Courage – that old trickster

Courage and fear have been playing on my mind a lot recently.

Last week I put the following question on my wall:

What have you done today where others would have quit?

It was a challenge to myself, not to take the easy path. I’m not talking about mighty feats such as ultramarathons here. I’m talking about little things such as reading those couple of pages in a book that I enjoy even though I’m tired, or waking up 20 mins earlier to have time to meditate or exercise.

However, the quote really came to the forefront this weekend just gone when I got my manuscript back from the editor. It had….wait for it….8569 changes/comments to it.

Now I was a geek at school and red pen on my essays would send my head into a spin so imagine my reaction when this manuscript came back with the left-hand margin covered in comments.

Since deciding not to be a head I’ve tried to follow my heart a lot more. This has required me to put myself out there and try things a lot more than I’m used to. Saying yes to Abby Bayford for the Naylors Natter podcast is a classic example. I changed my top for that 3 times 10 minutes before we recorded. I do not know why, as it was audio only, but I never said my behaviour made sense. Talking for the first time about English not being my first language and how the little voice in my head, for every blog I write, whispers that I’m going to mess up, write in a way that makes me look uneducated, stupid or intellectually vacant is very real.

So back to the 8569 edits received on Friday. Well, on Friday evening I had a few drinks and went to bed early telling myself I was tired. On Saturday I stayed in bed till mid morning, telling myself I needed rest. By mid day I was out of excuses and sulking around the house. What I really needed was to face the fear of plucking away at a manuscript I have already spent a year creating, to get it to where I’m proud of it.

Confession: I am a sucker for motivational quotes, videos, podcasts and music. Look at my Spotify playlists and they’re all called things like ‘Happiness’ or ‘Girl Power.’ So on Saturday I was listening to a motivational video on YouTube and it was by Robert Herjavec a Canadian businessman, the son of immigrants he talked about his success and being emotionally attached to his projects. He states one of the biggest lessons he learnt was to keep a healthy distance between himself and what he produced. To listen to feedback and do what needs to be done. The words that really stuck out to me were ‘All you deserve in life is an opportunity’ and then you go after it. I have the opportunity to write. Whether or not I do it well is up to me and how much practice I put in. But I must take this opportunity. Because my parents didn’t have it and came to the UK to give it to me. Fear will not rob me nor them of that privilege.

So when I asked myself what I would say to myself when I go to bed at night and ask ‘What have I done today where others would have quit’ it would be, I kept writing and the little girl who couldn’t communicate in nursery, kept having a voice.

Just so you know, I have now worked through 1000 of those edits. None of it was graceful, and a lot of KitKats have been eaten.

Like I mentioned in a recent tweet. Maybe Courage isn’t all brash and proud. Maybe it’s more like having a sulk, throwing a hissy fit, and then doing what needs to be done.

What’s the cost of your chosen job?

I don’t know about you but when I was growing up my parents had a very clear idea about which jobs would allow me to be financially comfortable (namely, lawyer, doctor, engineer) and which ones wouldn’t (writer, artist anything creative). Unfortunately for them I displayed more creative qualities from an early age than I did the scientific.

Some thirty or so years on and they are shocked to learn how much some professions can make. A creative designer, photographer etc.. and how society has started valuing certain professions differently. 

There are numerous sources showing the average salary of a variety of jobs, some can be found in the resources for this blog. However a key discussion we do need to have with students is around cost benefit. For instance does the average salary of a pharmacist justify the years of training? Does the average salary of a CEO justify the risk? It’s easy for students to look at average salaries and think ‘I want that!’, but are they willing to put in the work? And that’s a serious discussion we need to have rather than assuming they should be. Some people don’t want to take risks of entrepreneurship, others don’t want to spend 5 years training for a job and all of that is ok. 

The other catch is that sometimes jobs can seem cooler than they are. Job Descriptions are valuable here. Get students to look at Job descriptions online to understand what a job involves. The every day tasks, the responsibilities. 

I was surprised to see when I googled ‘Factors to consider when choosing a career’ none of the lists considered this in any detail. Let me repeat that. When I googled ‘Factors to consider when choosing a career’ many of them didn’t tell you to look at a job description and many more failed to suggest we consider the cost of entering a profession. How does that make sense?

