ATL

Government needs to learn lessons from Northern Ireland education system - ATL President

The government in Westminster should learn from the education experiences in Northern Ireland, according to the incoming president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).

Andy Brown, who teaches in Northern Ireland and takes over as president of the 160,000 strong union on 1 September, said: "Teachers in Northern Ireland are doing a fantastic job, but that work, and many of the fresh ideas in the system, are being over-shadowed by political horse-trading. Education should be run by educationalists. Politicians must learn to take advice from those who are at the 'chalk-face'. The lesson from Northern Ireland is that a stable education system requires a mature degree of political consensus. In a time of unparalleled change in Northern Ireland, we have a real opportunity to make a difference to the lives of children, young people, and society in general. This opportunity will be squandered if education continues to be used as a political football.

"There are so many positive elements in the system, which politicians across the UK can learn from, one being the scrapping of constant testing and the accompanying horror of league tables. The exam system is not perfect here, but it is vastly improved now that children are not being drilled to within an inch of their lives. 

"Also, as teachers, we have far greater control over the detail of what children are taught since we moved away from a rigid and highly prescriptive curriculum like the one in England. We can now show children how subjects inter-relate to help them get a wider perspective about the world.

"I would like teachers across the UK to be given the same trust and have the same opportunities so that they can be creatively free to enthuse their pupils with the love of learning."

Mr Brown added: "One further positive element is how schools in Northern Ireland are being encouraged to form area learning partnerships. I would like schools to work more closely with one another: to co-operate rather than compete; to share their skills and expertise to help pupils. I would also like everyone working in education to work together and be valued as part of the school and college team. It is only by all pulling together that we can provide the best education for the children in our charge. However, these partnerships can only work effectively if they are given the funding and not expected to add further pressure to the budgets of the schools involved.

"Despite this push to work collaboratively, school heads are becoming more and more like business managers and marketing directors spending their time brokering deals and selling their schools, rather than focussing on children's education. There is huge competition between secondary schools here for pupils, as well as schools competing for sponsorship for resources such as their pupils' sports kit. It is quite common for school rugby and football shirts to be emblazoned with a company's logo.

"Disturbingly we are becoming a profession that is less about giving young people an education and more about giving them a set of qualifications. This does no one any favours - least of all our pupils. We all need to fight against any dumbing down of teaching and working with children as a profession where ever and when ever it occurs. And we need to ensure that everyone in schools and colleges is working in a safe environment with the resources they need to do their jobs and learn."

Further notes:

Andy Brown was elected ATL president for the year from September 2010 to August 2011, and will be the youngest person to have held the post. He takes over from Lesley Ward who will be immediate past president and then retire after over 30 years teaching.

Andy Brown was educated at Ballycastle High School in County Antrim, Stranmillis University College, Belfast, where he did a BEd in drama and English, and Queen's University, Belfast, where he did an MSSc in management. He is on leave of absence from Ballymena Academy, County Antrim, where he has taught since 1993, and is head of drama and theatre studies. He is a moderator for the practical units of the AQA's A level drama and theatre studies course.

He joined ATL as a student, he was a school rep, Northern Ireland Committee member, and a branch officer in Northern Ireland, and has been an executive member of ATL since 1999. He served as ATL president in Northern Ireland from September 2007 to August 2010.

He represents ATL on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the TUC, Unions 21 and the Council of the National Foundation for Educational Research.

He is chair of the board of governors of Broughshane Primary School, Ballymena, County Antrim, a ruling elder in the Second Broughshane Presbyterian Church and a member of the youth board of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. He is a member of the Society of Teachers of Speech and Drama, a member of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors, a fellow of the College of Teachers, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Andy Brown is married to Susan, who is a secondary school teacher in Ballyclare, and has two children.

Notes to editors

1. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is an independent, registered trade union and professional association, representing approximately 160,000 teachers, headteachers, lecturers and support staff in maintained and independent nurseries, schools, sixth form, tertiary and further education colleges in the United Kingdom.

2. ATL exists to help members, as their careers develop, through first rate research, advice, information and legal advice.

3. ATL is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and Education International (EI). ATL is not affiliated to any political party and seeks to work constructively with all the main political parties.