NEU Conference 2024 Take the fight to the government As the NEU meets for its annual conference, teacher and union rep ROBERT POOLE reflects on the most intense period of industrial action in his teaching career
Wednesday 31st May 2023 After ChatGPT: will machines make teachers obsolete? From marking to cheating, from saving time to cutting jobs, secondary school teacher and NEU rep ROBERT POOLE considers the role AI may play in education
Friday 05th May 2023 May Day, May Day! This is the fight of our lives As the strikes rumble on, NEU rep ROBERT POOLE asks if, with the four main teaching unions set to take joint action, it is time for one big education union
Monday 06th Feb 2023 Teachers strike for dignity NEU activist ROBERT POOLE reflects on his first day on the picket line last week and the need to continue to build the union
Monday 09th Jan 2023 What we have to look forward to in education in 2023 Rishi Sunak’s maths gimmick doesn’t add up: as we enter the new year, teacher ROBERT POOLE looks at the challenges we will face from a fragile Tory government
Sunday 23rd Oct 2022 Covid helped me truly realise the power of our class As educators take one step closer to strike action, teacher ROBERT POOLE reflects on how the pandemic helped refocus the politics of those who’d banked on Parliament for change – leading to an upsurge in organisation and resistance
Thursday 11th Aug 2022 Enough is Enough As strikes spread through the country, union rep ROBERT POOLE says it is time for workers to take a stand, form new coalitions and say ‘enough is enough’
Tuesday 12th Jul 2022 The Tories stick their middle fingers to the education system Teacher ROBERT POOLE reflects on a week so turbulent in Westminster it's provided a brief respite from unwanted interference in the education system — now if only Ofsted would go on an indefinite strike too...
Wednesday 08th Jun 2022 The biggest challenge in education? How long have you got? Yes, the Tories are particularly bad, but we must ignore any politician that claims they can force improvements in our educational attainment by doing anything other than creating a more just and equal society for our kids, writes ROBERT POOLE
Friday 15th Apr 2022 The government white paper and NEU conference: A look at a month in education Teacher Robert Poole reflects on the government’s education white paper and the key events from the NEU 2022 conference
Thursday 03rd Mar 2022 ‘Political impartiality’ in schools means being able to make the case for socialism Teacher ROBERT POOLE asks what role educators can and should play in helping young people make sense of the world and why the government is suddenly looking to answer that question for them