Our interactions with other people and sensory responses to our surroundings are what will determine whether our lived experiences are positive and inspiring, negative and dull, or anything in between.

So with that in mind, what approach does your school take when it comes to engaging your students’ parents and carers? How do you encourage them to become more active in their child’s development and the wider school community?

Personally, if I see one more survey asking parents to rate their child’s homework provision, the school’s wider activity programme or the parents’ evening experience, I think I might scream.

We know that the teaching profession is filled with highly creative and inspiring individuals. Yet when we turn our attention to parental engagement activities, why do we so often struggle to elicit a sustainable commitment from parents to become involved in all aspects of their child’s development at school?

Parental engagement event

My school recently asked me to run a parental engagement evening using the format of a traditional school open day. The criteria and main objective were as expected. I needed to get parents in and show the school in its best possible light. I also needed to gather some feedback that could be used to potentially shape future developments.

However, I wanted to go beyond what my school expected. Not only did the parental engagement event result in the desired outcome, I can honestly say that it also advanced our longer-term aim of building authentic and transparent relationships between the school, our parents and the local community.

The soft and soothing sound of a piano being played in the school foyer greeted parents. Senior students were quick to offer teas and coffees. They then dropped parents off for their first school tour.

The faculties throughout the school were all buzzing. There was active learning and engaging student achievement stalls as far as the eye could see.

Downstairs, senior leaders were presenting on key school successes and future priorities. They were also gathering views and suggestions from groups of parents in the main assembly hall.

Pastoral support teams were also ready and waiting to hear concerns and discuss action plans. They had the aim of breaking down whatever barriers might be hindering a child’s progress.

The evening concluded with impressive demonstrations by the school’s performing arts and sporting ensembles. Parents went home with pockets full of leaflets and contact details encouraging them to ‘get involved’ in their child’s learning. The difference was that they could now put names to faces.

A place of service

Getting parents involved becomes a lot less complicated once you start asking the right questions. What do they want to know? What do they need to understand? Do they need special support? What can they bring to the table?

Once we start approaching parental engagement from a place of service, we move a crucial step closer to creating a culture where parents are happy to be actively involved. They want to consistently contribute to the school’s forward trajectory.

Parents deserve to feel valued. They need to be prioritised beyond the basic legalities of their child’s welfare and compliance with school procedure, expectations and protocols.

I once worked for a headteacher who advised his staff that when speaking with students, they should imagine a parent stood over their shoulder listening to every word. This has stayed with me for many years as something we can all build upon.

What if we approached every aspect of school life – be it our learning and teaching, faculty meetings, CPD or indeed anything else – by intentionally stopping at precise moments and asking ourselves ‘What would our parents think?’ It would be transformative.

We already know the impact that parent council collaborations can have in the development of our schools. But we need to start seeing every in-school operation and innovation as a platform for parents to have their say. Or at the very least, provide them with opportunities to understand the direction in which the school is headed.

Collaboration culture

Every lesson, conversation and meeting must consider the views of parents and any potential contributions they may be willing to make.

If we can get beyond the simplicity of ensuring that communications remain open, and move towards bringing about a more ambitious culture of collaboration, we will slowly start to see a rise in interest and involvement from parents throughout the community.

Anecdotally, one of the greatest barriers parents have raised with me is their feeling that they have nothing to contribute. Or worse, that staff will laugh at them if they make suggestions regarding school improvements.

If this kind of feedback sounds familiar, it could be that your school has a toxic culture when it comes to parental engagement. We must make every effort to prevent point-scoring and guard against parents feeling patronised.

School leaders will often present to parents over the course of an evening, only to later get on the defensive after someone raises a concern around school performance or behaviour issues. In this scenario, parents return home feeling chastised and berated, making the divide all the greater.

Opening doors to parental engagement

It all comes back to intentionality. School leaders must strategically plan open events that parents can attend. We need to focus on events which will foster a culture of collaboration, belief and belonging.

