two teachers on what it's really like to be on strike right now
and why it’s worth putting your career (and bank balance) on the line for the causes that matter to you.
This Wednesday (5th July), many schools in England closed or reduced the number of classes as teachers took to the picket lines to continue their pay dispute with the government. Another strike is planned today (Friday 7th July), which will make it the eighth day that individual schools in England have seen walkouts from NEU members since February this year.
Last March, negotiations between the unions and the Department for Education ended, with all unions (NEU, NASUWT, National Association of Head Teachers and the ASCL all rejecting an offer from the government of a 4.3% pay rise and a one-off payment of £1,000. And earlier this week, the new head of the National Education Union, Daniel Kebede, said that four unions could take action in autumn over the ongoing pay dispute with the government.
So with so much conversation and criticism surrounding these strikes in the news, I asked two London teachers what it’s really like to be a teacher on strike right now, and why it’s worth putting your career (and bank balance) on the line for the cause.
Q: How long have you been a teacher, and why did you go into the profession?
MATT: My name is Matt Hobday. I currently work in Hayes, west London at Rosedale College where I am the Director of Sport, Assistant Principal and Safeguarding Lead. I started my teaching journey seven years ago when I just finished university. I wanted to be in education, however I was unsure of what area. I started as a teaching assistant in an inclusion class, then completed my teacher training as a PE teacher.
Teaching has always been something I am interested in, and though the holidays are always a big pull, teaching was always something I had a passion for. Every day of teaching is a challenge, and it’s so much more than just education – you are trying to help a young person grow and develop holistically so that they’re prepared to tackle the world and find their passion in life.
ELLIOT: My name is Elliot Scannell and I’ve worked in education for seven years. I started as a teaching assistant, then completed a teacher training (PGCE) course and I now find myself leading the English department at Hewens College, a school in Hayes, West London.
It seems cliche to say, but I really did fall into the teaching profession. Upon realising that writing poetry in the pub with my friend was never going to be a legitimate career option, that same friend encouraged me to apply for a teaching assistant job at the school that he taught English. I quickly found that education was a field in which I was very comfortable and thrived, able to impart my love of literature to the (mostly!) receptive ears of young people.
Q: Why are you striking right now?
MATT: I am striking right now due to the lack of funding the schools receive. People assume that the strikes are about teachers' pay, however schools are so unfunded that it makes it increasingly hard to provide a good education for students. SEND (Special Education Needs) and EAL (English as an Additional Language) is a massive part of the school I work at. However each year, the needs and support that our young people need only increase. The school has not received any more funding for these areas in the last 10 years.
Also just generally within a classroom, things such as textbooks, paper and many other resources are having to be cut for schools to stay open and run. An article released at the end of last year stated that 9 out of 10 schools would be in debt and run out of money. The cost of running schools with the energy prices increasing is taking a huge chunk of the school’s budget. Teachers are amazing at coming up with initiative ideas to try to implement in lessons to help with the budget cost, however this can only work for a certain length of time.
ELLIOT: I partake in the NEU’s strike action as I am flabbergasted by the unwillingness of the Government to see the negative impact that the systematic neglect of the education sector will have on both teachers and pupils. The latest round of strikes, though potentially less impactful on the schools with Years 11 and 13 now departed, are especially pertinent as it comes amidst Government refusal to heed the advice of the School Teachers’ Review Body and their suggestion of a 6.5% pay award. Any pay award has to be fully funded rather than coming from the existing budget of schools and, until it is, I shall continue to strike.
Over the years I have been in teaching, I have seen far too many fantastic teachers move to work abroad or leave the profession as their work is not justly remunerated and thus they struggle to live life in a manner that one would hope all educators could. The staff turnover, especially of young staff, is scary and without proper intervention on pay and conditions, the yearly meeting for leaving speeches will keep getting longer.
Q: What’s it like on the picket lines? What’s the vibe like? Are people angry? Are they positive for change?
MATT: Before this, I had never been part of a protest or strike. It was a great experience to be involved in. The protests were peaceful, however there is a massive sense of anger and frustration amongst the crowd. It was great to see such a large turnout of teachers as well as school children turning out to support their schools. The protests have been an eye-opening experience and it is so scary to see how many schools and teachers are being affected. Teachers are frustrated and tired. We are all just ready for the change and for the government to sort out this crisis.
ELLIOT: The demonstrations that I have attended in London have been jaw-dropping. In particular, the very first protest from BBC Centre to 10 Downing Street in which many thousands took to the streets. On the ground it was bustling with union districts from across the country having made their way to Central London, however, watching the news later in the evening, the sheer extent of the crowds was incredible. This was only the NEU too, so it is crazy to consider how the demonstrations would have looked if other education unions had been able to get their ballots for strike action over the line.
Q: Why is it so important to you that teachers get a pay rise?
MATT: As I said previously, I understand the narrative is mainly focused on teachers' pay rise. Obviously with everything increasing in price it would be great to have our pay match the rise. The government has stated that teachers can get a pay raise, however the schools have to magically come up with the money to fund the pay raise. Why are they putting the pressure on schools to either pay the teachers an increase in wage or be able to fund resources or improve the school in other ways? That is such an unfair position to put schools in. At this rate it will be hard for teachers to stay in the profession and also stay in love with the job. There is currently a massive crisis in trying to get teachers in jobs and the amount of young teachers changing careers is massive because they cant afford to work in schools and finding schools increasingly hard to work in.
ELLIOT: I feel that the number of teachers that have joined the NEU since the pay dispute began (50,000+) is testament to the national disenchantment in the profession. As Workplace Representative in my school, I hear the concerns that staff have on a regular basis in regard to taking strike action and I too know the conundrum that we face in not stepping over the picket line.
Losing a day's pay for each strike has been crippling, but my view is that though I may be losing a sizeable chunk of money for the days of strike, if we were to win the pay dispute against the Government, the long term security could far outweigh short term financial worries. This is difficult to transmit to anyone who may be crippled by bills in this period of inflation, but I feel sustaining education in any fit state is dependent on a change being made.
Is there anything you wish that those being critical of strikes right now would realise? Is there a message you’d like to give to them?
MATT: I think people need to understand that teachers are striking not for themselves however to improve how state schools are. Schools need funding to help provide a great educational experience for our future generation. Back the strikes, back the teachers and get Gillain to sort the education system out.
ELLIOT: Funnily enough, when we left the demonstration on 5th July in Westminster, a middle aged man in a luxury Mercedes, having spotted the pink and orange ‘Pay Up’ campaign flags, shouted “get a fucking life and get back to work!” out of the window at us. I appreciate, without people doing any research, public sector workers taking strike action would cause upset, however, you merely have to consider the wider picture of public sector fears over pay to put it into perspective.
The people in life you need at critical moments: educators, nurses, midwives, junior doctors, barristers etc. have all voted on strike action over the last year. I would only say to any critics of strike action that if ever you needed any of the aforementioned services, you would hope that that person you were met with was able to support themselves on the salary they were given and support you to the best of their abilities as a consequence.
