"The Government's new teacher training strategy will include more specific training in understanding and managing behaviour for teachers, especially those working in challenging inner city schools. This will help ensure that new, young and talented teachers remain in what is a hugely rewarding career."
A consultation document - published on Monday - sets out a new system of teacher training in England.
As reported in the Telegraph, it includes the introduction of tapered bursaries to attract the best graduates into the classroom, beefed up English and maths requirements to weed out trainees with a poor grasp of the three-Rs and new-style tests of interpersonal skills.
But ministers are also determined to use the reforms to crackdown on indiscipline in English state schools.
The consultation paper – Training Our Next Generation of Outstanding Teachers – said training courses would be changed to tackle "two specific weaknesses"; ability to teach reading in primary schools and managing behaviour at all levels.
More training will be based in schools, rather than universities, where tuition is often too theory-based, the document said.
It added: "Trainees who follow teacher training programmes that are led by schools… are more likely to find their training provided relevant knowledge, skills and understanding to teach their specialist subject, and better prepared them for the classroom and behaviour management."
The consultation outlined plans to help local networks of schools to develop teachers as "behaviour specialists" who can work across their area to "improve the quality of training that trainees receive while on placements in schools".
A Whitehall source said toughen-up behaviour training would focus on areas such as restraining violent pupils and giving staff more confidence to use powers to search for banned items. Under new rules, they can search pupils, bags and lockers for anything prohibited by school rules such as mobile phones, alcohol, drugs and stolen property.
Courses are also expected to place a bigger emphasis on the interpersonal skills needed to communicate better with pupils and offer "real life" advice to help trainees deal with low-level disruption, uncooperative children and irate parents.
On Monday, unions criticised the training strategy, saying the focus on recruiting top graduates risked alienating thousands of students.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: ""We should have demanding expectations of recruits into teacher training. It is, after all, the most important job in the country.
"We should not fall into the trap of thinking, however, that academic excellence necessarily makes someone a great teacher."
Article Source KBG Test Blog (http://rc.kbg.me)
