Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Secondary Schools* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)

A teacher who filmed her pupils in a secret documentary about the standards in state schools was last month suspended for a year by a General Teaching Panel.

The documentary itself (viewable here) was an expose of mismanagement and bad behaviour in failing (and ‘successful’) schools. For six months Alex Dolan filmed herself teaching and talking to other staff members as she taught as supply in 16 different schools.

I’ve just watched the documentary in full, and parts were indeed shocking. Students swore at teachers – not under their breath, but directly to the teacher’s face (“Piss off” What did you say? [Looks directly at teacher] “Piss. Off.”). Fights broke out in the middle of class. Management sometimes didn’t give a fig. And in many classes, spectacularly little was learned.

But my main reaction was to chuckle gaily and say: “Ahh, them were the days.” It cannot be a surprise to anyone who has ever been to a state secondary school that supply teachers are nearly always poorly-prepared, easily tricked and weak discipline wise. They are pushovers – mainly because they are in a nearly impossible position.

You cannot expect someone to do a competent job when they are dumped into a new school, in front of thirty new faces (with nearly all of them ready and willing to make the teacher’s life as difficult as possible) with next to no notice. Supply teachers, in other words, suck.

Ostensibly, the worst part of the documentary was the fiddling that went on behind scenes during Ofsted inspections. It was pretty basic tactics wise: take all the bad kids, and send them on a field trip for the day. Et voila, a better Ofsted report. Mysteriously, Ms Dolan also received a lesson plan for the first time on inspection day.

It’s not the teachers’ fault for doing this. Heck, they’re just doing what is best for the school. But it’s not honest and it’s not good for those being taught. Give people targets and they will cheat to achieve them. Especially if you allow them to by giving schools prior notice of inspections.

Chris Woodhead – chief schools inspector from 1994-2000 – came on and pompously declared that he knew that all these tricks went on. Which begs the question: why the hell didn’t he do anything about it when he had the power?

For those who have been through or are familiar with the state school system, what occurs in the documentary is generally pretty humdrum. Students refusing to take off coats. Lessons taking 15 minutes for people to settle down and teaching to begin. IT lessons spent sneakily playing playing games. Most schools are like this some of the time, some are like it all of the time. The sad thing is that schools will remain like this until there is radical reform of the school system in this country.

The most annoying thing about the documentary, however, was Ms Dolan herself. Her smugness throughout was almost unbearable. Her comments released after the tribunal said it all: “This is a sad day for investigative journalism.” Well, lucky you’re a teacher and not an investigative journalist, then, isn’t it? I’m glad she has her priorities right. Ms Dolan abused the trust of her pupils and is entirely deserving of her suspension. The system needs whistleblowers, but not desperate fame seeking ones.

(*A school I am well acquainted allegedly did this too. Allegedly. Allegedly, allegedly, allegedly.)