18 minute read
ASSESSMENT IN MFL: ISN’T THERE A BETTER WAY?
10 years ago, when I qualifi ed as a teacher, I was single and had no children. I stayed at work until after 6pm almost every night. I would then go home and my mum would have made dinner for me. Life was all about work and I loved it.
Fast forward to the present: I’m married, have two children and live in my own home. Things have become, let’s say, challenging. To try to balance work and life, I decided to go part-time after my second child, but I’m not sure it’s the answer.
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After my fi rst child was born, my passion for the job did not change, but I knew that I had other responsibilities which needed to be seen to. I returned to work full-time, and in the role I was doing, I had enough hours while I was at work to get most things done and bring home minimal work.
It meant that my son was at nursery and I would leave either when the school day fi nished, or straight after any meetings or scheduled events. Anything not done by then, would wait until the following day, knowing I’d be back in school. I would still have the time to do it.
My second maternity leave coincided with the global pandemic. I had spent almost the whole year with my two boys, and realised how much I enjoyed watching them grow, and how much I wanted to be around them and be there for them. I also struggled to think how I would manage work and life. I was in the fortunate position that my husband could support us even if I went part-time and the logical answer was to reduce my hours. However, having worked full-time all my life, it worried me.
This is very common, and according to Understanding Society, “Fewer than one-in-fi ve of all new mothers, and 29 per cent of fi rst-time mothers, return to full-time work in the fi rst three years after maternity leave.” 1 Mothers all over the country are having to compromise their jobs in order to have a better worklife balance.
The study then goes on to say that “Mothers who leave employment completely are three times more likely to return to a lower-paid or lowerresponsibility role than those who do not take a break.”2 This is probably why most women would choose to go parttime as opposed to leaving altogether, as it would mean that their experience, expertise and value would all come to nothing. As if having children meant they were automatically not any good at their job.
Seeing these fi gures and statements, it added to my worry about going parttime, but with my husband being the main earner (again, typical, according to Understanding Society: “the man was the main earner in 54 percent of couples. This increases to 69 per cent three years after birth” 3), it was either up to me to stay full-time and struggle with pick ups/ drop o s/managing workload; go part time; or leave altogether and risk being demoted or fi nding a job later at a lower salary.
After umm-ing and ahh-ing for so long, I applied for fl exible working, and it was approved. My current contract is to work 4 days a week, where my teaching hours are compressed into 3 days in school. In principle, this sounds great. I go into school every other day, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and am at home the other two days.
But is it as great as it sounds?
Firstly, a year into my new contract, and I am still trying to adjust. In a job like teaching, it’s hard to switch o on the weekend, let alone in the middle of the week. Mentally, I’m always at
work. Being in school three days a week, where pretty much all my time is taken up teaching, I barely get time to do my planning and marking. I still need to ensure that I leave in good enough time to pick up my son from nursery, and then knowing I won’t be in ‘the next day’, anything that needs to be done for anyone for the following day gets taken home; to do when the boys have gone to sleep.
On the days that I am at home, I wonder on many occasions if it’s a good use of my time. Those who have children know how full-on and needy they can be. I fi nd my mind wandering back to the amount of work I have to do, and I wait until I can get some peace before sitting down to do it.
Of course I do it, but is it actually sustainable? To be working either at school, or looking after my children during the day and then get on with more work after they’ve gone to bed? How much longer can I continue before I burn out? I’ve been reading on social media about the number of parents who are leaving the education system completely for this very reason.
Working part-time also feels like I’m neither here nor there. At school, I may miss certain notices or meetings or events that fall on the days I’m not in. Working every other day also means pretty much all my classes are shared, and the logistics of knowing who will be teaching what can get messy. Would these things happen if I were still working full time? Would I get the time to do all the things I needed to do?
According to research carried out by MTPT Project, there are many other mothers who, like me, mostly aged between 30-39, tried working part time to balance their work and life, but it didn’t work out for them, and they ended up leaving the profession due to it being unsustainable. Some of the women claimed that although they were o cially working part-time, and receiving a part-time salary, their workload would be considered full-time. So, would they be better o working full-time?
I know this is the best option for me at the moment and the school I’m working at, are beyond supportive of all the decisions I make, as is my husband. I guess it’s natural to feel unsettled and lost when part of your life changes. Should I feel guilty for feeling this way? Should I feel lucky to be working part time? 4
I realise I may come across as being ungrateful to those working part-time where it works for them, or especially to anyone who has applied for part-time hours and been rejected. But this side of the coin needs to be discussed.
Teaching part-time is not the silver bullet that it seems.
1. https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/2019/10/22/how-womens-employment-changes-after-having-a-child 2. ibid 3. ibid 4. www.mtpt.org.uk/research
EXPERIENCE
How To Be A HAppy TeAcHer
By Omar Akbar
Save time
As an ECT you are working more hours than you will ever work as a teacher. This means that your time for hobbies, kids, gym and so on is limited. You can, however, increase the time left for yourself if you make some small adjustments. For example, household chores can be done more cleverly; you could get yourself a dishwasher, pay for a cheap ironing service, or cook in bulk on the weekends. You could even switch to online grocery shopping to avoid spending valuable free time waiting in a queue.
