Tutor in Toronto, Ontario

Teaching is the best job. I enjoy every bit of my job. It has its ups and downs but on the whole it's fulfilling when you help youngsters to leave school with decent grades and know they have a future. Teacher comment I love teaching. I revel in sharing learning with students who want to learn. The current celebrity culture where fame and money are obtained through how you look and what you possess seems all too often to make 'learning' an 'uncool' thing. The recent Cambridge research about 'being bland' in order to fit in does explain a great deal about the poor attitude to learning and the great effort made to avoid it (especially if it makes you a 'boff'). Praise for good learning has to be done in secret rather than celebrated in the open! I am tired of bureaucracy, targets, performance management, educational veneer for the sake of avoiding Ofsted and having to take on board initiative after initiative (PSHE, citizenship, being British, etc.) which once were the responsibility of parents. I don't believe standards are rising in examination results; students tend to be spoon-fed to pass the examinations and very few show genuine academic ability. This has been particularly noticeable in the transition between Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5. Students don't know how to think for themselves, how to organise themselves and how to meet deadlines. I think I've said enough - there is more that could be said. Lifelong learning - how can this be restored? Get rid of targets, return responsibilities and accountabilities to families, and let the professionals (teachers) advise.