Claire Smy discusses the recent sacking and reinstatement of English Department Lecturer Sam North.
I write to voice my concern for the wider issue I feel surrounds the events of the last week.
As a teacher of English to secondary and A-Level students I have seen, over the course of the last several years, the limitations that have been placed on teachers by ‘managers’ who see themselves as running businesses rather than centres for education. Government targets and the charging of tuition fees have moved the goalposts so far away from the beliefs and passions of grass roots teachers, that many now find themselves in a position where they are teaching to exams, setting targets that are unattainable purely for the sake of setting targets, and spending much of the time they would otherwise be dedicating to planning stimulating and informative lessons to filling in data and ticking boxes. It is exhausting, demoralising and damaging.
To see education as a business is to forget one vital factor. Pupils and students are not bits of data – they are human beings. They are human beings who are open to new ideas and to discovering new passions; and inspirational teaching, by staff members who have the time, energy and freedom to inspire their students, is key to the success of those who are on the receiving end of our education
system.
Sam North, in his open letter to The Tab, states ‘one of the things [universities] have to watch out for is not to baby students along as if they were still at school.’ It is a sad indictment of our school system, but one that holds a lot of truth. Pupils who have not been able to explore their subjects fully and in a spontaneous way, have limited knowledge and understanding both of the subjects they study, and of the world around them. It is my belief that box-ticking and the worry of Ofsted scores and league tables has been largely responsible for creating this ignorance and lack of autonomy. And where do university students come from? They come from schools.
Tuition fees have, it seems, ensured that now universities too are concerned with box-ticking and league tables, and are in very grave danger of churning out graduates who know what they need to know but do not have the necessary skills to find out more. And what does that mean for British industry? It is all very well being able to get a job upon graduating because one has the right piece of paper, but graduates who cannot think for themselves are of very little use to anyone.
Sam North may not have ticked the boxes that secured sufficient funding for Exeter University, but I know from first-hand experience that he has the most wonderful ability to make his students think for themselves. He is able, through his skill and expertise, his care and compassion, to facilitate the ability in students to go inside their own minds and find the amazing creativity that lurks in its darkest corners. This is a rare skill indeed, and one that Exeter University and its students – past and present – are incredibly lucky to have the benefit of.
Claire Smy
Should lecturers at the university have an obligation to secure funding or is their ability to teach a more valuable asset? Leave a comment below or write to the Comment team at the Exeposé Comment Facebook Group.
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