In order to set our students up for success in their chosen careers they have to have a good understanding of themselves. What is their attitude to risk? How would they feel about sitting in lectures for 3-5 years? Do they have the discipline to study for exams for another 3 years? Or longer? Do they want to be in a profession where they have to be requalify? 

I’ve put together some materials to help with these discussions.

Does Money Make Us Happy?

Many people may have had this thought during lockdown. Or perhaps another question: How much money makes us happy? Some have realised how little they have spent superfluous items during the pandemic when our access to, or need for, these items has been limited. Some may have questioned whether they need to return to that level of spending again.

The thing is, unless we discuss the relationship between money and happiness with our students, we leave them open to being influenced without dialogue. And this is where the negative connotations with money come into play. These can be anything from ‘Money is the root of all evil,’ or ‘I have to make as much money as possible at any cost’ and everything in between.

The average salary in the UK is £38,800

Studies have shown that happiness does not increase beyond a certain point (around £50,000)

But that’s still a lot of money.

The bit that often gets missed out of the discussion is what it allows you to do. Where do the happiest people spend their money? Ask students and they often equate money with buying power. And that makes sense. Money allows you to buy fast cars, nice clothes, wonderful food etc… But it also allows you to do things. Serve others. Create something greater than yourself. And again if we don’t discuss this with our students, they’ll be chasing things that they hope will make them happy rather than experiences that could really change their lives. 

So the slide deck being sent out this week discusses the power of money with our students and the ability to use it in a way that makes us happy.

It introduces them to ideas on minimalism and the growing movement towards it (with a short video). It also uses a video to introduce them to research that suggests money can indeed make you happy, but when you don’t spend it on yourself. 

What if we could get students to not aspire towards money for money’s sake only (which is fine by the way) but also as a tool to ensure experiences that allow them to have more fulfilling lives?

The cost of living

Why our students need to know how much its costs to live in the UK?

According to Revolut the average cost of living in the UK is as follows:

  • £2,249 per month for a single person; and
  • £3,803 per month for a family of four.

This makes the UK the 7th most expensive country Western Europe.

Of course there is an ongoing argument about whether this is a true reflection and what is included in the cost of living in the UK. Are cinema tickets essential? How many TV subscriptions does the average person need?

Throughout my career in education I have run an exercise to help students calculate cost of living based on their expectation. I should highlight here that it is not without its flaws. I am not aware of future inflation rates (which is why I always highlight that inflation will continue to make living costs higher and the importance of minimum wage reflecting this rise in cost of living). However what it does do for students is give them some idea of what things cost and what the life they have dreamed up for themselves costs.

Why do students need to know about cost of living?

Awareness – In order to ensure we are creating a culture of responsible and able citizens that can participate in society and are well informed.

Motivation – Needless to say, many times, when I complete this activity students are left shocked at how much money they would need to earn in order to live the life they want. For many this makes them rethink the career they want to go into and aspire to something more. For some it makes them question whether the life they see on social media and influencers living is actually real.

Expectations – I believe we have a moral responsibility to both encourage our students to dream big and understand the real lay of the land so they are not surprised by life when they leave school but in command of it.

Cost/benefit analysis – Without the cost of living many schools expect students to make important decisions about life – like whether they should go to university or do an apprenticeship. As adults we often have to work backwards from the goal in life to put in actions that will get us there. Why is it any different for our students?

Helping disadvantaged students – The way money is spoken about (if spoken about at all), budgeted, and the purchases prioritised will vary home to home but also whether our students come from a background where parents rely on the government for financial support. The freedom they will have had to make financial decisions will vary as a result. We must ensure that our students, who we want to be active participants in the economy are equipped with the ability to make financial decisions that their parents may not have been able to.

The activity 

You can access the activity sheet for this by signing up to the below. Those who have signed up will receive it in their inbox later today.


When we get back, the principles of good teaching remain the same.

The panic is starting, I can hear it in the twitter sphere and in clubhouse rooms. The impact of lockdown on student learning and what we need to do to correct it. When what we need is more of what we said we would always do.

The need is too great. To come up with a fancy strategy to overcome a challenge. But the thing is the challenges were always great in teaching. It’s why we joined the profession. To work against the odds and give our students the best possible foundations for their springboard into life. The world has changed, that doesn’t mean that your teaching radically has to.

What I believe our students need when we get back are two key things

  • Routines
  • Focus on learning in the classroom – through a few strategies that you already know about

Don’t panic let’s just focus on good teaching practice.

