Professional Freedom: A Personal Perspective

I began work in a secondary modern school just after half way through the twentieth century. There were no detailed prescriptions as to what and how I should teach. There were no examinations for which pupils needed to be prepared. At staff meetings the curriculum was not high on the agenda. Most beginning teachers had acquired their knowledge of what was customary and what worked from one or two years of training, and before that, thirteen years experience as pupils. Local authority advisors and members of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate appeared from time to time, more often in advisory rather than inspectorial mode. Informal advice from colleagues offered support and guidance, which I certainly needed.

The freedom that teachers in schools such as mine enjoyed had official support. In November 1946, nearing the end of his time as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Sir John Maud had given it as his opinion that ‘Freedom is what the teacher needs more than anything…perhaps the most essential freedom of the teacher is to decide what to teach and how to teach it’ (quoted Lawrence, 1992: 13).