'It is with regret that I am resigning as Regional Adviser for LitDrive'

Five years ago, the marvellous online community that is Team English came into being, sustained first by the hashtag, then by the @Team_English1 account run selflessly by Nikki and Becky, and most recently grown by the meet-ups and national conferences. The kindness, discussion and professional challenge that goes on in our little corner of edu-Twitter has been a source of inspiration and support for literally thousands of English teachers both at home and overseas.

Fundamental to this network has been free sharing for the good of all whether that be ideas, expertise, time or resources. As many of us have found again and again, what you give you receive back in abundance.

We have Dropboxed schemes of work. We have emailed PowerPoints. We have posted whole boxes of set texts we no longer need. We have listened to one another’s concerns. We have improved resources and sent back the second version. We have traded thoughts. We have proofread. We have offered advice. We have built on ideas. We have developed trust and very real friendships.

I firmly believe that the moment you monetise that collaboration – no matter how nominal the amount or the reasons behind it – one of our core values is lost.

It is therefore with real sadness that I have heard LitDrive is planning to introduce a fee for its use.

The resources uploaded to date and the teachers who have committed themselves as unpaid Regional Advisors have done so on the premise that this a free hosting platform set up for the good of all in Team English. Now those teachers are left with the decision whether to pull their resources and support from the site or accept that those who want to access them will be charged.

I fully appreciate the emotional and financial investment Kat has made in Litdrive. Her drive and determination to make it a success is impressive and the purpose of this blog is certainly not to cause upset. However, having raised my concerns privately over many months I think it is right to provide a counterpoint to her own blog and messages on the subject.

Susan Strachan @SusanSEnglish has shared with me the email she has sent to resign her position with LitDrive. I am posting it here with her permission.

Dear Kat & LitDrive Team, 

It is with regret that I am resigning as Regional Adviser for LitDrive. I have many reasons for making this decision, which I will outline below and I wish you well with LitDrive, but feel I cannot in good conscience continue as a representative of the organisation. 

The first and probably most important reason is that the core value of being a free at point of access resource bank for teachers to help and share in workload has changed and while I agree that £5 per member is a nominal fee, the hundreds of teachers who spend hours and hours on creating resources and sharing them, currently do so for free and have been able to do this successfully without having a site that charges for the hosting of their* resources.

I fundamentally disagree with teachers paying for resources and, while I understand you are encouraging this payment as a fee that departments pay, a majority of the funds will be from teachers’ own pockets. This goes against my principles and the reasons that I have for sharing. While, £5 is a drop in the ocean at this time, my concern is that there has been much marketing and launching of the service that LitDrive provides as free and as such charging goes against the plethora of marketing and promotions that saw the unprecedented growth of the service in the first place.

If the core value of charging can change from being free in a matter of months to a nominal fee, there is no reason that I can see for the nominal fee being increased over time and becoming a much more expensive charge. If teachers choose to contribute voluntarily that is up to them, but charging means that an exclusivity is being created meaning that many teachers will be unable to access the resources that hundreds of teachers would have previously happily shared without asking for a penny. 

Furthermore, there is a concern over their* resources being wholly belonging to individuals. If I take an idea from something I have seen on Twitter or on a Facebook forum and adapt it, does it truly belong to me? Or, should I consider it the intellectual property of the original source? For this reason, I don’t believe I should be allowing a charge to happen for resources that don’t wholly belong to me or that have been inspired by others thought processes. 

Another thought would be whether I should allow profit to be gained from resources that I produce in the course of my job, which I am already paid for. If I sell resources or allow a hosting site to charge for the access to these resources, then is this a form of deceit? I have already been paid to produce these resources. 

As well as this, there is the moral conundrum, I feel that teachers should be pulling each other up and supporting each other in the already difficult conditions that we work and by creating another paid for site to share resources, this is creating another way of not supporting each other, but instead creating a division between those who use and can access Lit Drive and those who don’t and can’t or won’t. 

The blog post that I, along with several members of Team English shared https://susansenglish.wordpress.com/2019/05/05/why-i-love-tes-education-resources-an-open-expression-of-concern outlines concerns about paid for resources and I see little difference in the TES charging and LitDrive charging. 

The #teamenglish ethos of sharing appeals to my sense of collaboration, helping and supporting other teachers and while I understand that LitDrive will be non-profit, there will be an element of profit and someone will be paid a charity wage to run the organisation, therefore someone will be profiting from the hard work of hundreds of teachers. 