Don’t assume that parents have no place in conversations around school improvement planning, priority setting, development and other such matters. They do.

All being well, inviting parents to participate in such conversations can open doors to valuable contributions. It can also lead to better partnership working.

We’ve all heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. By failing to place parental support and needs at the heart of everything we do, we ultimately risk hindering the progress and achievements of our young people.

Once a school commits to an authentic desire to build positive relationships with parents and include them at every opportunity – that’s when we start to witness the green shoots of transformational change.

Parents can provide the key to unlocking their child’s full potential. But this only happens if they’re given the encouragement and resources necessary to participate in their child’s learning.

Simply updating the school website with more information, or sending out progress reports will never be enough to truly harness the capacity of so many parents to add value to the work we do.

We should give them a voice in every school priority. Because when a student experiences an effective partnership between their parents and their school, they’ll be more inclined to trust us and take full advantage of the learning provision on offer.

Ed Carlin is a deputy headteacher at a Scottish secondary school. He has worked in education for 15 years and held teaching roles at schools in Northern Ireland and England

The post Parental engagement – Bring parents on board by exceeding expectations appeared first on Teachwire.

What stood out to me the most in that conversation, however, was when he said, “Ed, it’s rather simple. Good education is like music.”

When my facial expression duly betrayed the curiosity he’d planned for, he went on to explain that it was all about timing and contribution. Every student in a class had a part to play, but they all needed a great conductor.

His observation has remained with me to this day. Highly effective teachers instinctively know to lead a classroom like a well-tuned orchestra, bringing out the best in each ‘musician’ while at the same time pulling their individual contributions together in perfect harmony.

Yet we can go further. If we can align our learning and teaching plans with our school’s broader climate, purpose and values, great learning will almost inevitably be the outcome.

Playing their part

Teachers must never forget that learning should be at the core of everything they do, regardless of topic. However, with the acquisition of skill and mastery of pedagogy comes the knowledge that individual pupils need to work with different resources, tools and learning styles.

Every member of an orchestra will play their instrument to the best of their respective abilities, but do so knowing that their contribution is vital for the collective piece to come together. In the same way, we all recognise how important it is that we differentiate the resources we deploy the classroom.

Yet I worry that for many, this process begins and ends with simply handing out worksheets, or setting tasks specifically designed for different levels of ability. It’s not that this is inherently wrong; more that it only represents one part of what should be a larger process of inclusion.

Groupings and work areas should be adapted to meet the needs of all learners. Different types of activities should be aligned with visual, audio and kinaesthetic learning styles. The room should be abuzz with different contributions taking shape and being added to the overall masterpiece.

Readers may find the notion a little eccentric, or even controversial, but I truly believe that having pupils sat in rows of desks for prolonged periods of time should be utterly frowned upon. Categorically.

Much as we wouldn’t stand for pupils being asked to remain completely silent while working on textbooks for 50 to 60 minutes, the way in which they’re seated (or heaven forbid, standing) should be flexible and of their
own choosing.

Let’s think outside the box when it comes to classroom layout. Are individual desks even needed at all? Soft, comfortable seating and work areas will likely resemble something much more akin to the modern workplace.

In recent years, many employers and CEOs have enthusiastically embraced the need to diversify and innovate when it comes to improving working environments, and recognised the positive impact on staff productivity this can have. Shouldn’t we be looking to do the same in our schools?

Group performance

Consider the ‘Circle Time’ strategy often used in primary classrooms. This highly practical way of gathering children together to listen to stories exerts a magnetic effect that could be utilised in many secondary learning scenarios.

Simply put, children enjoy the fact that circle time lets them out of their class seats and build trust with their teacher and fellow classmates, before benefiting from the literacy outcomes produced by the simple act of reading a text and discussing it afterwards.

Could we not continue something practical like this well into the secondary experience? Pupils could perhaps be gathered into groups to watch, read, share and learn. The teacher could then circle the different groups, helping to stretch their ideas and thinking, but with the pupils ultimately working together and building on each other’s knowledge and understanding.

