Teachers matter most, Barnaby Lenon

Teachers Teachers matter most Barnaby Lenon reviews the basics of good and effective teacher training

All research evidence tells us that of the many things that can determine the success of a child’s education, after the influence of his parents comes the impact of individual classroom teachers. They are more important than the overall reputation of the school the pupil goes to. In an ideal world parents would choose their child’s teachers, not their school. A really good teacher gets their class to the same point after six months that an average teacher reaches after a year. A weak teacher reaches that same point after 18 months.

But at the moment we face a crisis with teacher supply in England. The school population is rising (up 15% 2019-2020), but teachers are leaving faster than they are joining. A third of teachers quit within five years and in physics last year the number of trainees was 47% of the numbers needed.

The two main factors are low unemployment (so there are plenty of alternative jobs to go to) and perceived stress and lack of work-life balance during the term. That is why the government has just launched a new framework for new teachers in the state sector designed to limit their teaching timetable and provide them with more support.

Because teachers matters most, I was glad to be asked to help run the School of Education at the University of Buckingham, not far from where I live. The School was established by Chris Woodhead (former Chief Inspector of schools) and Professor Anthony O’Hear, based on two main ideas – that other university teacher training departments were often teaching completely false concepts, and that the most effective teacher training takes place in school classrooms. Today much of our training happens by using trained tutors and mentors to guide teachers by observing them in the classroom. Most of our younger students already have jobs in schools but they are untrained.

Buckingham is a private university and I find that I have a great deal of freedom. So my first job is to decide what I believe as a basis for deciding what types of training to run.

These are some of the things I believe: 1. School teaching can be the most fulfilling job – creative, autonomous and a major influence for good on people’s lives. 2. Good subject knowledge is a principle characteristic of the best teachers. 3. Good teacher training focuses on the details of classroom management and understanding what good research and experience tells us works best. 4. M ost so-called professional development does not work.

What does work is deliberate practice – focusing on doing things the teacher cannot yet do well enough, ideally with feedback. This is why at Buckingham we believe in classroom-based teacher training. Teachers can improve throughout their working lives, but will only do so if they experiment with methods they have not used before. 5. D ifferent school subjects are different and need specific teaching methods. 6. I b elieve in the value of some learning being hands-on, including science practicals and geography fieldwork. 7. T here is no one correct teaching style, but some methods are more effective than others. Direct instruction works well. 8. M any children can do better at school than they are doing.

We can expect more.

Teachers 9. All children need to be able to read well before they leave primary school. Phonics is the best way to do this. 10. Little can be achieved, especially in secondary schools, without good discipline. Discipline, rigour and hard work matter more than making lessons relevant or fun. 11. Engagement with and even training of parents is important. 12. All children, but especially children from disadvantaged backgrounds, need a body of knowledge to build on if they are to make a success of school. You cannot think deeply about a subject unless you have knowledge. Disadvantaged children need access to the knowledge known as cultural capital, including vocabulary, if they are to compete. 13. Repeated testing is essential if pupils are to retain knowledge and understanding. Education is in part about placing knowledge securely in the long-term memory. 14. Both teachers and pupils need to believe that ability is not fixed but can be developed by effort. Some people are more naturally gifted than others, but the less able can compensate if they work hard. 15. Reducing gaps in achievement between sub-groups (based on gender, ethnicity, social class, special needs) is worth doing, but is less important than getting all sub-groups up to a good level. 16. T echnology should be used where there is good evidence it is better than direct instruction by a teacher alone. Good textbooks can be as important as computers. 17. Pupils need to develop strong spoken skills in the context of every school subject. 18. School is not only about exam results. Good mental and physical health, soft skills, worthwhile habits, academic motivation, and the discovery of new interests such as art, music and drama are also important. So these are the things I believe are true and apply to both state schools and independent schools. Now I have got to work out the best ways of communicating them to teachers.

Barnaby Lenon taught at Eton for 12 years, was the deputy head of Highgate School, head of Trinity School Croydon and head of Harrow for 12 years. He then helped establish the London Academy of Excellence in East London, one of the most successful state sixth forms, where he is chairman of governors. He is chairman of the Independent Schools Council and has been a governor of twenty state and independent schools. He was a member of the board of Ofqual during the implementation of the Gove reforms to GCSEs and A-levels and is now on their Standards Advisory Committee. He has written six books including, recently, Much Promise about high-achieving state schools and Other People’s Children about the least academic 50% in England.

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Leys pupil designs trophy for £1m engineering prizewinners

A 16-year-old pupil at The Leys, Cambridge, Jack Jiang, has won an international competition to design the trophy for the £1million Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, regarded as the world’s most prestigious engineering accolade.

The trophy will be presented later this year to Dr Bradford Parkinson, Professor James Spilker, Hugo Freuhauf and Richard Schwartz for their work creating the first truly global, satellitebased positioning system – GPS. Jack will receive a 3-D replica of his trophy design and a high-end laptop computer. He has also been invited to see the trophy being presented to the prize winners in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace later this year.

Jack’s design was selected from more than 50 international entries to the competition, which was open to young people aged 14-24. He created it using the QE Prize 3D Design Studio app

Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum Group and chairman of the judging panel, said: ‘What strikes me about the winning trophy is how well it manages to demonstrate its two main inspirations. It is both an elegant design that acknowledges the traditional trophy form, but its resemblance to wind turbines shows Jack’s strong passion for engineering and its role in solving future global problems.

We also chose Jack’s design for its sheer exuberance – it will require a great amount of concentration and imagination to make. That quality appeals to the judges, and we will work closely with Jack to realise the final trophy.’

When asked about winning the competition, Jack said: ‘Being one of the youngest entrants selected for the top 10 shows that creativity and the ability to design is not limited by age. I hope this inspires more young people to enter into the world of engineering. There are countless environmental problems around the world, and right now they are only getting worse. However, I know that it will be engineers that provide solutions to them.’