learn the important lessons and move on.

acequion

feardeas wrote: »

Thanks, I've never been selfish. What said is true and rather than showing me as selfish I see it as bring reasoned. I see the bigger picture, just a different one. Enjoy the echo chamber you seem intent on inhabiting. Mr White, you and I don't agree but your passion is obvious. Your grace also. Acquien, I think your thinking needs to be careful. It's bordering on calling for a purge. Mind you from what I hear it won't be needed.

I'm not going to answer the points that weren't attacks. Not my issue anymore. I'm just going to concentrate on doing my job to the best of my ability now.

I have never been deliberately bitchy to you. Must you be so to me? You were always polite but not since the result was announced on Thursday evening. You are disappointed,I suppose, but still!

In any case I wish you well.

feardeas

acequion wrote:

I have never been deliberately bitchy to you. Must you be so to me? You were always polite but not since the result was announced on Thursday evening. You are disappointed,I suppose, but still!

acequion wrote:

In any case I wish you well.

Apologies, I was annoyed Thursday, but certainly don't mean to be rude. The 'you' was generic rather than personal. Thanks for the wishes and they are mutual.

mtoutlemonde

judeboy101 wrote: »

I don't teach accountancy, have no qualifications in it, but one year I corrected a bunch for the mocks company as a favour. I put that on my application to sec and they hired me. I could prob do the same in Arabic if I wanted to, or Japanese.

That's a mocks company who don't really care about the standards of their correctors hence the reason why I take results from them with a pinch of salt. This would also explain the reason why a good few colleagues sent back corrected exams in the past because of the poor quality correcting.

Powerhouse wrote: »

The SEC does not even ask the name of the person who carries out the task of examiner never mind establishing that they are qualified and capable of doing the job. There is no verification process whatsoever, no standards, no invigilation of any description.

I'm not sure what you mean by the SEC not asking an examiners name - we are given a bunk number which we are identified by if that's what you're on about. Again I'm not sure if there is no verification on application or is it during the correcting period - where each examiner has a supervising examiner who ensures that standards are met.

There is a page on the SEC (https://www.examinations.ie/?l=en&mc=re&sc=poa) regarding recruitment of examiners for 2017.

Qualifications

· Registered with the Teaching Council as a teacher of the subject concerned, or holding qualifications sufficient for such registration.

· Further qualifications (in the subject or in education).

Applicants with the necessary qualifications in the subject but not yet qualified as teachers will be considered only if vacancies remain after all suitable and fully qualified applicants have been offered appointment.

I will send them an email regarding 'holding qualifications sufficient for such registration'. I'm going to send them an email with my queries because I'm fed up hearing of people who are either unqualified or correcting a subject that they are not registered for because if this is happening - they can correct my subject as well because I will never do it again and will be letting them know.

judeboy101

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

That's a mocks company who don't really care about the standards of their correctors hence the reason why I take results from them with a pinch of salt. This would also explain the reason why a good few colleagues sent back corrected exams in the past because of the poor quality correcting.



I'm not sure what you mean by the SEC not asking an examiners name - we are given a bunk number which we are identified by if that's what you're on about. Again I'm not sure if there is no verification on application or is it during the correcting period - where each examiner has a supervising examiner who ensures that standards are met.

There is a page on the SEC (https://www.examinations.ie/?l=en&mc=re&sc=poa) regarding recruitment of examiners for 2017.

Qualifications

· Registered with the Teaching Council as a teacher of the subject concerned, or holding qualifications sufficient for such registration.

· Further qualifications (in the subject or in education).

Applicants with the necessary qualifications in the subject but not yet qualified as teachers will be considered only if vacancies remain after all suitable and fully qualified applicants have been offered appointment.

I will send them an email regarding 'holding qualifications sufficient for such registration'. I'm going to send them an email with my queries because I'm fed up hearing of people who are either unqualified or correcting a subject that they are not registered for because if this is happening - they can correct my subject as well because I will never do it again and will be letting them know.