Therefore, for the above reasons I will be withdrawing as a Regional Adviser and would like my resources to be taken off the site and my membership closed.

I’m happy to discuss further, but this hasn’t been an easy decision to make and fundamentally it goes against my own principles but does not mean that others need to feel the same way. 

Regards, 

Susan Strachan @SusanSEnglish

Tes Education Resources: An Open Expression of Concern

This post has been agreed by several teachers and is shared across several blog sites. 
In the last couple of years, we have openly expressed concern at the approaches taken by Tes Education Resources to plagiarism and copyright violation, theft of resources, and the selling of resources that violate copyright. This is not a blogpost intended to cast disapproval on those who sell resources. It is a simply an open expression of concern at the approach taken by Tes Education Resources, when these incidents are uncovered. We also wish to make clear that this is not about an individual or anybody working for Tes Education Resources. We believe that this is a systemic problem that should not fall on one person to solve.
We feel that the following issues need to be properly addressed by Tes Education Resources:

•  The fact that people upload and sell plagiarised resources, which have been clearly copied from free shares on Twitter, Facebook, and sometimes from colleagues.
•  The fact that although Tes Education Resources offer ‘goodwill’ gestures to those who give public challenge, and offer compensation when they recognise plagiarism, the onus is on the victim of theft to report and prove the theft.
•  The fact that customers are being advised to buy resources to check the content if they suspect a theft has occurred, and then claim the money back.

These issues need addressing because:
Plagiarism can constitute copyright violation, which is covered by legislation in both UK and EU law, as well as being a feature of international treaties and agreements. We believe that this is not being taken seriously by Tes Education Resources, who provide a platform for the sale of resources which have been taken, copied, and presented as original resources by the thief. Tes Education Resources describe themselves as ‘one of the world’s largest peer-to-peer platforms for teachers to trade and share digital teaching resources’ (Tes Education Resources Ltd: Annual Report and Financial Statements – Directors’ Report 2017). We feel that a company of this scale, regardless of financial status, should not be placing the onus on individuals to identify instances of copyright violation.
A goodwill gesture is something given on a case-by-case basis. It means that those with the time and tenacity to challenge instances of copyright infringement are being offered compensation, but there are victims who are unaware of the issue, or perhaps who do not have the time and resources to prove the provenance of the resource. We believe that the Tes Education Resources could and should ensure there is parity here.
Tes Education Resources have conceded that only 5% of their resource downloads are purchased. The rest are free downloads. We appreciate this valuable resource, but feel that the 5% are being prioritised over the 95%. It is understood that the 5% is the download, rather than the upload, figure – but the point still stands – 95% of people downloading from Tes Education Resources are downloading free resources.
We also believe that asking people to buy resources to check for copyright issues, in order to then claim a refund, is an unfair and illogical request. Perhaps most pertinent is the fact that all of these issues are contributing to our workload. The Tes recognise this too. In fact, they have an entire section of their website dedicated to this issue – you can read this here:https://www.tes.com/news/hub/workload. In refusing to adapt their practice, either by demonetising the site or by taking further steps to prevent these incidents, teachers are being forced to spend time searching the site for their own resources. When teachers locate stolen resources, the expectation that they buy their own work and prove its provenance is onerous and frustrating.
What Tes Education Resources Can Do:
– Have a long-term aim to demonetise the site and subsidise it, to enable an entirely free sharing platform for those working in education.
In the meantime:
– Improve checks on resources to identify plagiarism and/or copyright infringement.
– Allow for full download with retrospective payment, rather than asking people to buy resources simply to check for copyright infringement.
– Enable reviews of paid content without purchasing – so that copyright infringement which is clearly evident in the preview pane can be challenged in a review.
What you can do:
– Avoid downloading from Tes Education Resources until the long-term aim (above) is fulfilled.
– Use your Social Media account to inform your followers that you are doing this.
– Share your resources through Dropbox and any other suitable medium.

What I've learned from applying for jobs I did (and didn't) get

I'm sat here, beer in hand, having not been appointed to a fab job at my brilliant school. I'm a bit bruised and sad, but also aware of the clear strengths of the person who has been appointed (in fact, I'm even a bit excited to work with her). Most importantly, I'm already beginning to consider what I've learned about both myself and the process, and how this information is going to inform my actions moving forward.

Interviews are physically exhausting, emotionally and intellectually taxing (if the school's any good), and a valuable learning experience... once the dust has settled.