Now, many teachers reading this may well respond with ‘That’s just groupwork – we do that all the time.’ However, what I’m suggesting is perhaps a little more radical – that we make this the default arrangement.

Simple psychology

When it comes down to it, what purpose does having rows of desks and seats in a typically 100m square classroom actually serve anymore? Continuing to have pupils sit in designated seats for long periods of time seems ludicrous.

Instead, embracing the simple psychology of handing the space over to our learners, for them to arrange in whatever way they feel appropriate, means they get to feel that they’re part of a team, with a certain level of responsibility for leading and managing themselves.

You may, of course, ask ‘What about those pupils who will undermine and disrupt learning as a result of their inability to manage such flexibility and autonomy?’ Well, this is where all the usual clarity in terms of expectations and boundaries comes into play. Pupils tend to know what’s acceptable in a social context. The usual suite of reminders and, when necessary, consequences should be enough to keep their behaviour in line.

If behaviour still breaks down with that in place, it would be unwise to immediately ascribe this to any increased freedom or flexibility in terms of your classroom arrangement. Young people can always be relied upon to find themselves distracted, and sometimes even disruptive when surrounded by their peers – something which can just as easily be said in relation to many other classroom settings and specific layouts.

I’ve always supported the idea of decoupling the management of negative behaviour from courageous and innovative classroom practice, since one should never prevent the other from happening.

Be the change

To any teachers or school leaders who may be reading this, I would urge you to be the change that you wish to see in the success of your pupils. Dare to think differently, and design your classrooms as forward-thinking, inspiring and work-ready environments.

The classroom should be a place where your pupils can all take ownership of what they’re studying, and learn the essential skills needed to eventually learn and manage themselves. If educators are the architects of learning, then now is the time for us to act on our initiative and open out our learning spaces, so that they can provide young people with the environment necessary for them to thrive and succeed.

Ed Carlin is a deputy headteacher at a Scottish secondary school, having worked in education for 15 years and held teaching roles at schools in Northern Ireland and England

The post Classroom environments – Shape your learning space like a conductor appeared first on Teachwire.

Tennis has provided Jeff with confidence, success and numerous skills – and yet Jeff is miserable. At 53, he’s witnessed several players from his club go on to join national and even international tours. He knows former players who turned professional and became coaches – some of whom even went on to build their own tennis academies.

Jeff doesn’t understand why none of that ever happened for him. After years of dedicated service and commitment he’s become frustrated and bitter, concluding it was simply circumstance, luck and bad timing that stood in the way of his dreams.

Reaching an impasse

Now, let’s compare Jeff with the many teachers I’ve met who similarly feel that opportunity has passed them by. Most will have been teaching – and teaching well – for 10, 20 or even 30 years, watching as junior colleagues overtake them and speedily climb the promotional ladder.

Our veteran teacher – let’s call them ‘Teacher A’ – and Jeff have something in common. While both have successfully developed their skills and honed their technique over time, they’ve rarely engaged with additional development opportunities. Both have previously refused to listen to the ideas of others, and crucially, developed few skills outside of those required to perform well within a narrow context of their respective fields.

Teachers who fail to recognise that CPD is the means by which they will develop and progress in their careers will often stagnate. Oh, they’ll continue teach well, and show up every day, fully committed to the tasks at hand – but their reluctance to engage in leadership opportunities, development initiatives or professional growth will inevitably lead them to an impasse.

As the years go on, those opportunities for progression will become harder to seize, until the day arrives when they sadly don’t meet the professional requirements needed to apply for certain positions or even attend particular courses. Their skillsets have become too narrow, their thinking too constrained within the walls of their classroom.

Foundation skills

To ensure teachers are receiving the best possible CPD experiences, school leaders must be architects of high-quality professional learning, leadership pathways and wider school development opportunities. An effective school leader will source and roll out learning programmes which allow teachers to think outside the box.

