Christine Blower
Encyclopedia
Christine Blower is the eleventh General Secretary
of the National Union of Teachers
, a trade union representing qualified teachers across England and Wales.
engineer, as well as a Labour
supporter.
She grew up in Kingston upon Thames
and attended Tolworth Girls School
, a bi-lateral school
where she was educated in the grammar
stream. Having contemplated a career in law or probation work, she instead trained as a teacher.
, a comprehensive in Kensington & Chelsea
which was then part of the Inner London Education Authority
. There she taught French . At the time of her arrival the school had changed from streamed teaching
to mixed-ability teaching, a style of teaching she prefers as it does not “create the sheep and goats
situation that comprehensives were set up to avoid.” Her daughter Sophie later attended the school.
In 1980 she became Head of Modern Languages at St Edmund’s Secondary School in Fulham
, then Head of Department at Quintin Kynaston School
in the borough of Westminster
in 1983.
With the threatened break up of the ILEA, Christine Blower moved back to Hammersmith & Fulham in 1990 and concentrated on working with young teenagers at risk of care or custody, by means of a job at Farm Lane Adolescent Resource Centre . After its closure she was redeployed as a member of the local authority's Behaviour Support Team. As she explained in 1997, "The brief of the team is to try and deal with the behaviour in order to calm the children down, get them focussed in on tasks so they can stay in the mainstream."
She was elected to the National Executive of the NUT between 1992 and 2000.
Other positions include National Vice-President in 1996 and then the 125th National President of the NUT from 28 March 1997 to 10 April 1998, succeeding Carole Regan. Blower used this platform to argue for a greater role for teachers in the running of Pupil Referral Units
and for "properly resourced nursery provision". She was a critic of grammar schools
, SATs
and the schools regulator. Of the latter, she argued that "much of what people have to do for Ofsted
is an utter waste of time."
Blower failed in her election as General Secretary in 1999, with incumbent Doug McAvoy
re-elected by a 17,000 majority. She was later elected Deputy General Secretary on 28 January 2005 under his successor Steve Sinnott
.
After the sudden death of Sinnott while in post she became Acting General Secretary on 5 April 2008 , and led the union’s first national strike in two decades – over teachers’ pay – a fortnight later.
On 5 May 2009 she was elected unopposed as the first woman General Secretary of the NUT.
) in schools, including the national boycotts led by the union in 1993 and 2010.
Her opposition has centred on the tests' use in the compilation of national league tables, which the NUT would also like to see abolished. Blower has referred to the tests as "high stakes", with teachers under pressure to narrow the curriculum, “skewing everything to enable their pupils to jump through a series of
unnecessary hoops.” Addressing the Government’s position in the magazine Tribune
, she wrote “Tests do not drive up standards. They just cause additional stress for pupils, teachers and parents. Teachers are continually rushing to deliver a huge curriculum that ends up unbalanced because of the pressure to reach Government-imposed targets. Many feel that they cannot depart from the restrictions of the national curriculum.”
Under Christine Blower's leadership, the NUT has published its proposals for alternative approaches to assessment, most recently in conjunction with the NAHT
in 2009 and with ATL
in 2010. A further document co-authored by the three unions was published in December 2010.
During her Presidential Address to NUT Conference on 29 March 1997, Christine Blower reported that in the previous year her daughter Sophie had been withdrawn from the Key Stage 2
tests.
She told delegates, "As a parent and a teacher, I will continue to support campaigns to rid education of blanket testing of our children." There was much criticism of this 'direct action' in the press, but defending herself, Blower argued that "[Sophie] did something considerably more useful with her time than if she’d been at school during the tests."
This element of her speech was portrayed by some as an example of hard left militancy. Speaking prior to the May 1997 general election
, she had chosen to distance herself from New Labour. Two years later, she told a journalist that she was 'to the left of old Labour' and confirmed that she had no affiliation to any political party or group . However, in 2000 she was a member of the London Socialist Alliance
, ahead of the Greater London Assembly Elections
. She said at the time that it "was formed to prevent disillusionment with Labour giving a new birth to the far right as it did in the 1970s."
