Dr Robin Precey
Associate and Bath Spa and Canterbury Christ Church Universities
I became a “wet behind the ears” teacher in 1972 having done a 1-year (PGCE) Post graduate Certificate in Education straight after my BA. I worked in 5 schools across the country over 30 years including as a Head teacher in 2. I moved into university work within the fascinating field of leadership for 20 years and now continue in that role part-time as well as devote much of my time to Human Scale Education. 53 years in the field of education. I say this not to bring up the “good old days” and the presentation of a watch to the sound of violins playing in the background, and I know that nostalgia is not what it used to be, but I feel I do have a sense of perspective. What can we learn from past go create a better future? Much - but just 4 areas follow.
1: The incredible impact of a great childhood.
It is blindingly obvious, if you step, back that as a nation we need to prioritise childhood. Essential values and resultant behaviours have to be learnt by all young human beings just in the process of leaving whatever nest they find themselves starting life in. These include a sense of belonging, respect and trust – in a nutshell - relationships. If we invest in early years and childhood now, we know we will reap rich dividends later – reduced crime rates, less dependency on social security and social services, better physical and mental health, and a happier nation. Estonia has led the way on this. We have much to learn. It is good to see the new Government prioritising childcare and early education in England.
2: The unbelievable importance of educators.
If education that focusses on learning and building relationships is the core of education, then teachers (I prefer Educators) are absolutely essential to success. Educators are in the business of creating (through the children who they educate – not just teach) the future for an increasingly wonderful, complex and troubled world. In a sense, those children are the world’ insurance policy. We all remember that teacher who changed our lives…hopefully for the better.
3: How can we find, support, help develop and retain satisfied and successful human beings who work in our schools?
We have a crisis... in England in school education …in finding, educating, recruiting and retaining and re-recruiting people. It is not just about the money. It is about teachers feeling valued, that they belong, and that they are making a difference to people’s lives. How can we do this:
a) Trumpet the importance of what teachers do loudly and in as many directions to as many audiences as we all can. They are society’s saviours.
b) Dismantle the turgid national agenda to which schools have been tied since 1989.
Hopefully the current government review will do this, but some parts need revolution not evolution (as seems to be the politically preferred position). Free teachers from the obsession with standardisation and the current national curriculum, a myopic concern with testing, fear-inducing inspections and a push to larger and larger school. I could go on. Someone with foresight or intellectual insight needs to sort this. The ability to form, grow, nurture and sustain relationships is the start and finish of education. Teachers need to be freed from these shackles that prevent this and to be enabled, with support and encouragement to use their creativity and professionalism to do what is best for their children. I bet that teacher you remember that had such an impact on you, did not follow the “rules”.
c) Leaders need to conduct a collective review of the state of the school in relation to relationships and enabling creativity and relationships to flourish (HSE can help with this). Educators work within a context, and this can hinder or enable them to flourish. Values need to be clear, proclaimed and lived out in day-to-day practices with integrity not tokenism. Educators stay in schools longer where this happens. This may well lead to the need to change the structures, systems and processes in schools. Here for example are 3 Relationship Issues (RIs) that deserve attention, especially in large primary and secondary schools:
- RI 1: Class size (In Estonia the national limit is 22). Yes, this needs a centrally funded initiative but there are creative measures that smart leaders can take.
- RI 2: Really look at the timetable (numbers of teachers each child has per week especially KS3) and number of pupils each teacher has per week (especially in “non-core” subjects like RE).
- RI 3: Focus on Transition from Year 6 to Year 7. This is often where relationships break down and this is where pupils need explicitly taught skills in resilience and socio-emotional competencies from a young age as happens in Finland. There are many practical things that schools can and often do but structures may minimise their impact. Do major structural changes need to be made e.g. create schools within schools in KS3 to improve the relationships? (HSE can assist with this)
d) Improve the way that educators are developed and not just teachers trained for what they do in the classroom. Of the 7 existing routes into teaching in England almost all entail starting in a school as an apprentice (TDA, SDS, PGTA, HPITT and AO – look them up!). We need to move (back?) to a more professional approach where philosophy psychology, politics, history and sociology as well as the economics of education are known and understood by educators to become better teachers. The role of universities and the desirability for all teachers to continue their own learning need to be stronger. Stenhouse’s view of teacher: researcher is practiced and benefitted from in many countries.
e) Change the conditions in which educators must work. Many of these e.g. pay, are outside the control of individual schools but again smart leaders can institute their own policies and practices that may seem farfetched but when analysed carefully, can happen e.g. improving workload, sabbaticals, succession planning. There is a plethora of recruitment and retention strategies that schools use and have a positive effect for example to enable young mother and fathers to stay in the profession.
We really do need to put childhood at the centre of our national policies and recognise the significance of educators. We can learn from each other with a focus on teachers as educators and professionalism founded on relationship-based learning. If we move in the direction that HSE is passionately advocating, children will be more motivated, passionate learners and much better prepared to make a positive difference to all our futures.
Comments