Quote of the day!

Teachers were…  the only profession that can save us from our deep, dumb future.

But wait. There’s more!

…imagine….a totally literate society where teachers are paid as much as investment bankers or corporate lawyers.

Thank you Peter Carey. Critically acclaimed Australian author in his closing address at the Sydney Writer’s Festival (as reported in today’s Sydney Morning Herald).

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The value of a teacher

Ninety-one per cent of Australian teachers say their most talented colleagues do not receive the most recognition and a similar number says innovative teaching is not rewarded.

Pretty interesting according to what  ABC News online had to say about a report from a Melbourne Think Tank. Which teachers were surveyed? Did it include those from non-government sector?

Today’s Sydney Morning Herald had a different slant to this story with the headline screaming Principals Fail to Weed Out Worst Teachers! The SMH story used the same Melbourne Think Tank to report  that principals were generally viewed as ineffective in doing anything about poor performing teachers.

In the same paper, I read author Peter Carey’s comments about how underpaid and undervalued teachers are. He believes that teachers need greater renumeration as they are the last bastion of making today’s students enjoy and appreciate reading, an art which he believes is dying.

This is a nice change from the usual teacher bashing that gets regularly aired in various media outlets.

As for valuing teachers, I’d like to say that I work with some damn good teachers who are 110% dedicated to their profession and would do anything in their power to empower their students through learning.

To the Teacher Educators I work with across 20 Sydney CEO schools, can I say I think you are brilliant to have achieved so much in such a short passage of time!

To the teachers I work with as part of the CEO Early Years project – your struggles and insights about how young children learn, are energising and make me feel full of hope for the future.

To the young children I see when I visit classrooms …you are perhaps the most powerful teachers who have the greatest insights into learning.

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