As with the majority, my run of interviews over the course of my 13 years of teaching has been a mixture of success and disappointment. I was appointed to my first mainscale teaching post and my first three TLRs from my first application, including my Head of English post. But I wasn't successful when I made my first Associate Senior Leader application (pastoral, so a bit of a punt): I was on my second. To move to Assistant Head it took three written applications, then a one-year gap, before securing my first interview. At my second interview I was successful.

Today's post was my first application for Deputy Head, something I wasn't actively seeking, but the lure of leading teaching and learning in a school I love was too enticing not to have at least chucked my hat in the ring.

Anyway, before I order an enormous pizza and pop on my PJs I'm going to clear my head by trying to distil the best bits of advice I've heard over my time leading, prepping for, participating in, and (sometimes) being successful at, interviews in schools.

1. Do your homework
Knowledge truly is power so do all you can to find out about the school. That includes: its context, intake, and position within the local community; its staffing structures, the school day and routines; its outcomes, including NEET; its staff retention rate and number of early career teachers.

It's become a bit of a glib phrase, but if you can hold on to the fact that you are interviewing the school as much as they are interviewing you then you'll retain a degree of control around an emotive process and be better prepared to respond to what the process throws at you.

A visit is invaluable. Just do, of course, remember that this is when the interview begins.

2. Create a list of expected questions and prep your responses
This may sound obvious, but if you're dealt an enormous dose of imposter syndrome (as I have been over the last 48 hours) then feeling like you've already considered a question being asked can give you an enormous shot in the arm in terms of confidence.

Personally, I find writing down potential questions and my responses in a table really helpful. Try to stick to three main areas for each, grouping ideas if needed, for clarity and succinctness. If you want to be sneaky, email yourself the document so you can look at it discretely on your phone whilst you're sitting (uncomfortably) with the other candidates.

3. Use the golden triangle of big picture, current experience, and your actions if appointed
If applying for a promoted post there's a tendency to get stuck within your current role when giving ideas and examples. The superb woman who passed on this triad used the metaphor of an umbrella to represent the 'big picture' with examples/experience and coming actions at each corner. It certainly helped me get myself 'unstuck' during a testing final interview today - even if I haven't quite nailed each part just yet.

4. Have a long list of relevant examples to draw from
I think for many candidates this can be the crux of whether you're going to be successful or not. In education, there very much seems to be a rule of 'do the job then get paid for it': if anyone has ever been appointed to a senior leadership position without having already had whole school leadership experience I will eat my hat. The implications  of this are significant: the bottom line being that you need to seek out opportunities for demonstrating your capability and shouldn't expect anything to be handed to you.

With just a year a half of Assistant Headship under my belt I have no doubt that this was at least a part of today's undoing. I'm excited to be enrolled on Ambition School Leadership's Future Leaders course starting in June and hope this will create some opportunities not immediately afforded to me by my current role.

5. Seek out mentors and listen to them carefully
I've been so incredibly lucky with the generous time given to me by Angela O'Brien, Jill Berry, Claire Stoneman, and current colleagues in preparation for the last two days. In my experience, people are very willing to help when they are (politely) asked. I love it when I get a DM from someone being 10% braver and putting in an application; supporting others has gone a long way towards clarifying my own thinking.

To make the most of their time and yours, it's important to be clear on exactly what you'd like to receive support with, be it the written application, articulating your ideas more precisely, using clear examples, or distilling your ideas for if you are appointed. This isn't something I've always managed to do. Thankfully, the skilled leaders I've been lucky enough to make contact with have done a damn fine job of coaching it out of me.

6. Pick your referees wisely
This one's a cautionary tale: in an interview at a previous school I was I burned by a churlish line in one of my references written by my Deputy Head. I'd - perhaps naively - picked my Head and Deputy as my referees without really giving it much thought. The fact that she line managed one of the other candidates and may therefore have a preference as to who got the job certainly hadn't crossed my mind. When the reference was raised at my final interview it blindsided me. Back at base, it became apparent that she'd shown the other candidate multiple drafts of his whereas she refused to let me have a copy of mine even post-interview. In this case, neither of us were successful.

I (still) believe in thinking the best of all colleagues until proven otherwise, however, I learned an important life-lesson that whilst I may hold myself to this standard when it comes to referees it's sometimes worth going for the safe bet.

7. If you don't get to interview after 3 letters or aren't successful after 3 interviews, stop and do something differently
Of course '3' is an arbitrary number, but my point here is that if you're not getting anywhere then it's time to take a deep breath and a good long look in the mirror. When I wrote three letters for AHT posts and didn't get an interview I realised that I lacked the whole school experience required. One year on and an Associate SLT post under my belt, I got my interview.

