Contradiction

The Trades Union Congress backed the concerns of teaching unions and urged the government to drop its plans for performance related pay. Opposition to payment by results on the part of teachers continues unabated. The government has failed to recognise that young people are deterred from coming into education and that performance-related pay strengthens their refusal to consider education as a career for the future, teachers say.

A spokesperson for the National Union of Teachers told BBC News Online that the research commissioned by the union found that performance-related pay in education would not work. However, headteachers welcomed the proposals, which they said would help them stem the flow of the best teachers out of the profession. Good and excellent teachers have absolutely nothing to fear from a new pay scheme that puts the quality of teaching and learning at the heart of the education process.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/922109.stm)

3. Paraphrase the underlined word combinations and translate them into Russian.

4. Answer the following questions.

1) What was the purpose of introducing performance-related pay in the education sector?

2) Is there any direct evidence that paying teachers performance bonuses leads to better exam results?

3) What does a pupil’s progress depend upon? Can we trace the impact of one particular teacher on the academic achievement of a pupil?

4) How might PRP tell on the interpersonal relations among the teaching staff within a school?

5) How did head teachers feel about the proposal?

5. Choose the opinion closest to how you feel about the issue of PRP and enlarge it with your own comments.

· The extension of performance related pay based on pupil progress to the main scale will further demoralise and demotivate teachers and make the profession less attractive…

· Good and excellent teachers have absolutely nothing to fear from a new pay scheme that puts the quality of teaching and learning at the heart of the education process…

· [PRP] will do little to facilitate recruitment and retention of high-quality graduates…

· …performance-related pay in education would not work…

· …there is no evidence that paying teachers performance bonuses leads to better exam results…

· …teachers have everything to gain and nothing to lose from the implementation of performance management…

6. Translate into English:

1) Департамент образования Великобритании настаивает на том, что оплата труда учителей должна зависеть от успеваемости класса. 2) Невозможно объективно оценить вклад отдельного учителя в повышение успеваемости: ученик может заниматься с репетитором или получать помощь от кого-либо еще. 3) Постановка оплаты в зависимость от успеваемости может привести к завышению оценок или к тому, что обучение сведется к натаскиванию на тесты. 4) Сторонники новой системы оплаты утверждают, что введение премий за высокое качество работы прекратит отток лучших учителей из образовательного сектора. 5) В соответствии с новым законом руководство школ получит полномочия устанавливать размер ставок заработной платы своих работников. 6) Опытные учителя могут получить единоразовую премию. 7) Противники выплаты премий за высокую успеваемость утверждают, что такая система приведет к обратным результатам.