Don’t Do It For The SLT – Be A Maverick Teacher
Fear of Ofsted can lead to meddling SLTs. Avoid the domino effect, step out of line and learning will improve, says Conor Heaven…
- by Conor Heaven
Every Monday we had to email all our planning to the senior leadership team. At around 10am, we would get an email back with comments, and then have to change what we were doing that day or that week.
Then, every Friday afternoon, they would collect 10 English and maths books – a different set each week – which they would pore over endlessly, checking that us teachers were keeping to marking policies and sticking to the bought-in schemes. They wanted to see that we were using three levels of differentiation dependent on the current attainment and target levels children had been set.
This was my teaching life in my early career.
Ticking the boxes
I worked in a diverse, urban, two-form entry primary school, and the children were fantastic – clearly eager to learn, and very forgiving of the many mistakes I made in those early days. But suffice to say, I found the start of my career a trifle difficult. The school was languishing in ‘Satisfactory’ territory (‘Requires Improvement’ these days) and the SLT thought that the way out of it was to micromanage every little thing we did.
In an environment like this I felt it was best to keep my head down, get on with it and tick all the boxes they wanted ticking – but inside I knew it felt deeply wrong. It didn’t exactly bring out my most energised, engaging teaching.
I’d arrive at 7am and leave at 6pm, taking work home. I marked everything, I differentiated as expected, I copied the right sheets out of the maths scheme and gave them to the relevant children. My displays were beautiful, yet regimented. I ensured that no key question or backing was a millimetre out of place. My weekly planning would be about the desired 16 pages in length. I found out exactly what things the SLT were looking for and made sure they were included.
Did any of this improve my teaching? I fear those poor children would say no.
Finding the promised land
Having ticked all the right boxes at that school, I was suddenly being labelled as the golden boy of SLT. My practice was set as outstanding, and senior leaders began to use my planning and marking as exemplars for staff.
Then it all changed…for the better.
For the next three months, they stopped looking at my planning, marking and teaching. They decided that I was doing everything ‘well’. My opportunity had come at last. I went back to the way I had been teaching just a year before.
I would assess current understanding and set work accordingly, and differentiate where and when I had to. I marked when I could grow a child’s understanding, and I planned by writing down some key questions. I was able to focus on doing the thinking behind a great lesson and preparing everything I needed to make it work.
I had found the Promised Land! The children began learning at a rapid pace, and I could feel the power inside the classroom.
The meeting from hell
But then it all came crashing down in the staff meeting from hell. At the end of the school day I was asked to bring all my books to the meeting, as many of the other staff had suddenly found reasons why they couldn’t attend. At first I panicked – but as I thought about it more and more, I decided that actually I could enlighten the SLT on the amazing things I had been doing and the impact they’d had on the learning in my class.
You can’t say that I wasn’t naively optimistic as an NQT.
“What do you mean you haven’t marked everything? And why aren’t you always using the maths scheme worksheets?”
I was about to argue my point, but before I could say anything the questions continued.
“On this day, George and Alex did the same work, but they’re a different level and have different target grades. What’s going on?”
I was absolutely torn apart by the headteacher, in front of all the staff who hadn’t found an excuse not to be there.
I handed in my notice. There was no focus on learning in the school. The SLT were merely intent on showing Ofsted that they were having an impact by micromanaging everything.
So for my final six months there, I became ‘the maverick teacher’. I ignored diktat from above and focused on excellent learning experiences for my class. It was the least those children deserved. I then found a school that had a maverick leader, and I’ve since been able to spend the last few years focusing on learning – not on fulfilling pointless policies.
I suggest you do the same.
Hear no evil
Not working for a maverick leader? Here are five requests that you should go ahead and ignore…
1. “Plan using a certain format, for consistency” This means teachers are thinking about how to tick certain boxes, not doing the thinking behind a great lesson. Imagine if we could use planning that suited our current needs. We could change it as necessary depending on the subject, topic or unit. We could write down only what was necessary to help us do our job, and focus our time on more important tasks.
2. “Differentiate work to three different levels, for consistency” This means teachers are thinking about how to differentiate three ways – not what certain groups of children may need in that lesson to progress. Imagine if we could consider what children currently know and plan accordingly. Groupings would be fluid and teaching would closely match next steps in learning.
3. “Mark everything, for consistency” This means teachers are using the majority of their time writing down comments, rather than just writing comments when they are actually needed. Imagine if we could flick through each book, spot common errors and plan to spend five minutes reteaching it tomorrow. Teachers could give feedback during the lesson as and when it was needed, writing in books when it would make an impact on children.
As a Key Stage 1 teacher, I now advocate this even more. After all, how much can they read?
4. “Ensure that displays use the same colour, format, style for each subject, for consistency” This means teachers with flare are held back, rooms become boring environments and the focus is on keeping in line – not on what stimulates children’s brains or helps them within a lesson. Imagine if we could focus on updating maths and English displays as we work through a topic. We could keep adding key words, diagrams and examples created as a class, and children could refer to these whenever necessary.
5. “Repeat or redo admin tasks that someone else has already done, for consistency” This means teachers are doing immeasurably dull admin tasks, repeating them for the sake of it. Some don’t actually have an impact on children’s learning at all. Time is lost when it could be put to much better use. Imagine if we could create systems that fit the way we work, rather than trying to force us to work in ways to fit the (bought-in) system.
Conor Heaven has been teaching for six years in Primary Schools in London and Essex, and is aiming to become the next maverick leader, ignoring what’s touted as ‘Ofsted outstanding’; he blogs at makingsenseoflittleminds.wordpress.com and tweets as @ConorHeaven