You misunderstood what I said. I used my "correcting experience" with the mock company as my experience when applying to correct LC accountancy for the sec and they hired me no bother to correct accountancy despite no qualifications and not being an accountancy/business teacher. They were desperate and so was I.

mtoutlemonde

judeboy101 wrote: »

You misunderstood what I said. I used my "correcting experience" with the mock company as my experience when applying to correct LC accountancy for the sec and they hired me no bother to correct accountancy despite no qualifications and not being an accountancy/business teacher. They were desperate and so was I.

Well that would explain it because it also says the chief examiner considers each application with a holistic approach where that experience would have made you a suitable candidate. Still doesn't make it correct though in my opinion. Have a go at the Arabic this year

judeboy101

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

Well that would explain it because it also says the chief examiner considers each application with a holistic approach where that experience would have made you a suitable candidate. Still doesn't make it correct though in my opinion. Have a go at the Arabic this year

Considering the timeframe to correct and the large amounts/complexity of son papers the sec's checks and balances are pretty good even by international standards. They are struggling tho year to get correctors so that Arabic spot or maybe Hebrew studies lol

Powerhouse

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

I'm not sure what you mean by the SEC not asking an examiners name - we are given a bunk number which we are identified by if that's what you're on about. Again I'm not sure if there is no verification on application or is it during the correcting period - where each examiner has a supervising examiner who ensures that standards are met.

There is a page on the SEC (https://www.examinations.ie/?l=en&mc=re&sc=poa) regarding recruitment of examiners for 2017.

Qualifications

· Registered with the Teaching Council as a teacher of the subject concerned, or holding qualifications sufficient for such registration.

· Further qualifications (in the subject or in education).

Applicants with the necessary qualifications in the subject but not yet qualified as teachers will be considered only if vacancies remain after all suitable and fully qualified applicants have been offered appointment.

I will send them an email regarding 'holding qualifications sufficient for such registration'. I'm going to send them an email with my queries because I'm fed up hearing of people who are either unqualified or correcting a subject that they are not registered for because if this is happening - they can correct my subject as well because I will never do it again and will be letting them know.

I spoke to the SEC on the phone last Tuesday morning and I can assure you that in the case of JC languages all that stuff about recruitment bears no relation to practice. I'm not sure what you mean by bunk number - maybe that relates to written exams but they have no interest in who does the JC oral component. In fact I would think that the verification process doesn't even go far enough to prevent the results being made up. That's the kind of thing against which the ASTI has a directive, yet we have people here leaving the union because they cannot accept a democratic result. How could any person with any intellectual integrity and moral courage not support a union in its attempts to prevent practices which are so devoid of any robustness?

Mekekka

Disappointing to see a few posters on here planning to leave the union... Their disappointment in the result last week is the obvious reasoning but is it awfully idealistic of me to think that we (the union) are all still fighting the same fight since last time, just with different tools/approach? I don't really understand how leaving now makes sense, what is going to be achieved by being non union at this point? Is it not better to be involved with a strong voice one way or the other, than not involved at all? Also disappointing to see people on other social spaces asking about the feasibility of leaving to join the TUI with the assumption being that the TUI will get everything promised while there is zero chance of us getting anything, ever. At this stage, as difficult as it may be, what we need to do it stand strong and have faith in the leaders to get us through this. I may eat my words at a later date, but can't help but be optimistic that there will be change and our members will have their voices heard... as I stated earlier, what use is there being anything but optimistic in these situations ?

mtoutlemonde

Powerhouse wrote: »

I spoke to the SEC on the phone last Tuesday morning and I can assure you that in the case of JC languages all that stuff about recruitment bears no relation to practice. I'm not sure what you mean by bunk number - maybe that relates to written exams but they have no interest in who does the JC oral component. In fact I would think that the verification process doesn't even go far enough to prevent the results being made up. That's the kind of thing against which the ASTI has a directive, yet we have people here leaving the union because they cannot accept a democratic result. How could any person with any intellectual integrity and moral courage not support a union in its attempts to prevent practices which are so devoid of any robustness?

Yes that bunk number is for written exams which I thought you were referring to - apologies. Yes I know the person who moderates the optional (at present - will change in September) oral is any representative the school deems adequate hence the ASTI directive.