Too often, blue sky thinking is expected only from individuals already in formal leadership roles. Imagine the possibilities if we could harness the creativity and innovation of whole staff teams, and provide the resourcing necessary for them to gain experience of driving forward key school priorities.

CPD linked to leadership development for staff at all levels will enable the seeds of greater professionalism and innovation to grow and flourish. I’ve spoken to many leadership colleagues who regret not having been offered more leadership opportunities prior to their promotion.

A willingness to take the initiative and the ability to think on one’s feet are qualities that school leaders will always need – but a solid foundation of leadership skills and abilities, developed throughout a teacher’s career via CPD prior to promotion, will build both confidence and aptitude.

Growth mindset

Beyond school leaders providing teaching staff with leadership training and opportunities, what should teachers themselves be doing in terms of their daily habits and routines?

It all starts with a growth mindset. From the earliest stages of my own career, I committed to mentally preparing myself for the next level of leadership, in whatever form that might take. As a classroom teacher I’d always seek out a mentor, or at least try to surround myself with aspirational people who were also looking for opportunities to grow and develop.

I knew that it would be from these people that I’d more likely receive recommendations for books or podcasts that might sharpen my thinking, and help get the most out of myself and others. I always sought to maintain a positive relationship with my heads of department, and would ask them for support in setting me up with training opportunities and CPD that would help me develop my own leadership potential.

Yes, that meant extra time and additional challenge – but I instinctively knew then that one day, this would prepare me for the challenges, demands and responsibilities of a formal leadership role. I continued to do the same once I became a head of department, and still do so now as a deputy headteacher.

Each day, I make time to place myself in the mindset of a headteacher and consider how I might improve a certain aspect of the school, or react to a current issue or problem.

Pursue greatness

It ultimately comes down to restlessness, and a drive to always seek out new opportunities for growth. After finding the solution to one problem area, I’ll quickly move to the next and apply strategic thinking – assigning the right people to the right job, thus ensuring that the cycle of leadership continues to develop.

To any teachers who might be reading this, I’d urge you to seek out the very best CPD opportunities you can find. Surround yourself with positive mentors and like-minded, aspirational people. If you genuinely want to progress into a formal leadership role, then the journey can start tomorrow morning. How?

Act like a leader – in all that you do, think or say. Never settle for the status quo. Always pursue greatness. If your school has an active and engaging CPD programme, get involved. Consider getting your own in-school CPD events off the ground once your skillset and knowledge reaches a certain point.

Becoming an outstanding school leader takes grit, determination and initiative. It follows that an authentic commitment to high quality CPD, and a desire to put into practice the skills you learn are essential. That way, your growing leadership skills will start to be noticed by those you work with. You will have ignited your own sense of purpose, boosted the aspirations of those you work with, and contributed to making our schools even better at preparing young people to head out into the world, suitably inspired and equipped for success.

Too many jotters

Jeff is probably preparing himself for his next match right now. He knows that his local club are looking to develop coaches, but he doesn’t have the time. He just wants to get on with playing the game.

Teacher A is busy marking work, while feeling tired and overwhelmed. They’re aware that there are some interesting speakers appearing at an educational conference next month, but they can’t find the time or motivation to go. There are too many jotters to mark and multiple reports to finish off.

And then there are those who are ready and willing to make the time, dig deep within themselves and seek out every opportunity for growth. They are the ones you’ll see going from strength to strength – not just progressing, but also helping others around them grow and become the leaders that they too desire to be.

Nurture your inner leader

What are the hallmarks of excellent leadership CPD that can result in career progression? The following topics would be a good starting point…

• How to build purpose-driven teams
• Strategic versus operational priorities
• What it means to hold courageous conversations
• Why commitment is more valuable than compliance
• The importance of collective efficacy and high impact

Ed Carlin is a deputy headteacher at a Scottish secondary school, having worked in education for 15 years and held teaching roles at schools in Northern Ireland and England

The post Careers in education – How professional development can make you a contender appeared first on Teachwire.