The principles of good teaching still apply. We need routine, variation, spacing and interleaving. Let’s look at what these might look like when we return.

Routine: There’s no doubt about it our young people will come back having stuck to their normal routines at varying levels, they’ll need us to redraw the lines, explicitly reteach what is and isn’t acceptable, what we will and will not tolerate. What a strong classroom culture looks and feels like and their role in making that a reality as quickly as possible. The key here is to be explicit in our reteaching of routines.

Variation: Just like you, our students have spent a lot of time in front of a screen staring at information you may have presented. Perhaps you got fancy with breakouts and let them discuss things in small groups. But what they really crave is variety and nows the time to try it. Team work, getting them to build on each others’ answers, group discussions to really explore their thoughts with someone other than their cat! How can you switch things up so you don’t rely on a computer screen for your lessons when you get back?

Spacing: It’ll be tempting to reteach and test quickly, but learning requires forgetting. And not just forgetting once. So when planning recall don’t just recall what the students have learnt during the lockdown period but go further back like you normally would to last year and when they were in the classroom.

Interleaving:Yes it’s tempting to revisit what students have learnt at home however as stated above learning requires forgetting. There’s no reason you can’t move forward with the curriculum and put aside small chunks of time each week to revisit previous topics. Even better link them to what the students are learning now and going forward. We learn in stories and the more hooks you can provide to what they know the easier it is for them to remember new information.

None of this is rocket science. None of this is new. You can do this. You have done this. But we need to be brave and stick to what we know works and keep things simple in a time when it will be tempting to recreate the wheel.

What are schools for?

And are we expecting too much from them?

I recently joined Clubhouse the new online social platform which focuses on audio. Essentially it allows you to go into ‘rooms’ hosted by others members to discuss various topics. One such room asked the question ‘Do our schools prepare our children for success?’ and that stopped me in my tracks is that the bar now? Are we being held solely responsible for the future successes of young people? And what do we mean by success? This then led me to ask the question ‘What are schools for?’ Much like the age old debate about the role of the state we find boundaries shifting.

It takes a village – but that village has got a lot smaller.

You may have heard the saying it takes a village to raise a child and that was all fine and well when we lived in tight knit communities where people shared childcare. But now in 2021 the majority of care is given by schools and immediate family. Over time more and more is added to the curriculum to often teach children many of the things they may have learnt in communities, through mentors, peers and role models.

The question is ‘Have we spread ourselves too thin?’ And whilst the government cannot control homes is it over inflating the responsibilities placed on schools because it can? And does that set us up for a fall?

Do we even know what the role of schools is anymore?

Nick Gibb attempted to answer this question in 2015 when addressing the Education Reform Summit. He argued that the purpose was, well broken down into 3 purposes.

Namely these are:

Economic – to ensure our young people have the skills and knowledge to succeed in a demanding economy through an effective and rigorous curriculum. In his speech he focused on Maths and literacy in particular.

Culture – Here he makes the sensible argument that we need to teach young people the basic tenets of the curriculum for them to engage in culture – for instance grasping the language to enjoy poetry and set free our imagination. But then things get a bit fuzzy as he quotes Matthew Arnold and making ‘all men live in an atmosphere of sweetness and light’ before talking about how much the arts have been invested in and the need to break down class barriers.

Preparation for adult life – here he talks about character education and draws on case studies from the KIPP schools in the USA who no doubt do incredible work.

To summarise he argues that schools have ‘Three purposes – empowering young people to succeed in the economy, participate in culture, and leave school prepared for adult life’ – and argues that these have consistently guided the programme of reform by the government.

Let’s take each one of these in turn:

Economic – this is probably the one where most school staff feel most comfortable so I’m not going to discuss it in any great length because this is not a blog post about the curriculum. But at a basic level we all agree that a rigorous curriculum that allows our students to participate in the economy and be positive citizens in it, is something we can all get behind.

Culture – What worries me here is that he seems fine with the assumption that a solid education will allow students to break class barriers. We all know that education can play a huge part but it is not the only factor. For instance I can try and break down class barriers as much as I like by educating students but if mass unemployment is still the norm for parents these class barriers will remain because the economic conditions of many of these young people will not allow them to prosper. Also if we have such a commitment to the arts why are they not core elements of Progress 8 like science English and maths?