If you want to keep fit – and I recommend that you do - but going to the gym takes up a lot of travelling time, remember that some of the most effective workouts e.g. HIIT, require nothing but your PE kit, an exercise mat and 30 minutes (and doing these at school before you leave for the day is usually not a problem). If you’re partial to an outdoor workout, then running is also practical as simply running from home and back cuts out the faff.
At the core of this, the key message is that as an ECT, try not to fall into the trap of allowing non-work time to happen to you. There is no worse feeling than realising you actually could have continued with a particular hobby, for example, but the time was accidentally wasted on inane chores/tasks. Plan your free time the way you plan your lessons.
Get some sleep
Lack of sleep takes a huge toll on the body and mind. Physically, in the long run, it can increase chances of impaired immunity, early ageing, weight gain, hypertension, and diabetes. You may read these and not feel any immediate threat, but you cannot ignore the more immediate effects of sleep deprivation which include irritability, forgetfulness and less efficient organisation. Clearly, these are counterproductive to good teaching and you wouldn’t want your classroom practice to be adversely affected by something over which you have a good degree of control. Remember, there is nothing brave about ‘just getting on with it’ or ‘powering through.’ Hit the sack. For a good night’s sleep, it is a good idea to avoid looking into a smartphone, or similar device, for about an hour before bed time. Melatonin, the hormone involved in sleep, is produced by the body during darkness, thereby enabling sleep at night. The blue-light emitted from a smartphone is known to decrease melatonin production, so in effect, you are telling your body not to release melatonin and instead remain alert. Not the best thing before bed time. Relax by reading a book using normal lighting lest you unwittingly snap at your subject mentor the next day!
Exercise
When you begin teaching, you soon learn that going out on a Friday night is normally out of the question and during the last week of the winter term, you are literally forcing yourself to school. You cannot physically take any more. Or can you?
Teaching is a job that is high in what psychologists refer to as ‘emotional labour.’ This can be described as the managing of feelings and expressions to fulfil the emotional requirements of a job.
In plain English, this refers to the way you feel when you’ve just had a challenging group who danced circles around you, and you practically had to staple your lips together (with the stapler you ‘borrowed’ from another classroom) to stop yourself losing
your job by saying something you’d regret. There are countless examples of ‘emotional labour’ which you experience on a daily basis and in addition to being on your feet all day, much of why you are so tired is because of this.
There are two main reasons why an ECT should embrace exercise: Firstly, it reduces stress - thereby increasing your overall happiness, and secondly, because it gives you more energy. During exercise, endorphins are released which promote positive thinking, confidence, and an overall sense of wellbeing.
Not only do these effects continue on the days you are not working out, but exercise (ironically) gives you more energy overall: the more active you are, the more active you have the ability to be. A regular workout routine will keep you positive and energetic in the classroom as well as when working on your buns of steel. The NHS advises 150 minutes of exercise a week over 3-4 sessions.
As an ECT it is a good idea for you to have your gym gear to hand so you can squeeze in a session if you finish early one day, for example. Be flexible- the important thing is to get the work outs in, not the day or time of the sessions. Go easy on yourself and accept that a very rigid routine will be difficult to stick to.
Eat healthily
Your mind and body take a beating from teaching so it is important that you don’t beat yourself up further by having a poor diet: last night’s pizza is no longer an acceptable breakfast. Instead, begin the day with a high carb meal that will provide you with the slow release energy needed to get you through to break/lunch time. Keep the coffee and sugar to a minimum as not only does sluggishness often follow the initial energy burst, but they are also known to increase anxiety. To increase your energy levels, instead pack your lunch box with green leafy vegetables to provide you with iron - an essential mineral in preventing fatigue. To reduce the impact of stress, switch to foods high in antioxidants (antioxidants fight cell-damaging free radicals produced by factors such as sunlight, pollution and stress). Get hooked on berries, prunes, broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, whole grain bread, kale, brazil nuts, fish, sweet potato, avocado and even dark chocolate - the list is endless. Diet and exercise are key factors in overall wellbeing and as these are almost entirely under your control, it is a good idea to maximise on these in order to oppose some of the negative effects that teaching will inevitably have on your mind and body.
Manage anxiety
Allow me to be direct: you will likely experience bouts of anxiety. The inner voice which constantly replays, questions, and doubts every part of you and your actions will at times become extremely bothersome. Firstly, remember that like physical pain, anxiety is more often than not temporary. You will most likely pass your ECT year(s) and your July-self will very probably look back at your December-self and wonder what all the fuss was over. Notwithstanding this, it is important that you take charge of your mental health early on; the old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ couldn’t be more applicable. You may choose to practice mindfulness meditation or you may recite the prayer for serenity. You may rant on the phone to friends, or you may do all or none of the above. The important thing is that you make time to lose yourself in something you enjoy. It doesn’t have to be for long or even every day, but making time to actively switch off does wonders for your wellbeing.