.
Policy introduced by Michael Gove
also allows for Free Schools
, newly founded and directly funded schools intended to fulfil a local need and with freedoms very similar to Academies. The NUT opposes Free Schools and Blower has voiced concerns that they are able to employ teaching staff without Qualified Teacher Status
.
Both of these types of school are outside LEA
control and have the potential to make Collective bargaining
more difficult.
Christine Blower has disputed the success of the Swedish system as well as American charter schools, both regularly cited by Michael Gove as exemplars of narrowing the social divide .
In a cover story for The Spectator magazine in August 2010, it was claimed that NUT activists were "bullying" head teachers known to be considering academy conversion and, with it, a break from local authority control.
Her two daughters have taken the double-barrelled surname
Charman-Blower. Sophie attended the University of Edinburgh
, where she acted as Edinburgh spokesperson for the Stop the War coalition.
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
of the National Union of Teachers
National Union of Teachers
The National Union of Teachers is a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is a member of the Trades Union Congress...
, a trade union representing qualified teachers across England and Wales.
Early life
Her father was a miner in his younger days in the north east of England, and then a GPOGeneral Post Office
General Post Office is the name of the British postal system from 1660 until 1969.General Post Office may also refer to:* General Post Office, Perth* General Post Office, Sydney* General Post Office, Melbourne* General Post Office, Brisbane...
engineer, as well as a Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
supporter.
She grew up in Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
and attended Tolworth Girls School
Tolworth Girls' School and Centre for Continuing Education
Tolworth Girls' School and Centre for Continuing Education is a high performing, comprehensive school for girls aged 11-18 in Surbiton, England, in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames.Tolworth Girls School is a high attaining school, that consistently achieves high results above the Country...
, a bi-lateral school
Partially selective school (England)
In England, a partially selective school is one of a few dozen state-funded secondary schools that select a proportion of their intake by ability or aptitude, permitted as a continuation of arrangements that existed prior to 1997....
where she was educated in the grammar
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
stream. Having contemplated a career in law or probation work, she instead trained as a teacher.
Teaching career
In 1973 she took her first teaching post at Holland Park SchoolHolland Park School
Holland Park School was opened in London, UK, in 1958. It became the flagship for comprehensive education, and in its heyday had over 2000 in the student body. It became known as the "socialist Eton", and a number of high-profile socialists sent their children to Holland Park School, adding to its...
, a comprehensive in Kensington & Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
which was then part of the Inner London Education Authority
Inner London Education Authority
The Inner London Education Authority was the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990.-History:...
. There she taught French . At the time of her arrival the school had changed from streamed teaching
Tracking (education)
Tracking is separating pupils by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school. It may be referred as streaming or phasing in certain schools. In a tracking system, the entire school population is assigned to classes according to whether the...
to mixed-ability teaching, a style of teaching she prefers as it does not “create the sheep and goats
The Sheep and the Goats
The Sheep and the Goats or "The Judgment of the Nations" was a discourse of Jesus recorded in the New Testament. It is sometimes characterized as a parable, although unlike most parables it does not purport to relate a story of events happening to other characters.One explanation is that it tells...
situation that comprehensives were set up to avoid.” Her daughter Sophie later attended the school.
In 1980 she became Head of Modern Languages at St Edmund’s Secondary School in Fulham
Fulham
Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
, then Head of Department at Quintin Kynaston School
Quintin Kynaston School
Quintin Kynaston is a local comprehensive secondary school in the St John's Wood area of north London. It became a Specialist Technology College in 2001. The school intends to become an academy in September 2011.-Admissions:...
in the borough of Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
in 1983.
With the threatened break up of the ILEA, Christine Blower moved back to Hammersmith & Fulham in 1990 and concentrated on working with young teenagers at risk of care or custody, by means of a job at Farm Lane Adolescent Resource Centre . After its closure she was redeployed as a member of the local authority's Behaviour Support Team. As she explained in 1997, "The brief of the team is to try and deal with the behaviour in order to calm the children down, get them focussed in on tasks so they can stay in the mainstream."
