School of Hard Knocks ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22798200

WTF :shock:

Support our armed forces is the common cry these days and so fair enough they do a difficult and for some dangerous job and deserve our support. However it is ultimately a job that they all chose to do so what gives ex forces personnel priveliged status in the UK such that they can be fast tracked through the teacher trainning system very probably with government grants to fund them.

A friend and coleague whose fiance is a serving RAF Engineer said that morale in the forces is low and something will need to change in the future. But is making them seem more worthy than the rest of us a good thing for society. There has also been talk of elevating them through the house waiting lists, post forces retraining schemes and prioritised health care.

Is it going to get like the hamy sci fi movie 'Starship Troopers' whereby only those who have served in the military can get a better life. Yes I know I'm getting carried away and straying a bit from the news article but it does seem to degrade the non military served teaching proffesion if your degree takes one or more years longer because your not trained to use a gun which despite the horrors of the classroom your not allowed to use anyway :roll:

I've been on the Army, so I would ask why should they not be given priority over someone who has chosen to sit on their arse all day? Why don't you concentrate on the bludgers who've never contributed anything at all to.society?

The 'they had a choice over it' argument applies to you, your job and your lifestyle as well - if you don't like it because you see a sector of society of which you at Not a part being treated favourably, then you could've chosen to join them and availed yourself of those benefits as well.

We could ask what you have ever done for your.queen and country, seeing as you seem only too quick the enjoy the free speech benefits, a perk protected and perpetuated by the very services personnel you're whittling about.

Whinge, moan, whittle, just because someone's getting something you're not. It like listening to kids in the playground. If you don't like it then you too have a choice over the direction your life takes.

Part of me thinks that, can anyone be a really good teacher if they have less training to do so, do they need to do a proper degree to reach the high standards necessary? But then again Ofsted has declared that my children's primary school has a record of poor teaching in it's junior section and they've all got full degrees and have been teaching for years, my in-laws are both retired secondary school teachers, my farther-in-law was brilliant at his job, loved for his highly engaging, inspiring and witty way of teaching, my mother in law was CRAP and would could literally bore someone to death, and gained no respect from students, so it would seam it's not all about education.

So maybe, maybe you can fast track someone with special qualities through a teaching degree.

My son is a Royal Marine, but I don't think he'll aim for teacher status when he comes out. So for my queen and country I've offered up my oldest son.

Alison

double post

Now, let me think. Leave the mob and become a teacher, or get my close protection ticket and earn 60-70k, or double that contracting in the 'stans, or providing security to vessels on the Indian ocean.

I know which I'd choose.

Not seen the article you are referring to Velo but I tend to agree. Why should folk who have joined the Forces get preferential treatment for anything? They made the choice to join up and serve so surely they understand that it isn't a job for life unless they had ambition and could make it work for them. If I chose to work in a field and then couldn't get on for some reason to where I wanted to be why shouldn't I get help to go on and retrain? I worked for the government for a while and implemented stuff to cut costs and help the government shed staff so surely I have served in a sense?

I knew I'd get flak but having no opinion an anything gets you no where. I applied to the Royal Navy in 1987 but back then therewere no recruitment shortages and I just failed to meet the grade. So I suffered in the trenches of the NHS, low wages, crap hours, abuse from the general public but i got on with it, enjoyed quite often, serving Queen and Country need not be military but of course thats not a mans job like being in the forces :roll: .
I do not believe anyone is better than anyone else just because of their choice of proffesion. Where you get in life is down to you as an individual. If you want to teach you jump through the same hoops as everyone else. If you want a council/housing association house you get in the queue same as everyone else. Nobody in the UK who cannot buy there way to whatever they want with private funds should be getting priority over anyone else.

I'm not sure that that always works, if I'm on the NHS list for treatment and someone comes after me that is sicker than me, I'd be happy for them to be fast-tracked through, if there was someone behind me in more desperate need of housing than me I'd be happy for them to be fast-tracked through. Sometimes whether you have money or not being put forward first is necessary.

Alison

Wounded ex forces, need priority help as do other injured person. If a priority system exists then that system should be the same for everybody based on individual need. Ex military personnel should not get special treatment positive or negative over non military. Everything should be based on individuals not groups. If Michael Gove wants teachers trained on the job 4 days a week with college the other day then this should be available for everyone. Not fast tracking only military personnel but leaving civilians to go the old, long study, self financed way. Its devisive, positive descrimination is still discrimination which will cause upset.

I don't even agree with the PGCE route to teaching, let alone giving people preferential treatment because they happen to have chosen to serve their country as their first career.

Teaching is one of the most important professions that exists, standards of entry and remuneration should be high enough to reflect this, attract the best candidates and retain them, not dumbed down in order to score political points.