An Interview with Ross McGill

ROSS McGILL, also known as @TeacherToolkit, is the ‘most followed educator on social media in the UK’ with a blog and resource site that empowers all teachers to reduce their workload and become more effective in their work. Ross has been a teacher for 25+ years in state schools across London. He is frequently asked to speak at national conferences and is an award winning blogger and author. To date he has worked with over 100 schools in 8 countries. The Sunday Times listed Ross as one of the ‘500 Most influential People in Britain’ - the only classroom teacher to have been featured. He is currently studying for his doctorate at Cambridge University.

FOBISIA's CPD Executive Daphne Wong interviewed Ross McGill to find out more about what makes him tick.

How have you been occupying yourself during lockdown? During lockdown I have found myself leading webinars online and so far, have reached over 3000 teachers in 40 countries. It's keeping me busy, supporting my mental health, alongside my doctoral studies and writing two new books.

Your work has brought you to many different countries, working with various schools, how do you envisage this will change in the next year? I have already cancelled all my international work simply because it is impossible to plan anything. Typically, overseas events are planned three to six months in advance, so I cannot see myself reaching any countries overseas until September 2021. In situations where I plan to work

inside the school building across the UK, I suspect with social distancing rules in place, training days as we know it will be very different and we will all need to adapt. I do not see why we should not consider online events for the immediate future.

Many of your books focus on teaching strategies within classrooms, with more home learning in place now, how can these tips be applied?I found it very difficult to work from home with a nine-year-old son. There are also different boundaries and emotions involved, so even though I am a qualified teacher, it has been incredibly difficult to

teach my own child! I thought quite hard about all the teaching strategies I recommend using with other peoples children, and I'm curious to learn how these cannot be applied as a parent, at home. It's new territory for most of us...

What is the best advice for our teachers working from home and juggling a family? During lockdown, I have been reading and researching about memory and the brain. The more I learn the more I realise how I could have improved my teaching strategies throughout my career. I'm now trying to adopt this in my work at home, as well as in the homeschooling I support at home. Top tip: 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off! Create rewards, articulate and write out goals to achieve. Reward yourself as well as your child - and don't be so hard on yourself.

What is your fondest memory of FOBISIA's 2019 Teaching Community Conference? Firstly, the community spirit was a real memory. (written about it here). I loved the experience of meeting educators from across the region, plus the food and the hot weather. It was also lovely to see how St. Christopher's International Primary School supported the visit and learn more about the work they do.

How have you adapted as a speaker to Covid-19? All my work is now online, leading webinars and virtual conferences. It's been interesting and fun. The greatest thing I've learnt is it's great fuel for my mental health and I suspect, everyone else. It's essential we carry on supporting one another until normal service resumes.

Do you have any advice on looking forward? Be kind, keep calm and carry on!