The annual teachers' conferences are an ordeal which all Ministers for Education dread, a form of belated Lenten penance which has to be stoically endured if the Minister is to operate with credibility for the remainder of the year. All things considered, Niamh Bhreathnach emerged relatively unscathed from this year's testing ground. Given the strength of feeling among second level teachers about the rejected pay deal, she could have expected a hostile reception. But she hit the right note with an offer of further discussions and attracted less animosity than did the hapless leaders of the teachers' unions.
The conference delegates settled for a cautious approach in the end and while - inevitably - threatening industrial action, they called for further negotiations on the rejected pay deal. Despite militant posturing, they must realise that negotiations provide the best possibility of getting the package changed.
It is clear from the conferences that second level teachers feel unappreciated, and that they consider themselves already swamped with change. The Time in School circular, issued rather clumsily when the schools were on holidays last summer, angered teachers profoundly. However, it did little more than define the school year as it was already supposed to exist - and as the schools claimed to operate it - but the lack of consultation and of adequate advance warnings taken as deeply insulting. The acceleration in curriculum change and attendant in service training of teachers last year added to the sense of burden, resulting in the teachers' disenchantment with the PCW package.
All of this is understandable and needs to be taken con board by the public and the Minister in her negotiations; a disaffected teaching force is not conducive to good education and Ireland has traditionally cherished its teachers. But teachers need to take cognisance, also, of the views of the public at large and parents in particular. Schools cannot operate in isolation from the rest of society. Teachers must accept that in a society where everyone else has to prove their merit to gain promotion, to argue for seniority as the only criterion for teachers creates a profound credibility gap.
While the public may need to pay more attention to the frustrations and stresses of life in the classroom, teachers need to look beyond the school and see their situation in the broad framework of work practices and professional conduct in the wider world of work. For ultimately, the teachers' best chance of getting an improved pay deal lies in winning public support and particularly the support of parents. Customer satisfaction is becoming a central principle of all public services and parents and children are the customers of the education system.
As the teachers end their conferences, the parental representative bodies begin theirs today. The package rejected by the post primary teachers deals mainly with pay and conditions, but it also concerns the more efficient management of schools and provisions for parent teacher contact. Parents will have strong opinions on these and their views must be given important consideration by the Minister for Education and her negotiators.