Thursday, January 26, 2006

PFI shambles

Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | The exorbitant cost of PFI is now being cruelly exposed

Allyson Pollock's article doesn't tell you much you didn't already know, but it's an impressively detailed demolition job on the government's most shameless sell-out of a noble institution that was once the envy of the world.

Irony bypass...

BBC NEWS | Education | Students bemoan 'unhip' lecturers:

I don't whether to laugh or cry at this item. I was particularly struck by the magisterial sweeping generalisation of
"They always look down on students, they always judge and have a lack of hygiene... most discussions in seminars revolve around the academic's new book. In short, every aspect of their measly little lives irritates me."
So, obviously, this student doesn't "judge" then...

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Educashun news

Today's Grauniad contains a couple of advertisements that caught my interest. The first is for a Business manager in a small secondary school - salary: £50,000. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I was a proper teacher, schools didn't have business managers. One of the deputies would do all the sums, control the stock of toilet rolls, employ handymen to mend windows etc. Of course, back then - silly us - we didn't realise that the school was a business. We thought it was about education. The headteacher of this school is named as "Spokey Wheeler". Now, presumably this man's (woman's?) parents weren't vindictive enough to name him Spokey, so this must be a nickname derived from the surname. Doubtless we are supposed to get a warm glow of matiness from this, but actually it's risible. If you are a headteacher of a school, you should have (or aspire to) a certain gravitas. Adopting a sobriquet that makes you sound like a blackballed member of the Drones club isn't the way to do it.
Meanwhile, another ad (and these ads cost about £30 per single column centimetre, so they aren't exactly cheap) is looking for a "Principle" Lecturer....