Excessive Bureaucracy Destroys People Who Aren't EXTREMELY Organised!

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About 6 weeks ago I started a City & Guilds teaching course. After 6 weeks I quit due to excessive bureaucracy. Here is the email I sent to my tutor, City and Guilds and the education minister in the UK.

It is totally authentic and probably very rude and out of order. However this is TOTALLY how I feel so I feel I have a right to express my truth. Notice I say MY truth. Other people might disagree and that is OK. This is just MY take on MY current reality:


Hi

[NOTE: I have forwarded this to my tutor, City and Guilds feedback email, and the education minister].

I was recently doing a City and Guilds course entitled PTLLS (Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Sector).

I decided to quit today however because I discovered that the course was mainly (probably 95%) about legislation (e.g. health and safety, equality, assessment), and only about 5% of the course was about learning to actually teach. Not EVERYONE wants to go and teach for a college or school, which would indeed require the excessive (yes it IS excessive) bureaucracy. Some people just want to teach (crazy I know!).

Check out this article on the excessive paperwork in teaching:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/29/teachers-paperwork

Most teachers I know hate the excessive bureaucracy and excessive paperwork. Another fact is that there is a HUGE drop out rate for new teachers (post PGCE). Both my parents were lifelong teachers and they both said that they were glad to get out when they did! There is definitely something wrong with teaching.

I have been told that I'm a great teacher by many people. So I can already teach, however I have to have a pathetic qualification in order to get a job!

Here's something to make you think, the following people didn't have any qualifications specific to their skill area:

Leonard Da Vinci didn't have an art degree, neither did Van Gogh, and yet they did rather well in the art field.
Warren Buffet didn't have a business degree, and neither did Bill Gates. They did OK in business, in fact they were at one stage the two richest people on planet Earth!
Sigmund Freud didn't have a psychology or counselling degree.
Jimi Hendrix didn't have a music degree, neither did The Beatles.
Steve Jobs didn't have a business degree or design degree, and he did rather well as head of Apple!

I hope I am awakening you to the fact that qualifications are not needed if someone has talent. Almost anyone who performs at the top of their field (i.e. they are world class) doesn't have a qualification. Please can you explain that? I really would love to hear you or the head of city and guilds to have a comeback to this, truly I would love it. It seems everyone worships qualifications these days. All a qualification proves, is that someone is good at exams or for doing excessive paperwork! Some people are extremely talented but they hate assignments. Indeed Steve Jobs quit university as he worked out that his education was not good value for money. I can't think of any defence in your favour.

Don't misunderstand me. I think there IS a place for qualifications. My bone of contention is when someone has obvious talent but is blocked from a profession because of the fascist dictatorship attitude to needing to have these mickey mouse qualifications that prove very little.

The fall of our 'empire' will be down to severe inefficiency due to excessive bureaucracy. Mark my words. We are creating a society which destroys creative types and only rewards people who have OCD in regards to organisation.

The education system cripples people, it doesn't help them. It has gone too far. I would love to hear any of you give a decent defence. I feel that anyone who had a hand creating the current education system and the excessive amount of bureaucracy should be ashamed of themselves. Maybe it was down to New Labour? They seemed obsessed with legislation and assessment, which has destroyed so many jobs. Policing and nursing have both been crippled by excessive assessments and measurements also. I also have a friend who is a counsellor for a school. She has to excessively measure children's emotional states in a spreadsheet. She then has to analyse the data in order to prove that she and her team are improving their emotional quotient. Have we really stooped this low? Please admit to me this has gone to far!? Or do you think it is acceptable?

Best regards
Mike Youell

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