BEHAVIOUR:
THE KEY TO UNLOCKING SUCCESS IN SCHOOLS?
By Sam Strickland
Behaviour has the potential to drive every single member of sta to distraction. It can cause sta huge anxiety, huge concern and huge worry for many. It is a reason some people choose to leave the profession. It is the fi rst area that any senior leader or Headteacher worth their salt should focus on and ensure is secure.
Even in an Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ school there will be pockets of behaviour that are not as they should be and classroom cultures that are, at times, not quite right. But how can we talk about the curriculum, approaches to teaching and pupil performance if behaviour is not secure? Behaviour is the main pre-condition that is fundamental to the success of any teacher, any lesson, any thoughtfully-sequenced curriculum.
A lazy narrative is that good planning leads to good behaviour. This is too often not the case and this statement often implies, directly or indirectly, that the teacher is at fault when pupils misbehave; that it was because their lesson was not quite interesting, stimulating or challenging enough.
Behaviour is one of the most divisive topics of debate in educational circles and at times leads to binary camps. The debate ranges between exclude, don’t exclude; sanction, don’t sanction, restorative justice - yes or no? And on and on and on.
The truth is, there is no one way or THE way. There are, however, a number of best bets that can lead to rapid transformation in any given school’s culture and which will likely bring about positive change.
Every setting, every context, every school, is ultimately di erent. This is not to say that there is not some form of commonality and that some approaches can be applied universally. One area that very few would disagree on is the power of positive relationships. Arguably this is a key starting point for building a platform of trust as a class teacher. But you can only develop relationships with the right conditions for learning and behaviour in place. Some see this as a chicken and egg situation.
This brings me to my new book, The Behaviour Manual - An Educators’ Guide Book (John Catt) and is the book I probably should have written before Education Exposed and Education Exposed 2. It is an area that I am hugely passionate about and have led on in multiple settings.
I have served as a leader in a school built on clear systems, I have worked as a Vice Principal in an Academy that did not employ the use of punitive sanctions and relied on restorative practices and I have led as a Principal in a school that where I have crafted the behaviour system in a manner that I believe truly serves the best interests of all pupils. One that is built upon warmth, fi rmness, care, professional love, relationships, systems, tenacity and a clear sense that driving a positive culture is not just key but critical to success.
When I say success, the natural inclination is to think of outcomes and no one will deny their importance. However, I take “success” to encompass a culture that allows sta to successfully do their job to the highest professional standard possible, that allows all pupils to learn and make progress, that allows pupils and sta to thrive.
This is a halcyon ideal and I would be arrogant to say that every single day is one of sublime perfection. All schools have their moments. All sta have their bad days. All leaders
have wobbles. This is both natural and normal within a profession where we are dealing with people day-in and day-out. You cannot predict from Monday to Friday in any given week how pupils and sta will behave, act and respond to situations in school. Nor can you predict what baggage they will bring into school from the outside world and the impact that this will have. What you can do, realistically, is create a series of systems and have an array of strategies in your professional armoury that allow you to create the conditions for pupils, in the main, to succeed and that e ectively supports situations when they arise. If there was a magic silver bullet to behaviour then we would all know by now what it was and have implemented it.
So, my new book o ers over one hundred strategies, approaches and teaching methods that will help any school, leader, middle leader, teacher, ECT or ITT to proactively lead on behaviour. It has been designed to help the entire profession and anyone at any level and all ranges of experience.
The book is divided into three broad sections. Section one examines the role of the Mothership (the school) and the role that leaders at any level can play. Section two looks at the role of the satellites (the key areas that make up the school) and the integral role that middle leaders play. The fi nal section looks at the micro level, focusing on the role that teachers play and o ers a plethora of approaches teachers can employ.
I would encourage all members of the profession who read this book to read it from cover to cover. That said, you could treat it as a dip-in, dip-out guide book. The intention behind the book is that it will serve like a manual or a Haynes guide.
Each of the one hundred plus strategies is unpacked over a one or two-page spread. Within each spread is an outline of what the approach is, it is then unpacked to detail how it works or can be applied and each spread fi nishes with a cautionary warning and an advice tip. This book is deliberately written to help, to o er support, to o er advice and there is, bluntly, no wa e, no padding and no fl u .
If you want a book that you can pick up, easily read and digest a key approach or strategy in less than 5-10 minutes then this is a book that will be an essential read. It is grounded in expertise, experience, research and deliberately written in a clear, straightforward and open style that leaves you in no doubt as to how any of the given approaches work and could be employed in your school setting.
The book will be released in Spring 2022, and is available on Amazon and via the publisher, John Catt.
