Vince Cable has been criticised after saying teachers know "absolutely nothing about the world of work". The Business Secretary was speaking to 600 representatives of the manufacturing industry when he made the comment.

 

"There has been an argument in Government about how to get the right careers advice in schools and successive governments have frankly messed this up," he said. "We haven't got this right. But the underlying problem is of course that most teachers, particularly in the secondary sector, are graduates. "They know how universities work, they know what you have to do to get an A-level, they know about UCAS forms - but they know absolutely nothing about the world of work."

 

NUT general secretary Christine Blower labelled the Lib Dem MP's remark "insulting". "This is a crass remark, which is insulting to teachers who are workers in their own right," she said.

 

http://news.sky.com/story/1221665/ca...-world-of-work

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Edited March 6, 201411 yr by Common Sense

I get his point, but it's worded horrifically. People often think teachers have an easy ride. I'd argue teaching is more of an 8-8 job, you just have to do work in your own time. The pressures of managers are from OFCOM, and infact I'd argue that it's the stress from the governors and the government that has lead to 'dropped standards'. They get favorable holidays, but that's part and parcel of teaching. Sure they might not know manual labour very well, but what white collar jobs do?

Like Rooney I can see what Cable meant but his choice of words was surprisingly clumsy. Most teachers have spent their entire lives in education so they are not necessarily well placed to offer careers advice. They may know the students - although even that is not always the case - but they don't always know enough to advise them on a career. Of course if specialist careers advisers are brought in - which may be what Cable is hinting at - they may know lots about the world of work but won't know the individual students.

Not much has changed from my day, my teachers were as useful as a chocolate fireguard at careers advice, i got my career guidance off my uncle, the teachers were/are just not qualified to give it, he is right, but his choice of words should have been a lot better

 

Careers advice in general is a load of crap though, people should follow their gut instinct and chase their dreams not be told 'you are great at science, become a doctor' like happened in my day

Not much has changed from my day, my teachers were as useful as a chocolate fireguard at careers advice, i got my career guidance off my uncle, the teachers were/are just not qualified to give it, he is right, but his choice of words should have been a lot better

 

Careers advice in general is a load of crap though, people should follow their gut instinct and chase their dreams not be told 'you are great at science, become a doctor' like happened in my day

How would you know? Have they made you resit school yet?

How would you know? Have they made you resit school yet?

 

Going by what Vince Cable says, sounds very similar, plus i have 1 nephew doing GCSE's this year and another A levels

 

Cable is one of a tiny handful of non tory mp's i have respect for, he has no reason to lie

I think his point fails to realise that you don't just graduate and become a teacher, there's an arduous process of applications and interviews and work experience that comes before getting a position, a lot of which is transferable into job hunting as a whole

 

Not to mention that most teachers will have had to have worked in the "real world" before to pay their way to become a teacher. I'm not suggesting teachers are the best to offer career advice but to dismiss them all as just graduates with no further insight is a little blind sighted.

Also, some teachers join the profession in later life. One commenting on DS was a copper for 20 years! Daughter's friend's dad worked in a lab for years and became a science teacher. So they know about other jobs.

Hopefully things are better now than 40 years ago. I got no careers advice at all. I went to a teacher training uni all of my friends went straight into teaching and stayed with it. I know lots of ex teachers fed up with ofsted and stress but I don't know many who choose it as a change of career choice. Yes hols are good but the termtime days are long.

Outside careers advice help for kids is something good not a bad thing.

Hopefully things are better now than 40 years ago. I got no careers advice at all. I went to a teacher training uni all of my friends went straight into teaching and stayed with it. I know lots of ex teachers fed up with ofsted and stress but I don't know many who choose it as a change of career choice. Yes hols are good but the termtime days are long.

Outside careers advice help for kids is something good not a bad thing.

The holidays only count as being particularly good if you assume they do no work at all in those weeks. They also don't have the option of booking a day off if they know they'll be out until 3am one night.

Am I right in thinking that secondary school teaching is harder as they have more marking than primary school teachers?

Am I right in thinking that secondary school teaching is harder as they have more marking than primary school teachers?

I would think they almost certainly have more marking to do, particularly if you consider that it is less likely to be a simple case of determining whether the answer is right or wrong.

I take ANYTHING Vince Cable says with a pinch of salt. I once had some misguided respect for the guy! Glad I've now seen the light.

Edited March 9, 201411 yr by Kath

Am I right in thinking that secondary school teaching is harder as they have more marking than primary school teachers?

Well they most definitely have more marking, of which the subject matter is more advanced obviously, but "harder" is very subjective. I would challenge any GSCE teacher to spend a day teaching in Year 2 and cope with it effectively (and vice-versa). It's a completely different world between the two so impossible to call which is harder.