Preparation for adult life –

There is now very clear evidence that schools can make a significant contribution to their pupils’ achievement by finding opportunities to instil key character traits, including persistence, grit, optimism and curiosity.

I have no doubt the above is true. But I also have no doubt that the home and the character showcased by parents and role models at home play a huge part in students future opportunities. And we can teach these in school but what students need is the ability to practice them in the real world.

Far too often I read reports about the skills young people lack to make them employable. Quite often the feedback is from middle ages business owners  harking on about how the youth of today don’t have what it takes to be employed and they have forgotten what they were like as kids. Its natural, I’m sure you’ve heard your parents say how much better life was 50 or so years ago, yet none of us want to go back there. I have a friend that lives in Yorkshire and was, probably foolishly discussing Brexit with an elderly lady in her 80’s. She like many other people voted for Brexit because she wanted to go back to the good old days. When asked when this was she said the early 80’s. ‘You sure?’ asked my friend, ‘you wanna go back to the miners strikes when we experienced mass unemployment and families struggled to feed their young?’ She then proceeded to hit him with her handbag and told him to stop being so clever. The point I’m trying to make is it is a story as old as time that older generations think that youths of the time are less capable then they were. My experience shows me something completely different. I see young people able to navigate comples social relationships, online and offline, caring about the planet, open minded. What these kids lack is experience in the workplace to put these abilities to use and a chance. Let me ask you would you hire yourself at 16? Or even 18? I asked my husband this question two days ago and his honest response was ‘I don’t think I would have hired me at 22.’ My husband who often manages placement students in their second year of university has to teach them how to write emails, not because schools haven’t taught them how to construct emails but because knowledge without context doesn’t work. They have to know how to address different people in their organisation and that happens in the workplace not in school.

My worry is each time one of these reports come out, education ministers start cracking the whip promising to make qualifications harder, kids more ready for work through a corrected PSHE curriculum. I’m not saying we shouldn’t promote character in the curriculum. I’m saying it can’t sink in with the adjoining help of the community.

So given the above can schools ever fulfil their purpose particularly if the onus is placed on them wholly? My answer is no. We’ve all become too accustomed to pointing the finger at schools rather than acting like a village with schools, parents, local business and the government acting together to form an empowering tribe for our young people.

It takes a village.

Why are the farmers protesting in India?

Please note it is not about Rihanna or Greta (although they are wonderful).

I’ve tried not to say much about the Farmers Protest for a while now for a few reasons:

  • Most conflicts in India take on religious tensions which often pull away from the real issues.
  • I’ve wanted to be more informed and this conflict has taken on a new shape in which again I feel like the original issues of the cause of the conflict have been lost

So having looked into it I thought I’d share my thinking.

As someone who teaches Economics and with family back in India who own farmland I’ve been interested in agricultural policy for a while now, whether it be in the EU or abroad. So to the best of my ability I’ve tried to answer some critical questions in a clear way without oversimplifying controversy. These questions are:

  1. What are the changes the government wants in place in India?
  2. Why the government wants to make these changes
  3. Why the moves are feared by farmers and is it justified
  4. How the controversy around the farmers protest has moved away from the policy and become about democracy
  5. Why we should care

1.What are the changes the government wants in place in India?

From my understanding and bearing in mind I am not privy to any of the government papers the 3 big changes to agricultural policy that have been made by the new policies centre around:

  • Relationship between farmers and business
  • Stockpiling
  • Minimum Selling Price (MSP)

So let’s look at these individually:

Relationship between farmers and business – Currently farmers (most of which are from Punjab and Haryana) bring their paddy and wheat to a commission agent in a ‘mandi’ (market place). Produce that meets agricultural standards will be purchased by the government at a Minimum Sale Price assuring that farmers get a minimum price for their product and protecting them. Under new laws although the mandi system is said to still exist the government wants to open it up to private buyers allowing farmers to sell directly to private buyers (such as supermarkets) at a market price.

Further to this, private buyers can influence (and this is the bit that is unclear as to how much influence they have) the farming so farmers tailor their farming to meet buyer demands.

Stockpiling – These private buyers will be allowed to stockpile essential commodities (such as wheat) for future sales something that only really the government has done in the past.

Minimum selling price – The government have assured the farmer that this will continue and is something that allows the famers to rest assured that they will get a ‘reasonable’ price for their goods.