Yes I totally agree with the rest of your points as well hence the reason I voted no - the croke park/s&s really doesn't bother me but the dumbing down of the JC is something I would not like to see. It should never have been grouped together with pay. There are aspects to the new languages course that I like and feel are important especially oral (if moderated externally) but if the paper is dumbed down as much as the English paper - we might as well get the students to colour in a picture of the Eiffel Tower for the exam.

PureClareGold

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

Yes that bunk number is for written exams which I thought you were referring to - apologies. Yes I know the person who moderates the optional (at present - will change in September) oral is any representative the school deems adequate hence the ASTI directive.

Yes I totally agree with the rest of your points as well hence the reason I voted no - the croke park/s&s really doesn't bother me but the dumbing down of the JC is something I would not like to see. It should never have been grouped together with pay. There are aspects to the new languages course that I like and feel are important especially oral (if moderated externally) but if the paper is dumbed down as much as the English paper - we might as well get the students to colour in a picture of the Eiffel Tower for the exam.

That is exactly the kind of misinformation that keeps being put out. The drama - colour the Eiffel Tower! How exactly is the English paper "dumbed down"? There are less questions - yes. There are different types of questions - yes. However when you look at the papers forensically you can see that there are areas where students can achieve quite easily - similar to the old JC. There are also questions that will challenge students also - like the old JC. If a question asks students to write a diary entry - then surely it is in the student's level of answering that the grade will be determined.

Powerhouse

PureClareGold wrote: »

That is exactly the kind of misinformation that keeps being put out. The drama - colour the Eiffel Tower! How exactly is the English paper "dumbed down"? There are less questions - yes. There are different types of questions - yes. However when you look at the papers forensically you can see that there are areas where students can achieve quite easily - similar to the old JC. There are also questions that will challenge students also - like the old JC. If a question asks students to write a diary entry - then surely it is in the student's level of answering that the grade will be determined.

One of the JC English sample papers has a question "what is your favourite song and why?". Okay, the "why?" part can be a fair conundrum for some OL students but anyone who thinks that dumbing down isn't going on is deluded.
They can get through large swathes of the paper through basic comprehension.

During a clearout a colleague of mine unearthed some old papers from the 1977-86 era for OL Leaving Cert English and it is astonishing how things have fallen since then. It's unsurprising in one sense as the SEC has to cater for the fact that everybody does the LC now and a failure rate that would be inevitable at the standards of those old papers would be politically unacceptable, but this new stuff takes the biscuit altogether.

In the old one you had fiction/drama/media studies/functional writing sections which actually required them to know things, perform tasks and maybe talk about a short story or two, or (let's go mad for a minute) a novel. Now it's all the woolly "responding imaginatively" nonsense which they could have a fair rattle at if they never attended class. The sample papers include film posters and then pose analytical questions such as "what date is the film opening?" And dumbing-down isn't going on? The new JC is a political process and as such will be greeted with great results (marking schemes will be revisited in mid-stream as was done with project Maths to ensure this if needs be) which will be trumpeted next September as evidence of its success but it will mask a very disturbing reality.

You are saying that "there are areas where the student can achieve quite easily"...............that's the whole point, they can achieve too easily without having to learn much or demonstrate much skill. But hold on to your hats the dumbing down process will soon be coming to a subject near you. Eventually we'll catch up with "Finland" and all will be well with the world. At least when history looks back on this phase the ASTI membership can have a clear conscience.

PureClareGold

Powerhouse wrote: »

One of the JC English sample papers has a question "what is your favourite song and why?". Okay, the "why?" part can be a fair conundrum for some OL students but anyone who thinks that dumbing down isn't going on is deluded.
They can get through large swathes of the paper through basic comprehension.

During a clearout a colleague of mine unearthed some old papers from the 1977-86 era for OL Leaving Cert English and it is astonishing how things have fallen since then. It's unsurprising in one sense as the SEC has to cater for the fact that everybody does the LC now and a failure rate that would be inevitable at the standards of those old papers would be politically unacceptable, but this new stuff takes the biscuit altogether.

