Teachers have voted to ballot for a boycott on tests for four-year-olds in England, calling them "disgraceful".
Delegates at the National Union of Teachers' conference backed a campaign to abolish the tests which are coming to many schools in September.
Teachers warn the literacy and numeracy tests would stress young pupils.
Schools minister Nick Gibb said it was "extraordinary" that teachers' unions could not say "a single positive thing about England's schools".
These "baseline tests" in reading, writing and maths, to be carried out when pupils begin school, are intended to provide a starting point to measure progress against through primary school.
Ministers have argued that the assessments will help to make sure pupils leave primary school having made good progress in these basic skills.
The Labour party also supports the introduction of the baseline tests for reception pupils.
But Sara Tomlinson, calling for a boycott at the NUT annual conference in Harrogate, said: "We actually have the chance to stop these tests. We need to step up this campaign and act promptly as a trade union.
Making an emotional plea against the tests she said: "Four is too young to test," adding that all the experts had denounced the tests.
"We have seen the reports on child mental health what we are doing to children is absolutely disgraceful."
She descried the situation in her school where children were tested so frequently it was like "death by testing".
The tests would be used by the Department for Education to track how much progress a child had made, she explained, adding that this would be used to decide whether the child's teacher gets a pay rise or goes into capability procedure.
Alex Kenny, a union executive member, said the NUT was not opposed in principle to assessing children, but it opposed these baseline tests and the uses to which they will be put.
The tests are being introduced formally in September 2016 but schools are being invited to start the testing early this September. Schools and teachers will be encouraged by the NUT to opt out of these.
The motion called for the union's executive to take action, including "work towards a boycott of baseline assessments as the first step in undermining the basis of testing in primary schools".
NUT deputy general secretary John Dixon said a ballot on the boycott would be a last resort, and that the focus would be a campaign of persuasion first.
Michael Davern, a teacher from Southwark, said members should "sink the ship before it sails" and urged parents to join in any boycott and opt out of their testing.
Christne Blower, NUT general secretary said: "Government policy for primary education is on the wrong track. Unless challenged by teachers, it will give pupils a narrow and demotivating education, ill-fitting them for later life.
"Nowhere is this clearer than in the baseline assessment. Testing four and five year olds has nothing to do with supporting their learning, and everything to do with reinforcing a system which oppresses children and teachers alike with its narrow and rigidly-policed demands."
But the NUT's stance was attacked for being relentlessly negative by school reform minister Nick Gibb - who accused the teachers' union of being unwilling to say anything positive about schools.
"Just like the Labour party, all they have done is undermine the hard work of classroom teachers, which has seen a million more pupils in good or outstanding schools since 2010, a 71% increase in students taking rigorous academic subjects and 100,000 six year olds reading more confidently," said Mr Gibb.
"It's abundantly clear that the gulf between the leadership of the unions and their members has never been greater
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Teachers threaten tests boycott
Dengan url
http://beritaberbagiceria.blogspot.com/2015/04/teachers-threaten-tests-boycott.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Teachers threaten tests boycott
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Teachers threaten tests boycott
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar