[etni] Re: ETAI Newsletter 30 - May, 2010
- From: Lev Abramov <lev.abramov@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: grichards03@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 22 May 2010 10:19:37 +0300
On Sat, May 22, 2010 at 9:30 AM, Graham Richards <grichards03@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> To the ETNI list,
>
> A few days ago, I sent the following message to the ETNI list:
>
> "I was surprised to read in the ETAI Newsletter that there is no room
> in ETAI conferences for a discussion of issues such as Ministry policy
> and programs, or teacher conditions and pay. Aren't these issues also
> related to teacher professional development and support?
> Does anybody else find this strange?"
>
> I was surprised at the amount of mail that I personally received in
> response to this message. It appears that it is a hot issue that
> people are not talking about publicly. I have been considering, these
> past few days, whether to follow up on this. I know that ETAI is
> performing a very important function in running these conferences. For
> many teachers, I imagine that these conferences help them recharge the
> batteries and keep going. But it also appears that ETAI could do more,
> but has decided not to. If it were simply that there is just not
> enough time to do everything, this wouldn't bother me. But it seems
> that there is more to this.
>
Dear Graham -
There is much, much more to it. ETAI does not do enough for professional
representation of English teachers. The trade unions - the Irgun and
especially the Histadrut - do not do nearly enough to protect the
professional status of their members. No wonder that so many (if not all)
feel like the author of the Tired of Being a Sucker article in the Teacher
Magazine (the link
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/05/19/tln_jones_suckerteacher.html?tkn=SVZDw0%2FV2UcBuNCZbeO2Z2Gij8XM7eb2F5a7&print=1
was
sent to the list yesterday).
For years, I have been calling others to follow my example and quit the
trade union - a step which would almost certainly cause the latter to become
much more militant. The call does not seem to have been heard. "This is the
only kind of representation we have!" was the most frequent response.
"Better this than no union at all!" With a reaction like that, how do you
expect to make a difference, to initiate a change?!
Well, the unions have positioned themselves between teachers and their
kronot hishtalmut, to ensure that those who quit are financially
disadvantaged, And the unions have created the indirect electoral system
which enables the same people to remain "elected" for many years (reminds me
of the decades of Brezhnev's rule, when he was the only "candidate" for the
position of the leader, and 99.9% of the votes were inevitably his...).
And if you call for "mass defection" from ETAI, with the same purpose of
making a change, the overall reaction will be similar, if not totally
identical. Teachers are the most conservative bunch I have seen - they will
not move until the ground under their feet starts burning.
Worse still: this very list is run by a person who could do much more - but
decided to keep this list "professional" = to exclude criticism against MOE
and the English Inspectorate. Many time my messages to this list were
"filtered" because they contained sarcastic remarks about Judy Steiner or
Avi Tsur. I would not be surprised if this message did not reach the list
either (which is why I am sending a copy to you and to a few other people on
the list I know personally).
My conclusion is: OK, suppose the unions have been "bought." Suppose ETAI
has been intimidated.
But what stops ETNI from becoming more proactive and filling the void?!
best regards -
Lev
> --
> Lev ABRAMOV
> http://il.linkedin.com/in/levabramov
>
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