National Union of Teachers
Christine Blower joined the NUT at the start of her teaching career. Between 1986 and 2004 she held various posts in the West London association, including Secretary.She was elected to the National Executive of the NUT between 1992 and 2000.
Other positions include National Vice-President in 1996 and then the 125th National President of the NUT from 28 March 1997 to 10 April 1998, succeeding Carole Regan. Blower used this platform to argue for a greater role for teachers in the running of Pupil Referral Units
Pupil referral unit
In the UK, a Pupil Referral Unit is a centre for children who are not able to attend a mainstream or special school. Each local education authority has a duty to make arrangements for the provision of education in or out of school for all children of compulsory school age...
and for "properly resourced nursery provision". She was a critic of grammar schools
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, SATs
National Curriculum assessment
National Curriculum assessments are a series of educational assessments, colloquially known as Sats or SATs, used to assess the attainment of children attending maintained schools in England...
and the schools regulator. Of the latter, she argued that "much of what people have to do for Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
is an utter waste of time."
Blower failed in her election as General Secretary in 1999, with incumbent Doug McAvoy
Doug McAvoy
Doug McAvoy is a retired British trade union leader. He was General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers from 1989 to 2004.A teacher, McAvoy was secretary of Newcastle-upon-Tyne NUT and became a member of the National Executive of the Union in 1970...
re-elected by a 17,000 majority. She was later elected Deputy General Secretary on 28 January 2005 under his successor Steve Sinnott
Steve Sinnott
Steve Sinnott , was the General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers from 2004 until his death in 2008....
.
After the sudden death of Sinnott while in post she became Acting General Secretary on 5 April 2008 , and led the union’s first national strike in two decades – over teachers’ pay – a fortnight later.
On 5 May 2009 she was elected unopposed as the first woman General Secretary of the NUT.
SATs
Christine Blower has aligned herself to long-standing NUT criticisms of the standard assessment tests (or SATsNational Curriculum assessment
National Curriculum assessments are a series of educational assessments, colloquially known as Sats or SATs, used to assess the attainment of children attending maintained schools in England...
) in schools, including the national boycotts led by the union in 1993 and 2010.
Her opposition has centred on the tests' use in the compilation of national league tables, which the NUT would also like to see abolished. Blower has referred to the tests as "high stakes", with teachers under pressure to narrow the curriculum, “skewing everything to enable their pupils to jump through a series of
unnecessary hoops.” Addressing the Government’s position in the magazine Tribune
Tribune (magazine)
Tribune is a democratic socialist weekly, founded in 1937 published in London. It is independent but supports the Labour Party from the left...
, she wrote “Tests do not drive up standards. They just cause additional stress for pupils, teachers and parents. Teachers are continually rushing to deliver a huge curriculum that ends up unbalanced because of the pressure to reach Government-imposed targets. Many feel that they cannot depart from the restrictions of the national curriculum.”
Under Christine Blower's leadership, the NUT has published its proposals for alternative approaches to assessment, most recently in conjunction with the NAHT
National Association of Head Teachers
The National Association of Head Teachers is a trade union representing Headteachers, deputy headteachers and assistant headteachers and other school and college leaders in the United Kingdom.-External links:**...
in 2009 and with ATL
Association of Teachers and Lecturers
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers is a trade union, teachers' union and professional association, affiliated to the Trades Union Congress, in the United Kingdom representing educators from nursery and primary education to further education...
in 2010. A further document co-authored by the three unions was published in December 2010.
During her Presidential Address to NUT Conference on 29 March 1997, Christine Blower reported that in the previous year her daughter Sophie had been withdrawn from the Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when pupils are aged between 7 and 11. The term is applied differently in Northern Ireland where it refers to pupils in Year 5, Year 6 and...
tests.
She told delegates, "As a parent and a teacher, I will continue to support campaigns to rid education of blanket testing of our children." There was much criticism of this 'direct action' in the press, but defending herself, Blower argued that "[Sophie] did something considerably more useful with her time than if she’d been at school during the tests."
