Rose-tinted government recruitment campaign on BBC Breakfast

Appeared yesterday on BBC Breakfast talking about the new government advertising campaign to recruit teachers. I complained on the Beeb’s very red sofa that the government didn’t tell the truth, that it gave false hopes and that it sold the lie that teachers are paid like people in the corporate world. The campaign highlights all the skills needed to be a teacher: leadership skills, creativity, initiative, managing a budget, motivating colleagues and pupils and so forth. The sort of skills needed to be a top corporate executive. My gripe was: why are we receiving a fraction of the wages of the corporates?

Lots of my pupils saw it and said nice things. I am currently suffering from a slipped disk so mobility is a little difficult but I am hobbling along: a colleague said she didn’t notice it all. People are starting to tell me that I have to say their names on air now!

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