Ms Morris told MPs and union representatives assembled at an education reception by the public services union Unison in Portcullis House, Westminster, that learning assistants were not 'recognised, valued or rewarded' for the work they did under the current system. She added that there was a need to look in detail at pay and at how to create a framework so that classroom assistants could move into teaching if they wished.
Ms Morris also told those present that she now tried to talk about 'teachers and all the others who are working in our schools', rather than teachers alone. The list of other roles, including nursery nurses and teaching assistants, was long and complex. 'I hope we have achieved the beginning of a debate about their proper role,' she said.
Ms Morris admitted that she herself had gone through her teaching career without realising the value of others who worked in schools. While qualified teachers had a special role to play and special skills, they did their job much more effectively with support from others.
'Whatever we have to do can only be done if we use the skills of everybody who works in our schools,' she said. 'In schools, there are a lot of adults with a whole range of skills. Some have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), others have other skills, with different recognition and training and pay.'
The education secretary added that, as a result of this outlook, she preferred to talk about adult:child ratios rather than teacher:pupil ratios. Similarly, she felt the terminology used to discuss education was changing, so that 'we are beginning to talk about an education service rather than schools'.
Ms Morris also referred to the education 'workforce' and said she felt it was not appropriate to talk about staff as 'teachers and non-teachers'. She said, 'When you look at what people without QTS can do, it's rather more than washing the paint pots.' She gave support with IT, literacy and numeracy and special educational needs as examples and expressed her admiration for all those working in schools.
In recent months the education secretary has made a number of references to her vision of classroom assistants playing an enhanced role in the future of education, working alongside qualified teachers and other appropriately trained staff. In January this year she said that she saw the school of the future 'as one where learning is supported by a range of well-trained staff, whether teachers or teaching assistants all working together to deliver a better education supported by increased use of computers'.
