Teachers should reclaim the moral purpose of education, says IfL

Teachers should reclaim the moral purpose of education and strive for a greater sense of community, according to speakers at the annual meeting of the Institute for Learning (IfL).

Stella Mbubaegbu, principal of Highbury College in Portsmouth and IfL patron, told how teachers with strong values and the skill to effectively share knowledge can “transform lives”. ??

“As teachers and trainers, we have a duty to bring light to today’s world,” she said.

“We are here to transform lives, to push back the darkness at a time when there is turbulence everywhere.”

Mbubaegbu called on teachers to support each other, adding “it is about honour, respect and coming together as a group with a long tradition of bringing light. We need to band together, to push back, for the sake of future generations.”

??At the meeting new IfL president Penny Petch said she would be focusing on teaching qualifications, management training for newly promoted teachers and effective professional development.

She said: “I am passionate about the need for an independent professional body. Before training as a teacher, I was a qualified nurse and midwife, so for me it is second nature to be a member of a professional body.”??

Petch also took the opportunity to criticise the recent revocation of legislation requiring all teachers to have a recognised qualification – a move recommended by the Lingfield report.

“It is amazing how many people do not know that the regulations for teachers needing to be trained and qualified have been revoked,” she said.??”Part of the reason I stood for election as president was my anger at the Lingfield report and my desire to do something about its recommendation to revoke these regulations.”

Duncan Drury