MSPs and teachers are used to ribbing about the length of the summer break, but while it’s essential for pupils to recharge their batteries, it’s the chance for teachers to depressurise from an unacceptably tough environment.
Last week it was revealed that assaults by pupils on Scottish teachers have almost tripled in three years to 16,000 in the 2023-24 academic year − one assault every four minutes of school time.
No wonder the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union believe nearly 80 per cent of teachers have considered leaving the profession, because as well as imparting knowledge, they are expected to deal with the results of all manner of social problems. It’s no secret the main reason schools serving deprived areas do not perform as well as those in affluent districts comes down to the parents’ level of interest in their child’s education.
A child in a poor area will still do well if role models at home and school are positive and encouraging, but if the home environment is tough then so too is the teacher’s task. It’s therefore vital that nothing deflects from the learning experience, be it a child arriving at school hungry and tired, not having adequate equipment or constant distractions hampering concentration.
Banning mobile phones won’t stop violence but would be a start in the fightback against disruptive classroom behaviour. Despite near universal agreement that something needs to change, it is taking a public petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for updated guidance on mobile use to hold the SNP’s attention.
In February a survey of 1451 members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association found 75 per cent said most lessons were being interrupted by mobile phone use, nine out of ten reported texting during lessons and four out of five experienced pupils taking pictures. Sixty per cent reported social media bullying.
In May, Edinburgh City Council had the opportunity to act, but Labour, SNP, Green and Lib Dem councillors rejected a Conservative motion for a classroom mobile ban because a “top-down approach” would “not achieve the necessary buy-in from pupils and the wider school communities”. Laughably, they said it would be better to wait for Scottish Government guidance and if that’s not a top-down approach I don’t know what is.
Last week I met a friend who teaches in a Lothian primary and her account of what goes on made my hair stand on end. Too many children have no concept of boundaries or respect, attention spans are so short that children just shout out during exercises that they are bored and want to do something else. Basic classroom discipline has given way to constant disruption and teachers are virtually powerless.
A third of Scottish pupils are absent for more than a tenth of their classes, and under these circumstances it’s no surprise over one in four state primary pupils are not achieving expected literacy levels. For numeracy it’s one in five.
My teacher friend is in no doubt that mobiles during lessons should be outlawed. In fact, in her school they already are, so the behavioural issues she faces run deeper. But it’s a beginning. I suggested banning phones may be considered by education departments to be a right-wing reaction, but she disagreed. It’s not right wing, she said, it’s the right thing.