Note: Most countries protect their farmers

It’s important to highlight here that India is not unique in the way it has supported farmers many western countries do the same for instance Farmers in the UK currently receive around £3.5 billion support annually under the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) something that is being addressed now we have left the EU but is likely to be replaced by other supportive measures. You should also know that the majority of India’s farmers are small “Since the first agriculture census over 45 years ago, the number of farms in India has more than doubled from 71 million in 1970-71 to 145 million in 2015-16, while the average farm size more than halved from 2.28 hectares (ha) to 1.08ha. (Livemint see references at the bottom of the article). In contrast the UKs average farm size according to MacIntyre Hudson is approx. 86.4 Ha. So they are not mass producing crop by any standard and often don’t have the practices and technology in place you might associate with a farm.

2. Why does the government want to make these changes

The current government want to move the agricultural polcies into 2021 in line with it’s growing economy. They have argued the bills will raise farmers income, remove some of the barriers that small farmers (86% of total farmers in India according to the Times of India) face to trading, reduce marketing and transportation costs (often a massive issue in gaining income from farming in India).

3. Why are the changes feared by farmers then?

Well a lot of it is fear about the way these policies will work out and to be honest if we look at the EU alone they have every right to be afraid.

Farmers are claiming that the way these policies are likely to pan out are as follows. Private buyers will lure farmers in with a higher than MSP price away from the Mandi system that has some government protections, until the farmer becomes reliant on the buyer. Then the buyer (supermarket for example) will drop the prices they are willing to pay forcing the farmer to provide goods for a price that is not sustainable and in possibly expecting them to over farm meaning that it destroys their land (in a nutshell you have to use practices such as rotation farming and give the soil time to rest and become rich with nutrients which the farmers believe the buyers will not allow). Further if the farmers try to protest, well they’ll lose their income and the buyers will have stockpiled goods so they’ll be fine whilst they source another farmer. Whilst this is happening the government Mandi system ensuring minimum prices will have packed up because most farmers will have moved to private sales at this point.

Are the farmers right to be scared?

Well let’s look at what is happening in another part of the world. Namely the EU.

As recently as 2017 the EU courts had to intervene to protect farmers in the EU and to help them form cartels and gain bargaining power against the giant supermarkets. This was to address an imbalance in the food chain. The state of EU farmers was pretty poor. Plunging prices in areas such as dairy, meant many farmers went bankrupt. Supermarkets were accused of forcing down prices once a farmer would become reliant on them. How? Well they were accused of attracting farmers by offering them attractive contracts, making larger and larger orders so farmers would become wholly reliant on selling to that supermarket alone and losing other methods of income and then the supermarket would push down prices to the point where it would become financially unviable to run the farm. The horrifying stories that came to light from farmers who eventually banded together to take these businesses to court is saddening (bankruptcies, losing family farms, having to sell homes etc..) so I don’t think we can be surprised that the Indian farmers fear much of the same.

Understand the current system isn’t working either and change is needed

According to The Diplomat many small farmers are on the brink of financial catastrophe. Weather changes, medical bills or a daughters marriage (the dowry system although illegal is still a cultural practice) bring them to the brink of collapse. Many of the smaller farmers don’t have access to fertiliser or technology that would help them increase how much they can farm and sell and to manage quality. Many heavily rely on loans and that’s only if they are lucky enough to qualify bearing in mind many may not even have a credit history. The thing I found most shocking was that ‘in the past decade the bloated debt of Indian agricultural households has increased almost 400% whilst their undersized income plummeted 300%). This makes it obvious that change is needed. However..

You can’t have these free market style policies if you don’t empower people

My biggest concern is that the government is trying to implement free market such as the west but India has other unique challenges:

  • In 2018 70% of its rural households still relied on agriculture for their livelihood
  • Since 2015 economic reports on the level of illiteracy amongst the farming population has raised concerns and seen as one of the main reasons as to why the methods used in farming have not adopted new practices and technologies. How do we expect these farmers to be able to fight big business?
  • Many of the farmers do not have access to loans to secure resources to update their farming methods

If abuse of the system by large corporations does take place in the future how can we expect the farmers to bring about justice? Particularly with literacy levels as low as they are. Free markets are great when there is not an imbalance of power. Farmers currently expect protections from the governments who they have voted into power. But large organisations have a duty to their shareholders to increase profits which usually means buying for as cheap as possible to increase sales. This hurts the farmer.

