We need to hear more from teachers. And by that, I mean everyone needs to hear more from teachers.

There’s little disagreement that teaching is one of the most important of all jobs, yet most teachers’ voices have traditionally been set on mute. The idea that teachers should reflect on and share their practice is commonplace now, but only a couple of decades ago, the situation was far different.

After I joined Tes in 2006, I recall a colleague warning me that teachers did not feel comfortable talking about what went on in their classroom, even something outstanding. Talking yourself up as a teacher - indeed, talking about your practice at all - just wasn’t really a thing.

There were all sorts of historical, societal and professional reasons for that: hierarchical workplace structures, controlling local authorities and a lack of professional autonomy certainly did not help. Even in 2021, those barriers have not entirely disappeared.

Now, however, the situation is far different: many more teachers are happy to be effusive about what they do. In the past year or two, for example, it’s been striking how many in Scotland have started appearing as guests on podcasts and talking openly about their work, or have started podcasts themselves.

Covid, meanwhile, has reset some of the “it’s aye been” attitudes that restricted dialogue between teachers. For example, it was always strange that, pre-Covid, the Scottish Learning Festival was held in Glasgow on two weekdays; full-time classroom teachers were conspicuous by their absence. The pandemic forced the event online this year, and it seemed a more engaging and interactive experience as a result.

Education, for something that is so hotly debated, suffers from a lot of basic misconceptions. It’s not helped by politically driven debate that is often shallow and misleading; media coverage, meanwhile, tends to come from a starting point of what parents think is important in education, with teachers’ priorities subordinate to that. Spurious school league tables, for example, are published every year and - while they may reassure some families that they live in the “right” postcode - they largely dismiss teachers’ misgivings about the legitimacy of such rankings.

The importance of teachers writing and talking about their profession - and being given platforms to do so - was brought home last week when a P1 teacher wrote for Tes Scotland. Primary teachers are less likely to pitch ideas to us than secondary teachers, so I’m always particularly delighted to be able to run pieces about experiences in the primary sector.

This piece, by Ashleigh Robertson of Ravenswood Primary in Cumbernauld, came about after the school tweeted photos of P1s who turned their classroom into a TV news studio. It was an eloquent insight into a thriving, fun-filled and thought-provoking classroom, and led into the wider issue of the merits of play-based learning.

Media coverage of what goes on in and around schools is dominated by stories of apparent crisis, usually written by people who don’t work in schools. It’s refreshing and enlightening, then, to hear directly from those who actually work beyond the school gates.

Now is a very good time for teachers to share their views and experience. The Muir review - which will shape post-Covid approaches to assessment, inspection and curriculum - is inviting submissions from “all who have an interest in Scottish education”.

It is only open for eight weeks - the consultation window slams shut on 26 November - and, with the priorities of Scottish education for years on the table, you can be sure it will attract many responses at odds with the priorities of teachers.

With so much at stake, now is just the time for teachers to shed any remaining shyness about venturing an opinion.

@Henry_Hepburn

This article originally appeared in the 15 October 2021 issue under the headline “Teachers have finally found their voices. Now it’s time to use them”