In the old one you had fiction/drama/media studies/functional writing sections which actually required them to know things, perform tasks and maybe talk about a short story or two, or (let's go mad for a minute) a novel. Now it's all the woolly "responding imaginatively" nonsense which they could have a fair rattle at if they never attended class. The sample papers include film posters and then pose analytical questions such as "what date is the film opening?" And dumbing-down isn't going on? The new JC is a political process and as such will be greeted with great results (marking schemes will be revisited in mid-stream as was done with project Maths to ensure this if needs be) which will be trumpeted next September as evidence of its success but it will mask a very disturbing reality.

You are saying that "there are areas where the student can achieve quite easily"...............that's the whole point, they can achieve too easily without having to learn much or demonstrate much skill. But hold on to your hats the dumbing down process will soon be coming to a subject near you. Eventually we'll catch up with "Finland" and all will be well with the world. At least when history looks back on this phase the ASTI membership can have a clear conscience.

Why do you think I'm deluded? You've picked out one question in particular which is part A of a section that has three further questions. The first three look for information retrieval from the posters - testing a students comprehension skills. This is a style of quest you would frequently find on many current JC papers. Part 4 asks "When one of the reviews says thatbthe film is 'Spellbinding' it means that,... there are four options to choose from. Some students in my class found the last part quite challenging. Some didn't - but hey not everyone will achieve 100% in an exam. Not everyone will get 0% either.
You call me deluded - I could equally say that people who keep throwing out this dumbing down claim are ignorant as they haven't looked in detail at the papers, can't embrace the modern world we are living in where the skills our students need to cope and live with are different to the ones required from 1977-86. I think people need to wake up to that reality, stop underestimating the students they have and be prepared to let go of some of the power in their classrooms and let the students develop skills they need for life

evolving_doors

If you leave ASTI would that nullify any policies you took out through their discount scheme like
Salary protection, car insurance etc.?

Powerhouse

PureClareGold wrote: »

Why do you think I'm deluded? You've picked out one question in particular which is part A of a section that has three further questions. The first three look for information retrieval from the posters - testing a students comprehension skills. This is a style of quest you would frequently find on many current JC papers. Part 4 asks "When one of the reviews says thatbthe film is 'Spellbinding' it means that,... there are four options to choose from. Some students in my class found the last part quite challenging. Some didn't - but hey not everyone will achieve 100% in an exam. Not everyone will get 0% either.
You call me deluded - I could equally say that people who keep throwing out this dumbing down claim are ignorant as they haven't looked in detail at the papers, can't embrace the modern world we are living in where the skills our students need to cope and live with are different to the ones required from 1977-86. I think people need to wake up to that reality, stop underestimating the students they have and be prepared to let go of some of the power in their classrooms and let the students develop skills they need for life

Claiming that people "can't embrace the modern world" is meaningless and fairly typical of the kind of woolly one-upmanship that goes on when people "fear change". I have looked at papers from many years in a lot of detail and there is no doubt that they are far easier these days by any assessment. But if you believe that correctly guessing a synonym for "spellbinding" is equipping people for the "modern world" you are mistaken.

Giving them proper subject matter in the form of a few short stories or a novel where they might get to discuss real-life issues like power, discrimination, emotions, actions etc. in a recognisable context would be far more relevant and challenging. It's funny how you accuse people of "underestimating" their students when the new JC itself does that as well as boring the bloody daylights out of them. The notion that an English class needs to provide a totally different set of skills these days to 30 years ago is laughable. Helping people to become properly literate and reasonably articulate and encouraging intellectual courage still matters.

As I have said before this has happened because education policy is being driven ideologically rather than in a practical sense.

Millem

Gebgbegb wrote: »

If you leave ASTI would that nullify any policies you took out through their discount scheme like
Salary protection, car insurance etc.?

I am in a dual union school, a lot of asti members were talking about leaving the union.
We were told on Friday it's avcs and income protection. Never thought about car insurance etc.
Some asti members rang up Cornmarket who said they could restart them but I don't know how if the can't join Tui! The rate you pay for salary protection is brokered by the union. Tui pay a little less than asti whereas my husband who works in a university would less than me! I presume avcs work the same way different rates of commission for different unions.

