Disabled Teacher Profile: Mark Edmundson, Language Teacher and Federation Assistant Secretary
Consett Community Sports College, North Durham.
Why did you become involved in teaching?
I did a degree in French at university. My love really is translation and that side of things and I wanted to impart my knowledge of careers in language to children in the North Durham area. It can be quite insular in North Durham and it is all about broadening their horizons really.
What do you enjoy about teaching?
The fact that it is different every day, they always seem to amaze me, in some ways good and in some ways bad. It is the variety of the job and it is coming out of lessons sometimes and thinking ‘Yes I nailed that lesson and I got across all the important points and the children really understood that’.
How long have you been a qualified teacher?
I have been a qualified teacher since 1999.
What was it that made you decide to join the NASUWT?
The NASUWT had the strongest voice in my school and as with most NASUWT officers I sort of fell into the position at school, the original rep resigned and there was a kind of vacuum so I became the school rep. The same thing happened with the North Durham Association and I fell into that position as well and started to build up the casework side of things.
What activist roles do you fulfil?
School rep, North Durham Association secretary, Durham Federation assistant secretary. I am a Member of the National Advisory Committee for Disability as well.
Why are particularly interested in disability issues and how they relate to teaching?
In 2000 I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I went blind in one eye in my second year at university and they diagnosed optic neuritis at that point. It went away but in my second year of teaching I went numb down one side which left me in hospital. From there things have moved on and I have an interest in disability issues ranging from the adjustments and measures for people in schools.
What barriers have you seen that can face teachers with disabilities?
It is a question of making reasonable adjustments in certain schools. Some schools do not realise what type of funding streams are out there to help them with making those adjustments such as Access to Work. Also there are capability issues and there are sickness absence issues.
What could be done to help more teachers get into management positions if they wanted to?
That’s a difficult question. Once you move up the leadership scale you are leaving your 12/65 security blanket as it were. It is a very big decision. Certainly having MS it would be a very big decision for me if I was to think about going for assistant head for example. Some teachers may fear they would have less protections if they went into management.
