I don't like Gove.
I don't know him personally but I don't like him. I'm sure that behind closed doors he is a lovely man. However, I only know his public persona. The one that started dismantling our education system. The man despised by teachers everywhere in the UK. I have talked about Gove several times in my blog and how I hold him responsible for making our education system elitist. How I blame him for the dry and tedious work Oldest has to do at school. When he lost his job as Education Secretary in 2014, teachers (including myself) celebrated. However, I knew that the damage had already been done and we still have the remnants of his toxic legacy today. A legacy that is failing my child. Gove has already destroyed our education system, are we going to stand-by and let him destroy the UK? A country that is already broken by Brexit. A country that needs someone to bring it back together. Gove is incapable of fixing and mending the UK. The only thing Gove is any good at is destroying things.
Gove is not in touch with the common people. He has this idealised view of society that is so far removed from the actual reality of today's society. This was evident when he was the Education Secretary. Instead of listening to the teachers, the feet on the ground, the ones with the experience, he ignored them. He was blinkered and narrow-minded in his approach. Like a stubborn toddler who has decided that they want a biscuit and refuses to listen to reason. Gove ignored the experts, the teachers and headteachers, instead he pushed through his ridiculous ideas. He overhauled the National Curriculum, making it elitist and not reflective of the modern society that we live in. He changed the exams, heaping yet more pressure on our children and he changed the school system; introducing 'Free Schools'.
I didn't trust Gove with my pupils' and children's' future so I won't be trusting him with running the country. The man is a liability.
Gove is a traditional man out of touch with the modern man. He doesn't appreciate technology and modern advances. I would go as far to say that he doesn't appreciate that the UK is a multi-cultural society. Surely his curriculum overhaul is testament to that. This is a man who said that there was no place for "To Kill a Mockingbird" because it teaches no lessons. This is the novel that, I believe, teaches children about the need for compassion, tolerance, understanding, diversity, friendship, bravery, forgiveness and standing up for what you believe in. Really Gove, no lessons? I would dare to suggest that if Gove had really read the novel and taken the lessons on board he might not be the ignorant man he is proving himself to be.
To put it simply - Gove does not have the qualities required to run the country. Gove destroyed our education system, we cannot let him destroy our country. Do you really think that Gove has the qualities of a leader? Let's think about the qualities required to make a good leader.
Decisiveness
This is the man who had repeatedly insisted that he did not want to be Prime Minister, and now we find him running for Leader. I think it is fair to say that decisiveness is not one of Gove's strong points.
Empathy
Ha, ha, ha. Nope. Gove demonstrated no shred of empathy whilst he set about systematically destroying the education system. I think that the 50,000 teachers that left the profession in 2015 would agree with me.
Accountability
Oh now this is just getting embarrassing. Let's look at the destruction of the education system. Let's look at Gove's legacy. He should be deeply ashamed of how he has destroyed our learning in schools. He should be holding his hands up, he should be taking accountability but instead he is trying to convince us that he would make a good leader.
Confidence
Gove doesn't strike me as a confident man; to me he resembles a puppet. You should be proud because I resisted saying muppet. Gove doesn't seem comfortable on the political stage. Also he hardly instils confidence in those around him. When I was a teacher I was not confident in his ability.
Focus
This might be something that I can credit Gove with. He is certainly focused...on himself...on what he believes is right. In fact he has proven that he is so focused that he is unwilling to listen to anyone. When he was changing the education system he point blank refused to listen to any teachers, headteachers or educational experts. No, Gove knows best. Why should he listen to anyone else?
Inspiration
We need a leader to inspire us. To inspire us you need inspiration. You know you are doomed when the man himself says that he has no charisma.
We are doomed if Gove gets in. The UK is broken. We need someone to fix it. That someone is not Gove.
What do you think?
This post first appeared on Island Living 365