4. Why we should care

India is one of the largest producers of milk, jute and pulses, what rice, sugarcane, cotton and groundnuts. We all need to support India’s farmers. This is a global issue.

5. How the controversy around the farmers protest has moved away from the policy and become about democracy

Unfortunately, the controversy around the farmers protest has moved away from what’s best for the farmers and towards whether India can really call itself a democracy if it cuts internet access and tries to limit free speech. The name calling between superstars globally has taken centre stage.

What’s not being talked about? The potential solutions to Indian farmers’ problems. And that’s a problem that is not going to go away unless addressed.

You can find my you tube video on the farmers protests here https://youtu.be/m-ebhOFeZDg

Sources of information:

Food and Agricultural Organisation of India http://www.fao.org/india/fao-in-india/india-at-a-glance/en/

Good, India’s Rural Farmers Struggle to Read and Write. Here’s How “AgriApps” Might Change That. https://www.good.is/articles/agricultural-apps-bridge-literacy-gaps-in-india

Politico, Europe rips up free-market rules to help farmers, https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-rips-up-free-market-rules-to-help-farmers-supermarkets-supply-chain/

The Hindustan Times, In Punjab, the centrality of the mandi system https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/in-punjab-the-centrality-of-the-mandi-system/story-V1QIJJuShlfDIRiaE7ukQJ.html

Economic Times, Everything you need to know about the new agricultural bills passed in lok sabah, https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-agriculture-bills-passed-in-lok-sabha/articleshow/78183539.cms

The Diplomat, India’s bitter seeds the plight of the small farmers, https://thediplomat.com/2017/02/indias-bitter-seeds-the-plight-of-small-farmers/

Uk Government website, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/food-statistics-pocketbook/food-statistics-in-your-pocket-global-and-uk-supply

BBC News, Farm bills: Are India’s new reforms a ‘death warrant’ for farmers? https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-india-54233080

BBC, Why are farmers in India protesting and how is Rihanna involved? https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/amp/55278977

New York times, Why Are Farmers Protesting in India? https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/world/asia/india-farmer-protest.amp.html

Live Mint, The land challenge underlying India’s farm crisis, https://www.livemint.com/Politics/SOG43o5ypqO13j0QflaawM/The-land-challenge-underlying-Indias-farm-crisis.html

MacIntyre Hudson, What size is the average farm? https://www.macintyrehudson.co.uk/insights/article/what-size-is-the-average-farm

But what else could I do?

It’s something I’ve heard a lot of people say when they are looking at moving on from a job. But I’ve noticed it’s especially prevalent amongst teachers. Many seem convinced that a career in education doesn’t equip them for much else. Just the other week I was speaking to an Assistant Principal who couldn’t think of any transferable skills. It’s a question I’ve asked myself many times and sighed when no answer has come to mind.

A month ago I came across a model in an audio book I was listening to that suggested a matrix from which to look at our passions and skills to direct our lives. The book was ‘Think Like a Monk’ by Jay Shetty and the model appealed to me because it didn’t try and sell me a load of woo woo that our calling was stamped on us at birth and we just had to find it, that there was just one thing we were sent on earth to do and we needed to figure out what with no sign of where to look. Below is the model that is proposed by Jay:

See I think often when people wonder what else they can do they are imagining transporting themselves exactly as they are to a different environment and that rarely works. We have to imagine who we can become if we pursue our passions. So let’s take a look at these 4 quadrants one by one.

No skill, No passion

The people you usually see in this area are graduates or school leavers still trying on different jobs for size trying to figure out what brings them alive or at least sparks their interest. Sometimes you’ve gotta have a lot of these jobs to figure out what you do want. Many people think they are here but often are overlooking their skills so would actually be in the ‘Skilled but not passionate ‘quadrant.

No skill and Passion

More of us should spend our time here. But as we get older we feel less comfortable spending time in the unknown. When was the last time you tried something new? These things that we feel passionate about are often things we gave up on when we ‘grew up.’ That instrument, the desire to paint, draw whatever it may be. We have three options in this area when it comes to passion. Kill it and don’t pay any attention to it, but I think a part of you will be lost too. Pursue it as your hobby, paint who cares what it looks like just enjoy the process. Or sharpen your skills so you can develop it enough to monetise it. Be warned sometimes the pressure of monetising this passion can kill the passion itself, or you may want to pursue it as a side hustle to try it on for size.