Imagine a school culture so lacklustre that CPD meetings are annual events, wherein a faculty head lists some examples of extracurricular contributions by a member of staff, before making reference to a few generic targets for the year ahead. Targets which, more often than not, involve improvements to lesson planning, getting involved in school development groups and organising resources for Y11 assessments.

Reigniting the passion

Surely, we can do better than this? We need to address the reality that for many schools, CPD remains a tickbox exercise – something to get out of the way so we can ‘get back to the real work’.

Too often, when I speak with teachers about their experiences of CPD, I’m told that it’s fairly one-sided. They may have once felt committed to the idea of developing their practice, but over the years, seen it became a meaningless, rushed process they’ve had to complete just to evidence that they’ve fulfilled whatever their contractual hours demanded of them at the time.

CPD should be so much more. It ought to be the means by which we reignite our passion for the job. Teachers up and down the country should be supported and encouraged to access whatever opportunities are out there to become the best they can be. How then, might we improve the culture of schools where CPD has become a mandatory, yet lifeless exercise?

Genuine interest

I’d suggest it’s all about relationships. In order to bring about excellent CPD, we must look to develop healthy CPD relationships between teachers and their associated leaders. Faculty heads must commit to taking a genuine interest in the development of their staff– one that goes beyond the needs of the faculty improvement plan, or even the school improvement plan.

Healthy CPD relationships can be identified by the level of passion and purpose shown by a teacher when embarking on a particular aspect of development, and the level of support and challenge offered by said teacher’s faculty head.

To define what ‘meaningful’ CPD is, let’s first look at what it isn’t:

• Reading but not reflecting in a professional context
• Reading but not implementing any of the learning/ideas
• Marking pupil work
• A revising of procedures, such as photocopying, tidying, filing, etc.
• Having discussions with colleagues that produce no meaningful outcomes, or opportunities to evaluate impact
• ‘Learning for learning’s sake’

The above may, at first, seem like attempts to engage with some form of professional development, but scratch below the surface and you’ll find that at best, they’re just ‘add-ons’ to the standards and expectations of the job spec. Too often, however, this is what you’ll discover when going through the records of annual CPD meetings that have actually taken place.

A purposeful process

To truly claim that it has a meaningful and purposeful approach to CPD, a school should offer something more along the following lines:

• Collaborative planning and impact
• Strategies for improving performance in assessments
• Development training / courses to improve teaching, learning and understanding of assessment standards
• Professional engagement with learning theory, with evidence of implementation
• Development in terms of both departmental and school-wide priorities
• Wider development with respect to national priorities

Start to unpack any of these, and you’ll be closer to a culture where CPD is an ongoing, organic and purposeful process; a culture where every teacher has opportunities to mould their ambitions and passions into better learning, better experiences and better outcomes.

Our approach to CPD should include forms of coaching and mentoring that actively support and contribute to the development of additional skills. Then – and only then – can teachers continue to develop as creative, innovative, resourceful, confident and reflective practitioners, able to respond and adapt to our students’ wide-ranging and ever-increasing learning and development needs.

Ed Carlin is a deputy headteacher at a Scottish secondary school, having worked in education for 15 years and held teaching roles at schools in Northern Ireland and England

The post Teacher CPD – Why use it for modest gains when it can do so much more? appeared first on Teachwire.

These young people are at a time in their lives when they’re surrounded by hundreds of their peers, given relentless schedules and little say as to whether they have to be there or not.

Now I’m no psychologist, but I can confidently propose that this initial sense of excitement and energy can quickly turn into mischief, persistent disruption and antisocial behaviour. And when it does, what happens then…?

