Hyper-Accountability Makes me Glad I’m not a Classroom Teacher Any More
Parents who expect an instant answer to emails are adding to teachers’ accountability woes, says The Primary Head…
Thank goodness I’m a head. I really couldn’t hack it as a teacher any more. This isn’t because being a head is easy (it really isn’t), nor is it because I don’t think I’m a good teacher. It’s mainly because teaching has changed so much since I swapped children’s reports for headteacher ones.
The curriculum, for starters, has changed drastically, although it’s not all been negative. I may still lament the loss of the Rose report curriculum, but a big part of me wishes I was teaching English and maths in today’s edu-landscape.
Every time I chat to children about their learning or visit a classroom to see a teacher in action, I am in awe of the advancement of teacher and pupil subject knowledge since I was writing over DfE unit plans on the OHP, getting irremovable felt tip smudges all over my sleeves.
No, the curriculum is not why I wouldn’t want to be back in the classroom. The reason why is actually nothing to do with teaching, learning or behaviour.
Inside the classroom, apart from curriculum content and technology, I don’t see an awful lot of difference. Pupils are pupils. Behaviour is behaviour. Staff are staff.
The real reason why I don’t think I could hack it as a teacher any more is accountability. It’s a no-brainer that teachers should be held accountable for learning. If you want to be an educator but don’t think it’s fair that you should be responsible for your performance, you should try something else.
However, it’s hyper-accountability that is the problem. Why does everything nowadays have to be jacked up to 11? Why must teachers be made to care about everything, right now?
When I was a teacher it was simple: you planned, you taught, you assessed. Then you made sure the children all got on while keeping parents reasonably informed. My, how things have changed.
The word ‘change’ has a lot to answer for. Education is very good at changing, which is a pity. What it should be better at is evolving.
Whenever there’s a change, the world of education seems to throw everything up in the air and expect things to land fully formed as something new, exciting and fully implemented.
Take GDPR, for example. OK, we were given a bit of notice on that one, but look how the profession reacted: scaremongering hyperbole that had everyone panicking about whether you could even write children’s names on their workbooks any more.
We seem unable to change gracefully and that puts far too much pressure on teachers who are already too busy with the day job.
Another irritant caused by the culture of hyper-accountability is the degree of public access teachers are exposed to.
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I’m not saying that educators should be allowed to work in secret, but their professionalism is under attack by the world’s demand for a 24-hour service.
A good proportion of parents now think it is acceptable to email teachers directly at any time of day and night. What does that say about their respect for the profession?
I know parents are busy, but so are teachers. You can’t have instant access to a professional who is working hard at their job, and teachers shouldn’t be made to feel like uncaring failures if they haven’t responded to you within a 12-hour period.
All of this is why I couldn’t be a teacher today, but it’s also the reason I’m a head. I do not advocate that teachers’ emails are given out to parents. Instead, they can contact teachers via the office.
Nothing that urgent is ever put in an email. It might be important but, hey, even when you’re at A&E you have to wait.
My teachers are busy people and one of my biggest aims is to minimise distractions. They will always strive to help, because they care, but they need to be in control of when and how.
Likewise, it is my job to control the changes that come at us thick and fast. I prefer to do that by not only taking my time, but also by shielding teachers from the faff of unplanned implementation.
I don’t mind them feeling the pinch of accountability but I don’t want them feeling the burn of hyper-accountability.
So, until all that disappears, I won’t be returning to the classroom. I’m far too busy making sure those that teach, can.
The Primary Head is the headteacher of a UK primary school. Find him at theprimaryhead.com and follow him on Twitter at @theprimaryhead.