Skill, no passion

Unfortunately this is where many Senior leaders find themselves later into their career. They joined with a passion for teaching, engineering, design and find themselves being business managers. Able to do it without a doubt. But passionate perhaps not. Many find the passion behind it by aligning with purpose, particularly if the company has a strong ethical drive. However some don’t. This is where you need to figure out what is killing your passion. Is it the job. Take a look at the job description or keep a log of where you spend your time, do you enjoy any of the tasks or should you be looking at pursuing a different career? If it’s the organisation or the people then is it just a case of moving company?

Skill and Passion

Many of us feel this in professions such as teaching, medicine, nursing etc.. our passion comes from wanting to help young people. The cause calls us. But it’s ok to want to move on. We can develop new skills and find new passions. Research from the Department for Work and Pensions predicts that the average adult will have 5-8 different careers in the future, not jobs careers. We’re allowed to get bored and want to develop in different ways. You can have more than one career in this quadrant.

The problem: too many of us want to jump from Skill no passion to Skill and Passion without going through a period of being unskilled, being novices again. We’ve spent too long knowing what we are doing to cope with the insecurity of no knowing, not doing things perfectly. We need to spend more time here. Yes we need to think about the financial implications. I would advise to pursue something new or an old passion as a hobby first, then maybe a side hustle then move to it as much as possible if you still love it. But spending time on things that we are passionate is where the magic lies. But that magic doesn’t have to be in one place for all of your life.

Myths about teaching and education I wish I could eradicate

Teachers have 12 (or more) weeks of holidays a year

Lets start with this one as it’s the reason I’m most often told I’m lucky to be working in education. So say you work in an office, you’re entitled to about 4 weeks right? Most teachers, and certainly if they are senior leaders, would give their right arm to be able to have 4 weeks off. How could that be you may ask? Here’s the break down. I appreciate that on the surface it can look like we have 12 weeks off a year (5 summer, 2 Christmas – one of which most people would get if they were not in retail. 3 one week half term breaks, 2 weeks for Easter). We had 8 bank holidays entitled to all so let’s take off a week and a half with that taking us down to 9.5 weeks. Most teachers also work for at least half a day each weekend. If a teacher is teaching full time the chances are they will be teaching 22 out of 25 periods. Most schools will want some sort of assessment done every two weeks these range between quick tests and longer exam papers. Many secondary school teachers will have between 11 – 17 groups so you can imagine that 3 hours isn’t going to cover the marking required, thus the weekend. Many primary teachers are swamped with lesson preparation too. Lets assume out of 52 Saturdays a teacher works 14 thats 2 weeks taken right there so we are down to 7.5. Then there is the revision sessions over Easter, the trial exam marking over Christmas, the planning of new specs to meet new curriculum requirements and the general updating of resources over summer and I’d say we can whittle it down to 4 weeks like everyone else. (Most would argue it’s lower, certainly for senior leaders who plan for the forthcoming year it can be). Now here’s the thing, it could be 5 it could be 6 or 3. but there are not many professions that require you to be around 30 people all the time. Yes ALL the time. Whereas most professions will enjoy a lunch, or coffee break teaching staff very rarely do get those moments of quiet, they’re usually on duty, helping kids with things they didn’t understand etc..so the break, for their sanity is much needed. Having an off day, as my husband highlighted in any other profession he can hide behind the screen and just take 15 minutes to gather his thoughts, not in teaching you don’t. We need the down time.

Teachers do not work 9am-3pm

This one really amazes me, because it’s often said by people who drop their children off to school at 7.30am and want them to do after school club till 5pm. Who do they think is watching their children?

Your child is different at school then they are at home

You know that one friend that you always have fun and get into trouble with? Yeah your child has one of them too and the chances are they are that kid for someone else. That’s ok. We are not expecting them to be perfect. But what we are expecting is when we call to say they have stepped out of line you believe us rather than saying ‘My little Jimmy would never do/say that.’ Because little Jimmy did, believe me.

School is not 5 hours of listening to a teacher speaking at your child

This ones in response to parents complaining that we cannot provide round the clock live lessons. When students are at school they are not spoken at from the front for every moment of the lesson. Quite often we have to give them the opportunity to apply what they have learnt or at least what we have been talking to them about and they do that in silence through some independent work. It’s important that they get the same at home during lockdown.

