Jayne Dowle: We need people who can inspire in our classrooms

And yet, anyone who has been taught by Dave hasn't forgotten his

patience and technical knowledge. It is four years since he moved on from teaching, but several former students still value his advice. As I watch him gently show our own two children how to use computers, I am in awe. He is a natural.

I've tried to persuade him to consider teaching as a proper career, but he prefers the freedom of being a self-employed sound engineer. And as I said, if the Conservatives get in at the General Election, they wouldn't want him anyway. I'm all for giving our children "the best" – as Cameron promises. But I can't help but think that this idea that only students with a 2:2 or above will be selected for teacher training is wrong.

How many students find themselves on a degree course which they find unsuited to their talents, yet can't change for one reason or another, and don't achieve the most impressive grade? Being a good teacher is about more than doing well in your own exams. It is worth noting that Carol Vorderman, leader of the Conservatives' Maths Task Force to encourage interest in the subject, only achieved a third in engineering.

And I've spotted a flaw. The Conservatives have come up with "Teach Now", a fast-track scheme for professionals who want to transfer into teaching. Cameron says that, "only the best professionals with the best qualifications need apply". Now, will they need to have a 2:2 or above, too? If some financial whizz-kid, who left school at 18, discovers in middle-age that his true vocation is as a maths teacher, won't they let him in? Surely that would deter potentially strong candidates from applying.

Given the shortage of teachers in certain subjects, there should be clear, consistent ways to tackle this possibility. And we need to know what these are now. We've had enough of damp-squib Labour initiatives. It's going to do the Opposition no favours if they start inventing

their own.

To be honest, it hardly seems fair to discriminate against anyone brave enough to enter the bear-pit. And this is the crucial point.Unless conditions change in so many of our schools, teachers – irrespective of their qualifications – will end up trying to do the job with one hand tied behind their backs.

Let's start with teaching itself. The long holidays might still sound appealing, but not when you have piles of individual assessments to write, the latest curriculum demands to build into your lesson plans, and an Ofsted inspection looming. The most inspiring teachers teach from the heart, like the (male) supply teacher who is my seven-year-old son's favourite. He spends whole afternoons enthusing the class with tales of his trips to South America, and the gigantic spiders he has found there. Cut the unnecessary paperwork and over-assessment and you might get new entrants who are not put off by the prospect of a life spent filling in forms and ticking boxes.

And make teaching fun. The latest research suggests that pupils, especially boys, should be allowed to walk around in lessons to keep their concentration up. Sounds mad? Well, if it engages those with the attention spans of small gnats, then why not give it a go?

Much is heard from politicians about getting children and young people to understand. But they are missing a link. If they do want to change things in education, they have to get to the parents. If parents don't respect teachers, how can we expect children to do it? I've heard some real horror stories about parents abusing teachers, in front of their children. And this attitude obviously filters down to the way that pupils behave.

If Cameron wants teaching to be considered an "elite profession", then he needs to get that message across to the parents who treat those faced with educating their children like dirt.

So turning teaching into an "elite profession" is about more than upping the entry requirements. It's about instilling respect, giving teachers the freedom to teach – and to discipline – and bringing back some of the natural authority which once characterised the job. Do that, and he might get somewhere. Make it even less accessible to those who might really want to make a difference in the classroom, and the consequences could be catastrophic.