Scenes From The Battleground

This blog is about the state of secondary education. There is an introduction to it here:

• Welcome (or welcome back) to the Battleground

There is a discipline crisis and a lowering of standards both academic and professional. The following posts sum up what is typical in schools these days:

• The Top Five Lies About Behaviour
• They Call It PSHE, I Call It Hell
• The Naughty Boy
• The Disruptive Girl
• How To Find Out If Your Teacher Is Gay
• Unsolved Mysteries of Teaching
• Getting “Terrored”
• Mixed Ability Teaching Doesn’t Exist
• The Appeasers
• The Joy of Sets
• Not-So Special Needs
• The F***-Off Factor
• Ten Things to Know About the Kids
• Political Education Goes Down the Toilet
• Values
• Excuses, Excuses: Part 1
• Excuses, Excuses: Part 2
• Excuses, Excuses: Part 3
• Excuses, Excuses: Part 4
• The Two Discipline Systems
• “I Don’t Get It”
• Zen and the Art of Going to the Lavatory
• Ammunition
• The Year 11 Tipping Point
• 10 Things You Never Hear In Teaching
• A Few More Words About Appeasement

As well as the advice for teachers included in many of the other posts, I have written advice specifically for new teachers:

• FAQs for NQTs
• Is This Normal?

These deal more directly with my own personal experiences:

• The Corridor of Death
• The SIG Group
• The Anonymous Questionnaire. Part 1
• The Anonymous Questionnaire. Part 2
• The Behaviour Management Database
• More from the Behaviour Management Database
• A Good Class
• Non-Discipline Day
• Five Incidents That Didn’t Result In A Permanent Exclusion
• The Culture of Blame
• The Most Ridiculous Complaints Against Me Ever Made
• Being Supported by a Year Head
• Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the Education System
• The Core Business of Schools
• I Have A Dream
• Doctor What?
• I Have a Bad Relationship with the Kids

I have also written a number of posts exploring and explaining how this situation came to be, discussing the arguments in education and suggesting what can be done.

• Modern Education is Rubbish Part 1. Where Are We Now?
• Modern Education is Rubbish Part 2. What Should We Be Trying To Do?
• Modern Education is Rubbish Part 3. Why Are Our Schools Failing?
• A Brief History of Education. Part 1. Educational Thought
• A Brief History of Education Part 2. The 1944 Education Act
• A Brief History of Education Part 3. The Rise of the Comprehensive
• A Brief History of Education Part 4. The Assault on Professionalism
• The Cast of Culprits Part 1. The Students
• The Cast of Culprits Part 2. The Teachers
• The Cast of Culprits Part 3. The School Leaders
• The Cast Of Culprits: Part 4. The Bureaucrats
• Why I Like Being a Teacher
• If Only They Didn’t Have to Learn
• Gag the Student Voice
• Bad Ideas for Dealing with the Behaviour Crisis
• Bad Idea for Dealing with the Behaviour Crisis #1: Make Lessons More Fun
• Bad Idea for Dealing with the Behaviour Crisis #2: Bring Back Selection
• Bad Idea for Dealing with the Behaviour Crisis #3: End Compulsory Education
• Bad Idea for Dealing with the Behaviour Crisis #4: Have More Vocational Subjects
• Bad Idea for Dealing with the Behaviour Crisis #5: End Parental Choice
• The First Law of Behaviour Management
• The Second Law of Behaviour Management
• The Third Law of Behaviour Management
• The Fourth Law of Behaviour Management
• Teach First, Repent at Leisure
• Just For The Record, I Don’t Hate The Kids
• Why Education Shouldn’t be Run by Bankers
• “But They Have To Go Somewhere”
• Professionalism
• The Devil’s Own Education System
• In Praise of Harshness
• Detentions: Part 1
• Detentions: Part 2

I have also outlined what I would expect from schools willing to do put things right:

• My Dream School: Part 1
• My Dream School: Part 2

Finally, there are a few posts I wrote purely for a laugh (although some of them perhaps make a point at the same time):

• The Driving Lesson
• The Cult of INSET
• The Theory of Multiple Fitnesses
• The Kennedy Assassination: A Headteacher’s Perspective
• Blood and Guts
• Blame The Teacher - 1947 Style