The importance of a general teaching council

Abstract

Statutory General Teaching Councils (GTCs) for England and Wales will be enacted in the 1996-97 session of Parliament and in being by the year 2000. Against this background the significance of such a body for the status and self-esteem of the teaching profession is considered. The necessary powers and duties and the constitution of Council are reviewed. It is argued that the Government's Consultation Document, Teaching: high status, high standards (Department for Education and Employment, 1997), while raising the appropriate questions, contains no commitment to principle with regard to composition, powers, or relationships with other national agencies. Moreover, the Education Act will merely empower the Secretary of State to set up a GTC; all the detail will be contained in regulations subsequently. If there is to be a satisfactory GTC, the understanding support and pressure of teachers throughout schools, further education colleges and higher education institutions is also essential if an opportunity for which many have worked, for over 150 years, is to be successfully taken.