Sad (and unnecessary) end for Teachers TV
27 Apr 2011
The dedicated television channel for teachers - Teachers TV - comes to an end at the end of this month.
The decision by the government to pull the plug on funding for the channel seems an odd way of showing ministers' stated commitment to the importance of improving the quality of classroom teaching.
The Teachers TV website will cease to be available from 29th April. Past programmes will - we are told - still be accessible via the Department for Education website, although at present it is far from clear where to find them on this vast site.
The channel was launched in 2005 and an independent analyst's report commissioned by the government said that more than 1 in 3 teachers and classroom assistants said it had had a positive effect on classroom standards.
As someone who made programmes for the channel, I must declare an interest. However the relatively small cost saving looks like an grievous error compared to the cost and disruption of CPD and training delivered in more conventional ways and the loss of an independent forum for discussion, and representation, of teaching methods.
The fictitious poet, E.J. Thrib would probably have had a fitting farewell to deliver ... but I can only say: 'what a waste, what an act of vandalism'.
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tim hayden - 27 Apr 2011
teachers tv
I agree. What a folly.
Karen Beckett - 27 Apr 2011
Teachers TV
Thank you, Mike, for drawing on Thrib - this is indeed an act of pointless, ideological vandalism. As such, it sits well with the coalition's record on BSF, EMA, HE funding, diplomas, the EBacc, Connexions etc etc.
Patricia Adams - 27 Apr 2011
Teachers TV closure
This is really a great shame and very short sighted. In leading a school out of special measures to 'good' using ofsted criteria, CPD involving video clips from Teachers TV proved invaluable in getting staff to talk about quality first teaching. They were easily accessible, unlike the current DfE site and very specifically focussed.
This governement has got it wrong on every aspect of educational policy from Surestart through to tuition fees and teacher's pensions.
A heavy price will be paid in the future for their policy line on all of these aspects.
Dave Whaley - 28 Apr 2011
Teachers TV
This decision really is short sighted and also indictes a lack of joined up thinking, given the fact Gove wants to deliver teacher training in schools. Teacher TV surely would have been a great aid to these new trainee teachers and a useful teaching tool for existing staff.
Jan Chambers - 28 Apr 2011
TTV
A huge disappointment to lose TTV. I was originally fairly cynical about the initiative but was pleased to be proved wrong. I found the resources invaluable to support and enhance CPD for NQTs through to headteachers. There is very little comparable material available commercially and what there is expensive. Disappointed also to receive a bland response when I wrote to my MP. Sadly it seems that TTV was doomed simply because it was an initiative that came out of the previous administration and therefore perceived by the current administration as tainted. An odd contradiction also as Mr Gove’s policies include an emphasis on school’s having responsibility for their own CPD. TTV provided an unparalleled resource bank for schools to do just that.
Luke Harrop - 07 Jun 2011
Teachers TV has a new life
Teachers TV videos are all now available for viewing at www.teachfind.com, a free teaching resource in the UK
TES - 14 May 2012
TES Teachers TV
Just a quick update for above post… In agreement with the UK’s Department For Education all 3,500 Teachers TV videos are also available on TES Resources http://www.tes.co.uk/teacherstv