Also if you have previous sick leave I don't know how that would work. I got in on a "no questions asked promo for under 40's" a few years ago. As did my friend who is a diabetic. I priced salary protection years ago and some wouldn't even give a quote to teachers as apparently they are in the high risk category.

Tui rep in my school is adamant they can not join Tui now, although some asti think the will just join anyway and by pass rep.
They had to of left asti before a certain date during the summer to be able to join Tui. Things got a little heated tbh

PureClareGold

Powerhouse wrote: »

Claiming that people "can't embrace the modern world" is meaningless and fairly typical of the kind of woolly one-upmanship that goes on when people "fear change". I have looked at papers from many years in a lot of detail and there is no doubt that they are far easier these days by any assessment. But if you believe that correctly guessing a synonym for "spellbinding" is equipping people for the "modern world" you are mistaken.

Giving them proper subject matter in the form of a few short stories or a novel where they might get to discuss real-life issues like power, discrimination, emotions, actions etc. in a recognisable context would be far more relevant and challenging. It's funny how you accuse people of "underestimating" their students when the new JC itself does that as well as boring the bloody daylights out of them. The notion that an English class needs to provide a totally different set of skills these days to 30 years ago is laughable. Helping people to become properly literate and reasonably articulate and encouraging intellectual courage still matters.

As I have said before this has happened because education policy is being driven ideologically rather than in a practical sense.

You're absolutely spot on and I agree with you when you say that students should be able to
discuss real-life issues like power, discrimination, emotions, actions etc. The freedom is there to do this in more depth than ever before. Some teachers would ignore those themes if they came up on last year's exam in an attempt to beat bathe system and narrow a students learning to what would come up on the exam. Lack of predictability leads to greater freedom.
" The notion that an English class needs to provide a totally different set of skills these days to 30 years ago is laughable." I think it's your opinion here is laughable. There are so many more and different ways to access knowledge and information that the modern classroom HAS to be different from the one of 30 years ago. Saying or doing otherwise is paramount to setting your students up to fail once they walk out the school gates.
Please come out of the dark ages and your hedge school mentality and embrace the world we live in and teach in today.

Powerhouse

PureClareGold wrote: »

There are so many more and different ways to access knowledge and information

Can you elaborate on this please?

r93kaey5p2izun

What are your criticisms of the new English specification PureClareGold?

mirrorwall14

Millem wrote: »

I am in a dual union school, a lot of asti members were talking about leaving the union.
We were told on Friday it's avcs and income protection. Never thought about car insurance etc.
Some asti members rang up Cornmarket who said they could restart them but I don't know how if the can't join Tui! The rate you pay for salary protection is brokered by the union. Tui pay a little less than asti whereas my husband who works in a university would less than me! I presume avcs work the same way different rates of commission for different unions.

Also if you have previous sick leave I don't know how that would work. I got in on a "no questions asked promo for under 40's" a few years ago. As did my friend who is a diabetic. I priced salary protection years ago and some wouldn't even give a quote to teachers as apparently they are in the high risk category.

Tui rep in my school is adamant they can not join Tui now, although some asti think the will just join anyway and by pass rep.
They had to of left asti before a certain date during the summer to be able to join Tui. Things got a little heated tbh

Unless the rep misses a TUI branch meeting they won't get in. All new members names come before the branch before they are accepted. We have postponed acceptance of members before when there was no one to confirm them

Funnily enough we have TUI members wanting to go to ASTI but can't either

acequion

Bean Scoile wrote: »

Now that the Asti have rejected the offer, can tui teachers with 15 years service take up the offer of withdrawing from s and s?

I have been thinking about this one and I would say that yes they can.

This offer came as a result of the Novemebr TCC talks at which INTO and TUI were also in attendance. The proviso to this offer being that the union be a signatory to the LRA.

So does that not clearly mean that the other teacher unions can now avail of it?

mtoutlemonde

Kolton Teeny Hall wrote: »

What are your criticisms of the new English specification PureClareGold?

None - it's all fantastic!!! Anyone with a bit of knowledge can see that the current and its replacement are miles apart but people like PureClareGold who it appears to me seems to have a chip on his/her shoulder for anyone that doesn't agree with him/her.