Or they can keep their heads down, avoid controversy at all costs and settle for a quiet life. During my career as a teacher I saw large numbers of teachers who were like that. They wouldn't join a union unless it was one that promised never to take industrial action, they watched their working conditions steadily worsen and their pay suppressed and they saw a huge amount of political interference in their work and endured uneducational nonsense such as the imposition of Ofsted and SATS testing without demur. Never sufficient numbers who were willing to fight the good fight to convince the country that we had a case. The quiet-lifers look like they're the most dedicated. In reality, their lack of spine seriously weakens the profession.