The adults in the room

With the latest agreed behavioural policy in hand, staff will seek to correct students, reprimand and outline the ‘consequences’ that the young person’s behaviour will have. And yet the child knows that the consequences are, at best, pretty unrealistic. The adult knows that the child knows this, and everyone moves forward a with a little less respect for each other and the system as a whole.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting here that we don’t challenge negative behaviour in our schools. Of course we do. We should – we must.

But let me present a possible alternative. Where else in our society are we confronted with this notion of ‘rules’ in such a blunt way? Outside of sports (and possibly board games), young people will rarely enter spaces and be immediately welcomed with the message, ‘In this place, the rules are as follows…’

It just feels so dated and irrelevant, compared to most of the situations and places that young people will typically experience in their lives outside school. Yet when they’re in spaces where certain rules very much apply – a leisure centre, say or a train station – they’ll tend to not behave in the same negative manner which might see from them in schools. Why is that?

I believe it’s because they’re intrinsically aware of how to behave, based on the context of the space they happen to be in. What we must therefore do is aspire to a culture of purpose in our schools, where we regularly share with our students what they’re there for in the first place – namely to learn, develop skills and gain qualifications under the guidance and support of trained professionals.

Playing it safe

This way, everybody knows what they’re playing for. Issues begin to arise, however, when school leaders become so fixated on specific policy, rules and regulations that young people start failing to see the relevance of them.

Countless times throughout my teaching career I’ve heard young people express frustrations and complaints, and raise what I’ve always felt to be fair questions. ‘Why do we have to wear a uniform but staff don’t?’ ‘Why do teachers shout at us when we do something wrong, but nobody’s allowed to shout at them?’

I tend to play it safe and answer such questions with the usual excuses – ‘It’s different for staff’ or ‘They’re older and able to make better judgements’ Although, in my heart of hearts, I know there are times when those reasons don’t apply. In fact, much of the inappropriate behaviour I’ve dealt with as a school leader has often been down to negative behaviour from staff, and the mishandling of situations that ought to have been fairly straightforward to address.

I’m now getting to the point where I think we need to challenge – by which I mean really challenge – the rules we impose upon our students, and rethink those so-called ‘consequences’ that we’ll use as justifications for our actions.

Mutual agreements

Young people deserve to have a school experience that reflects the realities they’ll subsequently go on to face over the course of their lives. Of course, we should continue teaching our students how to be respectful, and how to make the most of the learning experiences we’re providing for them – but isn’t it time we gave up the disproportionate consequences they’ll often face for failing to wear a school tie, or walking the wrong way down a one-way corridor?

If we want students to gain a better understanding why they should be in school, what it can offer them and provide reassurance that what they’re being taught is both relevant worthwhile, then what are we missing? Not rules, but terms and conditions.

‘T&Cs’ are used by manufacturers, publishers, venue operators and countless other organisations to set out what they see as a reasonable agreement between them and their buyers or service users. Let’s apply that model to a school, and imagine what would happen if all incoming students were invited to sign a contract clearly outlining certain T&Cs, with responsible adults present.

Having entered into an agreement, there would be far less room for confusion, inconsistency and complaints between staff and students when behavioural issues arise. After all, the school’s teaching and support staff will have all agreed to a set of negotiated, fair and relevant T&Cs when appointed to their roles. Why not require students to do the same?

Nationwide issue

Right now, it’s becoming impossible to ignore the huge impact that negative student behaviour is having on our teachers. It’s a nationwide issue, and one that appears to be only getting worse.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve been in meetings where a parent or carer has said something to the effect of ‘How do you do it? I couldn’t work in a school – it would drive me mad!’

At the same time, I can’t help wondering if many of the problems we’re having are the direct result of an unrealistic, dated and intractable system of rules that must be obeyed, thus causing confusion and conflict for everyone involved, right from the onset…

Ed Carlin is a deputy headteacher at a Scottish secondary school, having worked in education for 15 years and held teaching roles at schools in Northern Ireland and England

The post Student behaviour – Why ‘terms and conditions’ may be more helpful than ‘rules’ appeared first on Teachwire.