This element of her speech was portrayed by some as an example of hard left militancy. Speaking prior to the May 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, she had chosen to distance herself from New Labour. Two years later, she told a journalist that she was 'to the left of old Labour' and confirmed that she had no affiliation to any political party or group . However, in 2000 she was a member of the London Socialist Alliance
London Socialist Alliance
The London Socialist Alliance was an alliance of far-left socialist groups and individuals in London. It stood candidates in the for the Greater London Assembly Election in 2000, but supported Ken Livingstone in the mayoral elections held at the same time...
, ahead of the Greater London Assembly Elections
London Assembly election, 2000
The first elections for members of the London Assembly were held on 4 May 2000, alongside the first mayoral election.The assembly elections used the Mixed member proportional representation, a form of Additional member system, with 14 directly elected constituencies and 11 London-wide top-up...
. She said at the time that it "was formed to prevent disillusionment with Labour giving a new birth to the far right as it did in the 1970s."
Academies and Free Schools
The NUT under Christine Blower’s leadership has been a vocal critic of the Academies programme , both in its original New Labour model through to the expansions brought about by the Academies Act 2010 which favours schools rated 'outstanding' by OfstedOfsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
.
Policy introduced by Michael Gove
Michael Gove
Michael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...
also allows for Free Schools
Free school (England)
A Free school is a school in England funded by the taxpayer, non-selective and free to attend but not controlled by local authorities. The concept of free schools is based upon a similar model found in Sweden as well as US charter schools....
, newly founded and directly funded schools intended to fulfil a local need and with freedoms very similar to Academies. The NUT opposes Free Schools and Blower has voiced concerns that they are able to employ teaching staff without Qualified Teacher Status
Qualified Teacher Status
Qualified Teacher Status is required in England and Wales to become, and continue being, a teacher of children in the state and special education sectors...
.
Both of these types of school are outside LEA
Local Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
control and have the potential to make Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
more difficult.
Christine Blower has disputed the success of the Swedish system as well as American charter schools, both regularly cited by Michael Gove as exemplars of narrowing the social divide .
In a cover story for The Spectator magazine in August 2010, it was claimed that NUT activists were "bullying" head teachers known to be considering academy conversion and, with it, a break from local authority control.
Family
Her partner of thirty years, Dennis Charman, a teacher, is Secretary of Hammersmith & Fulham NUT.Her two daughters have taken the double-barrelled surname
Double-barrelled name
In English speaking and some other Western countries, a double-barrelled name is a family name with two parts, which may or may not be joined with a hyphen and is also known as a hyphenated name. An example of a hyphenated double-barrelled surname is Bowes-Lyon; an example of an unhyphenated...
Charman-Blower. Sophie attended the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, where she acted as Edinburgh spokesperson for the Stop the War coalition.
Press: Interviews, Profiles and Columns
- 'Right of Reply', The Independent, 26 April 2000 (High Beam)
- 'Activist: NUT general secretary holds views "to the left of old Labour"', Daily Mail, 22 April 2008
- 'Militating Tendency' by Peter Wilby, Education Guardian, 13 May 2008
- Compass guest column about Primary Curriculum reform, 3 March 2009
- Tribune guest column on SATs, 19 April 2009
- The Times guest column on Free Schools, 12 February 2010
- The Yorkshire Post guest column on SATs boycott, 11 March 2010
- New Statesman supplement, 9 July 2010
- Teacher Support Network interview, 7 October 2010
Media
- The Guardian Podcast, 12 April 2008
- NUTtv, September 2008
- speaking at Compass Conference, 14 October 2008
- Extended Teachers’ TV interview, 24 October 2008
- Woman’s Hour, 9 December 2008
- Woman’s Hour, 28 September 2009
- Today Programme, BBC Radio 4, 12 January 2010
- Teachers’ TV, May 2010
- Today Programme, BBC Radio 4, 26 October 2010
- Teachers’ TV, 2 November 2010