In response to Chris McGovern: Good teachers not small classes determine educational success, Timbazo wrote:
The debate over class sizes in primary schools is an irrelevance because it refers to the idea that a group of children is being taught by just one adult. Is there a primary class in the country like that? Probably not. The reality is that most classes have a teaching assistant and then there are other teachers or TAs who work with the slow learners.
There are questions about the competence of primary school teachers and TAs. However, only getting a 2.2 is not one of them. A 2.2 from a good university is probably quite adequate for teaching A-level and certainly GCSE. (I got a 2.1 from a top university, so I am not pleading my own case). The main problem I have with my public school Year 12 class is that half of them think that doing homework is not necessary and their parents seem to think their children are old enough to make decisions for themselves. It is the culture outside schools that is holding education back in the UK and no longer the culture inside schools – even if there are plenty of issues to discuss.
In any case, to some extent, it is completely irrelevant to demand that trainee teachers have better degrees from UK universities. For instance, maths teaching in this country is now heavily dependent on immigrants.