Today, I got to the last two. This tells me I'm not a million miles away from Deputy (and that my worst fears of embarrassing myself by applying haven't been realised). A year on and with the sharp, diagnostic feedback I know my Head will give me and the challenge of Future Leaders, I know I'll get there.

8. Actively seek feedback - when you're ready to really hear it
If you've ever given feedback to a disappointed candidate then you'll appreciate how difficult it can be. I'd argue that giving feedback to internal candidates - as I've had to many a time - is particularly challenging. But, like any difficult conversation, if approached with kindness and in a suitable context it can lead to personal growth, empowerment, and professional learning. I hope all of those involved in interviewing appreciate that good quality feedback is the pay back for the time and energy spent on the application process.

So, if you aren't successful, even when you may least feel like it, make sure you track down the Head or Head of Department for the feedback you have earned. This doesn't need to be immediate - although sometimes this can at least provide a swift end to the process - but should be in the days that follow. If you're still not in the right head space to truly hear it write it down to be revisited at a later date. With gin.

The keynote speech that never was - Part 1

Thanks to a spectacular cold front and the inability of Basingstoke council to properly grit their roads, the keynote speech I'd planned to deliver at Southern Rocks 2019 never got to be aired. And now the event's been put off for the rest of this year, it never will. The best laid plans of mice and men and all that.

Here is my attempt to reimagine that frosty February morning. On this weekend, the gritters were out in full force and, as the snow plough chugged wilfully by, I climbed up the steps with clicker in hand...

Hi! Well this is mildly terrifying [nervous giggle]. Giving a speech like this is definitely out of my comfort zone. I'm going to have to imagine I'm giving an overlong assembly - one that is being delivered to some slightly overgrown teenagers [stifles another nervous giggle].

When I agreed to speak today, no one told me that this wasn't in fact a 'key note', but an 'energiser'. Well, sorry, but at this point in the term, I'm not sure I have any 'energy' for myself, let alone the energy to 'energise' you lot.

[Reveals picture of a studious owl on a perch labelled 'At the start of the year' and a second picture of a frazzled owl labelled 'At the end of the year'.]

I know you'll have all seen this meme before, but whoever made it got one thing wrong. Teachers don't just look like this second owl at the end of the year, but at the end of each term. 

In fact, at the end of each half term. 

In fact, pretty much at the end of each day.

Because teaching is bloody hard work, isn't it? According to the latest DfE research, secondary school teachers work for 53 hours a week,  Primary and middle leaders for 55 hours a week, senior leaders a pretty ridiculous 60 hours each week, and Secondary school senior leaders - like me poor, old frazzled me - a whopping 62 hours on average every single week in term time.

And it's not like those hours are spent dossing. 

No, we're on-call every minute of every day.  We're attempting to educate children who, for a whole plethora of reasons, don't always want to be educated. 

We're dealing with young people in crisis because our NHS and support services are criminally underfunded. We're managing our own every-shrinking budgets, making desperate decisions about what can be cut back still further, whilst simultaneously being held accountable by the press and the government for pretty much all of society's ills.

[Reveals stats about teacher mental health and the percentage of teachers thinking of leaving the profession]

Is it any wonder then that we've found ourselves in this state? In fact, why the hell are any of us even teachers at all? And not just any teachers, but teachers sitting at an education conference on a Saturday?!

And yet... we are. You are. And as the world continues to turn on its axis, people continue to teach. 

In fact, some of us come from whole families of teachers!

[Reveals family tree through her paternal line: grandad Sam, grandma Alice, mum Roz, dad Peter, and sister Alison are all labelled 'Teacher']

What on earth is going on in families like mine...? 

Well, like the good, research-informed practitioner I aspire to be, I decided to investigate. What will now follow I like to think of as part family history, part action research...

And it all starts with my slightly dotty grandma called Alice...

[Reveals photo of an elderly woman with grey, bobbed hair. On her head is a slightly lopsided mortar board (the type worn at a graduation ceremony).]

My gran was the sort of old woman who doesn't fully understand the concept of 'being a vegetarian'. If you are vegetarian, you'll know what I mean... That's right, the kind who serves you 'vegetarian' soup with the pieces of chicken mostly scooped out.

She was also the kind of woman who would post you envelopes packed full of assorted newspaper clippings 'because she thought you'd like them'. Here [gestures to photo] she's just nicked my mortar board at my Masters degree graduation ceremony.

