THE GUARDIAN: Government ‘pushing England’s universities out of teacher training’ over leftwing politics

Press/Media: Expert comment

Period28 May 2022

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • TitleGovernment ‘pushing England’s universities out of teacher training’ over leftwing politics
    Media name/outletThe Guardian
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date28/05/22
    DescriptionProf David Spendlove, associate dean of Manchester University’s faculty of humanities and former head of initial teacher education, said: “As education secretary, Michael Gove talked about fighting ‘the Blob’ [the education establishment]. He and Nick Gibb had this idea that universities and teacher education departments were all Marxists. Their influence hasn’t gone away.”

    Manchester passed the accreditation, but Prof Spendlove believes the new process is “damaging the very bedrock” of university teacher education and it is now “harder to stay in it than to leave”.

    “People who have been doing this for a very long time are being told they aren’t fit for purpose, despite all the positive inspections they’ve been through. That’s a farce,” he said.
    URLhttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/28/government-pushing-universities-out-of-teacher-training-over-leftwing-politics-say-leaders?CMP=share_btn_tw
    PersonsDavid Spendlove

Keywords

  • teacher training
  • education policy