A new low for the boy Gove. He got stuck in a toilet in the house of commons

[Classic Jorge]

The man is a one man sitcom, or at least he would be if he wasn't powerful

[Ashberto]

crowd-pleasing nonentity, he gets so pilloried by the shouterati that he gets replaced by someone suitably bland and nondescript.

I'm not particularly a fan of Gove, but nor am I a fan of the treatment he's had and the cowardly way that Dave dealt with it. tbh getting rid of some of the touchy-feely crap in education that I saw when I worked in that sector seemed a good idea to me.

[7evens]

' I say there'
Ahem - 'Is there anyone there' ?
I.. er, I appear to be stuck, will someone run along and fetch Dianne Abbot ?

[Luis Anaconda]

and everyone can see it - should people all just be quiet.

Bit like defending something purely for the sake of defending it that becomes a bit weak

[Classic Jorge]

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/7/17/1405600679129/Jean-Claude-Juncker-greet-012.jpg

I think a lot of the problem with Gove's reforms were that they were actually more about centralising power, taking away the coordination/funding role from the LAs, because ultimately who needs coordination in education? Most of the reporting burden was passed on to heads and senior teachers, which meant they have less time (and crucially confirmed budget) to recruit and develop teachers.

[Billy Goat Sverige]

[Classic Jorge]

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

I suggest that his somewhat unfortunate looks made him a target for some of the more hard of thinking in the community.

[Classic Jorge]

[Ashberto]

Likewise he wasn't wrong about everything either. I doubt his ideas were necessarily more damaging overall than any other Education Sec, all of whom, in tradition autocratic style, have tried to make their mark by adding more and more to the workload of teachers and schools.

[Luis Anaconda]

on your blaming the "shouterati" as you call it for everything

[Luis Anaconda]

[Classic Jorge]

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

at his reluctance to compromise and his refusal to be conciliatory with the teaching unions.

It all sounds to me like he did a pretty good job.

[Berni]

pupils telling them that being **** at school didn't really matter and that they're all precious little f**king snowflakes? That sort of **** was what Gove was fighting against. But the cretins lap that sort of anti-competitive **** up. c**ts.

Also, the note did rather presuppose that its recipients could read well, which seemed f**king unlikely.

[Classic Jorge]

Coincidentally, Toby and I went to the same school.

[Luis Anaconda]

has been your boss after you have been seconded to work on the health and lifestyle magazine - and that particular week they are bringing out the annual "sex issue". That is not a meeting I will forget in a hurry.

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

Are there no depths of idiocy to which the NUT are incapable of sinking? (I assume she was NUT, or read 'loony teaching establishment'.)

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

[Classic Jorge]

[Ashberto]

The whole league table / tickbox / checklist / must-be-seen-to-be-doing-this took up an inordinate amount of time as well.

I take your point that his attempts to 'free' schools from LAs may have failed to take into account some of the useful work that LAs were doing, while consolidating central power, but LAs were not always popular with schools either, who often felt restricted because of local rules and policy.

[Classic Jorge]

...was.

Also, the fact that funding was offered, rescinded, offered again on different terms, changed ad infinitum, made everyone's job a lot harder.

This recent school meals controversy just being one of the myriad of poorly thought through policies.

[Ashberto]

What with you being a card-carrying member of the shouterati.

According to the internet that word has never been used before. I'm quite pleased with it.

[Berni]

our national education policy. I'm sure all the brutally, but efficiently rote-educated Chinesers are ****ting themselves at the prospect of having to compete with all our illiterate, innumerate, but emotionally validated children in years to come. :-(

[Ashberto]

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

Society reached it's peak in around 1860, I reckon. It's been steadily downhill since.

[Berni]

rubbish is, though? Surely?

[Berni]

[Classic Jorge]

*******s would probably suffice, though anyone with a brain could see that

[Berni]

[Ashberto]

I'm sure it wasn't the intention of the policy which was aiming for safety, health, economic security and well-being. Much of this might not obviously be considered the responsibility of the school and other state agencies, and perhaps an atmosphere where schools are held too responsible for a child's overall well-being rather than their education might not always help the latter.