Growing up, she'd always seemed old, a bit mad, and - quiet honestly - a bit like Yoda. You know what I mean: brilliantly wrinkly, and hairy, and a tendency to speak as if every word conveyed a really deep meaning - even if you weren't quite sure what that meaning was.

I had always known my gran was, like me, a teacher. A Headteacher, in fact, as she frequently reminded me.

On telling her that I'd been appointed as Head of English at the age of 26 - something I'd thought was an impressive accomplishment - she gleefully replied that she was running a school single-handedly at the age of 21.

[Reveals a black and white photo of a much younger Alice. She is standing against a brick wall, wearing a checked blouse buttoned up to the neck. Her arms are behind her back and she is beaming.]

When Alice became a Headteacher it was the start of the second World War. Her boyfriend, my future grandpa, had left her at home to become a tank engineer. Determined not to marry in case she became a war widow, she instead had to find a new role for herself beyond wife and mother. 

For Alice, the working class daughter of a coal miner, this meant the space and time to continue with her education and to step into shoes that might otherwise have been filled by a man. After teacher training college she quickly found herself promoted to the leadership of a tiny two-form village Primary school.

When the war ended, Alice and Sam finally married. Alice resigned her post, and three children swiftly followed. 

What Alice was left with was the role of educator and professional stamped indelibly onto her own sense of self. It remained a valued part of the way she saw herself. Her identity.

When I look back now, I see her gentle teasing of me when I was promoted for what it was: a deep and justified pride in her own achievements. 

The newspaper clippings too I now recognise as symbols of her continued interest in the politically charged world of education. They were nearly always stories about changes to government policy, reviews of new educational books, or celebratory stories of school trips or charity work.

From Alice - as a woman especially - I've learned to celebrate my status as an educated professional and the knowledge, status, and freedom that affords me. 

Dammit, I've learned to own the fact I go to conferences on a Saturday because I value my own professional development! [A couple of audience members cheer and there is embarrassed laughter]

Which leads me to the man Alice married: Sam.

[Reveals black and white photo of Sam on a motorbike, smiling]

In my mind, Sam looked on teaching the same way he looked on going off to war.  

No, not in the way you might think if you've just attempted to teach Year 9. On a Friday. Lesson 5. On a windy day. [Pauses for dramatic effect]

No, Sam looked on teaching in the same way he looked on being in the armed forces because he saw it as a way to serve his community. 

[Reveals black and white postcard of an imposing red brick Victorian hospital building]

Sam was the Headteacher at the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital in Heswall on the Wirral. There he led a small team of staff who educated children with chronic illnesses, disabilities, as well as those staying in hospital for short stints after operations.

Whilst there he also set up a charity which provided free computers - then a cutting edge technology - for children with disabilities to improve accessibility to education when they returned home from hospital. For this work, many years after he had retired, he received an OBE from the Queen. 

Not at all big shoes to fill, thanks grandad.

To be clear, when I say my grandad saw teaching as 'service', I don't mean that he saw himself as some kind of martyr. He really enjoyed teaching and he wasn't a particularly religious man: I don't think he saw himself as being called by some higher being to be a teacher. 

What he did have was as strong sense of purpose. For him there was a clear sense that his work was doing something worthwhile - something that was for the good of others - and that was somehow, inherently 'right'.

Like Sam, I don't think I will ever see teaching as 'just a job'. No, to me it really is a vocation. It feels 'right'. 

The final line in the first ever blog I wrote was 'A life in teaching is a life well-lived' and I stand by that statement. If we can be proud that in infinite little ways every day we make the worlds of others slightly bigger and brighter then it perhaps will no longer be so confusing why whole families choose to teach.

And whole families, in my case is the correct phrase because Sam and Alice gave birth to Peter. Yep, another bloody Headteacher.

[Reveals photos of a hippyish looking man with long hair, thick glasses, and a beard.] 



To be continued.

An open letter to Peter Thomas (Chair of the National Association of Teachers of English)

Dear Peter,

Many thanks for responding to my tweets about your recent article in the NATE magazine in which you offered your thoughts on @Team_English1 and subsequently allowing the article itself to be shared free of copyright.

As you’ve made it clear you’re not yet fully conversant in the social mores of Twitter, I’ve decided to write to you in a traditional form you’ll hopefully feel more at home with: the letter. I’d draw your attention to the fact that, on your advice to “Try quoting some other parts [of your article]”, I’ve done exactly that.

