Response to an article

 

Teacher ‘told to sound less Northern’ after southern Ofsted inspection - How can you possibly think it’s acceptable to tell someone to tone down their Northern accent to improve their performance? As if it’s not problematic and stressful enough just teaching a class of students, but now she relentlessly has to remember to try to speak clearer and in an abnormal way. The criticism will be on a continuous cycle filling her mind with this ‘target’. Somebody’s accent doesn’t affect their dialect in any way, the union shouldn’t have the right to tell this woman to change as she will be able to make the students prosper despite having a strong Northern accent. The eccentric and bizarre thing about this is the fact that the school is situated in in the North therefore she is teaching in a Northern school, so why is she being requested to change and dim down her accent? How can you rationalise that they should speak ‘less Northern’? It really doesn’t make any sense!

It gives the impression that people have overlooked that there is a difference between accent and dialect, it’s not as if she is using taboo language in the classroom which is undoubtedly unacceptable. Ofsted is basically promoting that it’s more important that people speak with a clear accent rather than being insolent and swearing around students. This is completely senseless and imprudent.

Think about this – imagine an English school with all the teachers speaking in a clear English accent, suddenly a new teacher arrives who has an Indian accent, if they told this person to speak ‘more British’, surely this would be deemed as racism? How come we have always been told to be ourselves and be who we want to be in life, certainly not have others tell us what to do, we should have independence. Therefore why do Ofsted feel it’s acceptable to give orders for people to change their accent?

Are some schools out of their mind? Why give more pressures and create more stress for the pupils? As if students don’t have enough on their mind when entering their school, but now they have to constantly recount the ten banned phrases which adds to the information in their over filling brains. I am unable to comprehend how certain regional phrases could damage their prospects. Much worse is said by pupils. Stereotypically you would expect to hear slang, taboo and colloquial language filling the school corridors when friendship groups share gossip. Therefore if regional phrases are banned then so should slang.

Schools should be focusing on teaching their students interview skills oppose to drumming into their brain the regional phrases they are not allowed to use. Anyway, if you went into an interview you wouldn’t be using regional phrases anyway as it’s a formal situation.

If everyone was the same then no one would be unique, no one would be different, and there would be no variety in this world. In my eyes I believe that everyone should be different and embrace their individuality, why should people change the way they speak? If everyone spoke the same then the world have no diversity, which is vital in this day and age.