British school teachers are advocating for education reforms, including a return to an early 1980s style of teaching, characterized by a strong liberal education. In essence, teachers are calling for more hours for play and less rigid methods in teaching young Britons how to read.

Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, told Guardian Unlimited, "Teachers want a return to a system which is liberal and flexible and not top-down and imposed by government. We want a return to a time when there was a potential for magic moments in the classroom."

The target of the school marms' ire are state testing policies and overly formal methods of teaching that could stifle a pupil's learning experience.

Sinnott conceded that Phonics is important in decoding words, but he pointed out there are 50 basic words school children must learn on sight instead of being broken down by phonics.

But a spokeswoman for the Department of Children, Schools and Families said it was ridiculous to return to the 1980s methods of teaching.

There are calls for reforms in the British educational system amid reports that one in seven children cannot write their own name, while 33 percent could not recognize simple words like dog or pen.