So why, given that many of us would agree with some of your critiques, have members of Team English been left “howling” (to use your preferred verb)? Well, for a start, there was a failure to complete basic fact checking – such as the names of the teachers you had directly referred to. Although I am tempted to retain the monikers you’ve rechristened “Nikki Noopuddles” and “X Curtis” with purely for my own amusement, this feels demonstrative of a wider failure to engage with the real people at the heart of your piece. (It’s Carlin and Chris in case you were wondering.)

You characterise English teachers who ask for help and support as “weak” or unsuited to the job of teaching stating, “limited professional or academic confidence may reflect the nature of recruitment”. You then go on to assert that “Many of the Team English pleas for assistance indicate some very basic teacher needs and anxieties, and a lack of autonomous confidence in subject knowledge and pedagogy that might make some wince.” My first reaction was ‘thank God you weren’t my NQT mentor’. Or Head of English. Or, colleague, for that matter.

How can we develop as a profession if any admittance of a lack of confidence or even anxiety are met with a physical shudder? Surely, the role of a Subject Association is to share subject-specific expertise and pedagogy, not to look down its nose at teachers who are actively seeking it out? The idea that any teacher should have “autonomous confidence” in every aspect of their subject knowledge and practice throughout their career is a damaging one, in my opinion, that stifles professional development and dialogue.

Such elitist attitudes pull up the drawbridge to high quality professional development at a time when our profession needs it the most. When I hear statements like the one you made in a tweet that “My background is in a more academically robust community of speciality enthusiasts” I want to say ‘Good-o for you’. If academic rigour in subject expertise is confined to a niche community within teaching how on earth are we going to improve the teaching available to every child in every school?

As a side note, the news that I am not considered a ‘speciality enthusiast’ will come as news to my long-suffering husband. You’d also better warn the publishers of Mark Roberts and Chris Curtis they’re not considered ‘academically rigorous’ – and ResearchEd of the same about Rebecca Foster and Sarah Barker, for that matter.

In your article you criticise the “formulaic approach” being shared by members of TE but this implication of a homogenous ‘Team English pedagogy’ belies the 18,000 individual contexts, ideas, and perspectives that make up this online community. Be assured that there are many heated disagreements about aspects of practice.

Similarly, your comments about the variable quality of resources and advice on offer demonstrate a lack of understanding of the nature of the online world. Of course the resources are of variable quality: it’s a mark of the wonderful, diverse nature of the Team English demographic. It’s also one of the reasons LitDrive has tentatively introduced a star rating system. But I passionately believe that judgement-free, peer-to-peer sharing is vital if we are going to stimulate dialogue about what constitutes that very quality we are seeking. The moment we metaphorically close our classroom doors through fear of judgement it is immensely hard to prize them open again.

So, why did we not all swoon at your ‘compliments’ or, as you have continually argued, the “favourable publicity” for Team English? Well, because they were buried alongside sweeping accusations such as “There is very little in all this to suggest a wider or deeper concern with English as a humane discipline with substantial roots and flourishing fruits”. Whilst beautifully figurative, I find this quite simply insulting. One glance at the programme for the 2018 National Conference would see that this is not the case, with sessions exploring curriculum, grammar, rhyme, ‘building a culture of academic tenacity’, authorial purpose, and values and diversity.

You suggested by tweet that it would be “Better to direct outrage against those who undermine or damage the values I think we share.” The values I share with Team English are a belief in open sharing, support, and professional challenge. Whilst I cannot – and must not – infer intention from your article alone, the snobbery, denigrating tone, and lack of dialogue with those you have written about to me do not reflect these values. I’d also suggest that the characterisation of female teachers as ‘howling’ with “sensitivities” has more than a whiff of misogyny to it.

My desire in writing this letter is not to further division; I really do care about the future of NATE. There is very clearly a space for a professional association with a “coherent, regulated editorial function” which you rightly state Team English does not have as a group of disparate individuals. However, in order to function effectively I do believe NATE needs to reflect on how – in 2018 and beyond – it can best engage with the community of teachers it supposedly represents.

You state “subject associations are able to speak to other agencies on behalf of English”. Well, no, I’m sorry, they can’t when they no longer have the trust, ear, or financial support of English teachers. For example, I am curious as to how many main scale classroom practitioners from state schools have the luxury of attending the annual NATE conference. Just one day this year cost £200. It’s probably worth pointing out that a day at the Team English National Conference cost a tenner.

I hope that a more productive relationship between NATE and Team English can emerge over the coming academic year. Another offer has been made for NATE to be represented at the Team English National Conference and I for one will still be making a beeline to any stand or sessions you may choose to run.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Spalding

English teacher