My 5 most infamous cases of teacher bashing

There’s been a fair resurgence of teacher bashing in recent weeks with people keen to find someone to blame for COVID 19 – obviously, it’s the teachers with their cushy holidays, 3.30 finishes and so on.

Efforts are now underway to use the age old trope of teachers being lazy, obstructive snowflakes to turn attention away from the lack of testing and seemingly shambolic “catch up” crisis management by the government during this epidemic. Looking at much of the comments on social media, particularly on newspaper feeds, it's working, with many coming to the conclusion that the only ones not pulling their weight are the teachers. This is despite the fact many are teaching full online timetables and others remain in schools, albeit with depleted student numbers, looking after vulnerable children.

Doug Marr kicked it all off with his “teachers are sat at home doing nothing” mantra writing in the Scottish Herald which I responded to here. The undertones have spread and “the blob”, Michael Gove's favourite phrase, has started to make a reappearance and Wilshaw was rolled out by BBC Newsnight to imply teachers don’t really do much work in normal times, never mind now. Anyway, all this inspired me to think about my 5 most infamous teacher bashing moments that I can recall. It’s always been a popular pastime for many, I doubt that’s going to change any time soon.

1. Michael Wilshaw - In May 2012, speaking at a headteacher conference, Sir Michael Wilshaw said that headteachers “don’t know what stress is”. Last month, he followed up by telling BBC Newsnight that “teachers should work over weekends, after school and during holiday periods” (as if teachers didn’t already do this) and talked of a “commitment” by government to “ensure” that happened. Wilshaw was a teacher and headteacher in the 80's and 90's - he missed much of the fun the government and OFSTED unleashed from the mid 90's onwards. He turned provider. Apparently, he still isn't finished. Michael Wilshaw – take your place in the gallery of those who have thrown tomatoes at the teachers from their ivory towers.