Schools did not close during COVID and teachers have not had a holiday

The children of key workers were still coming in, teachers were changing all of their lessons to make them adequate for online provision. Navigating online assessment methods, cheering up tutees who miss school and their friends as well as trying to teach their own children.

Children have a great imagination

This is in response to twitter feedback. Apparently, they’re too busy playing video games? Having played a fair few they require a lot of imagination too! The problem is they can’t often articulate their imagination or think no one will care.

We cannot tell you 4 years before your child’s GCSE’s what they will get

Sorry, we’d love that kind of certainty, erm actually we wouldn’t, I’d hate to be judged on my actions and performance from four years ago wouldn’t you? Yeah think that through. I’ll happily talk to you about effort and participation. But I cannot guarantee a grade years in advance. Even in Year 10 I’ve seen so many turn things around, but it all comes down to participation and effort. So if you want to help ask your child what questions they asked during the day, when seated at the dinner table, not how they did in a test.

Teenagers are not stroppy and clueless

Honestly they are the funniest, most caring, sensitive and bright young people I’ve ever seen. Most of them are just trying to figure life out (aren’t we all!) Seriously, these kids are going to change the world and they’ll likely do a better job than the abysmal one we have. And ok sometimes they are stroppy and clueless but aren’t we all?!

Exams are easier than they used to be

Another confusing one, because this is often said by the same people who can’t help their kids with their primary school work. I’m not sure I could to be honest! I’ve seen the primary curriculum and I teach the kids when they start with us in year 7 and they are amazing! Having planned, replanned and replanned again GCSE and A Level curriculums over the years I can tell you they are getting tougher, the content more intense and the requirements for them to think outside the box and apply their own thinking greater.

What’s the point of all of this?

I’m not asking for sympathy, a pat on the back or a national monument erected in my honour (although that would be pretty cool) and I’m sure no other teacher is either. But a little bit of respect when we are spoken of would be really nice.

*Please note a lot of my references refer to secondary provision. My primary colleagues are often working with fewer resources which means longer hours and are absolute champs. However, I can only speak from my perspective.

Online teaching – here’s what I’ve learnt

Ok so none of us have trained in it but here we are, with a third lockdown, teaching from home for the second time.

The below are some thoughts on what I’ve learnt whilst teaching online in some of the areas that teachers tend to find most challenging, such as managing the chat! I’ve also included a link to a PP that I shared with all staff at our school should it be helpful for anyone leading CPD.

Before the lesson

The lobby – If you’re using Microsoft Teams or Zoom you can ensure students enter a lobby before they can enter the lesson. Switch this functionality on as it can be an easy way for you to do the register.

Permissions – depending on the system you use you can easily set the permissions so you are the only presenter so the only one with rights to mute/unmute, present etc.. to avoid kids pulling pranks on each other.

Recall – Make sure you have some recall questions which will help you deal with students who enter the online lesson at different times

Your slides – If using slides be explicit about which bits you want them to write down and when they should just be listening. You might do this through using a colour for text they must get down. I just tend to put ‘Write’ in the heading so they always know. Remember students don’t have the non verbal cues they are used to in a physical lesson so are less clear about what you want them to do.

At the start of the lesson

Set the ground rules – ‘You must only use the chat when I ask you a question and ask you to use it and/or when I say your name and ask you to input your answer.’ Students will want to socialise, this is normal and you build this in every now and again but you decide when.

Make behaviour expectations clear – ‘I’m expecting you all to be focused, I know this is new but we can do it’

Tell them what they need – ‘You should have a pen and paper to hand.’ Again those non verbal cues are not there so they can’t see others get their books and pens out so they may not have them to hand (you know the ones who are always the last ones to get their books out!)

What’s the journey? – Tell them where you expect to get to by the end of the leson – ‘Today we need to cover three key things…’ this then gives you a reference point throughout the lesson (‘right we’ve covered A and B you’re doing great now let’s look at C). This helps your lesson have a sense of pace.

Tell them you’re happy to see them! Even if it’s online. They may not see you for much of the lesson if you’re sharing slides so those non verbal cues that make them feel welcome are not there. So start the lesson telling them how happy you are to be able to virtually teach them (even if you’re not!;))

During the Lesson

Cold call – earlier this year we moved away from hands up to cold calling and are implementing this in our online lessons too. It ensures all students are listening and they can respond in the chat or by unmuting their mics.

Explicit instruction – are you being clear about what they should be doing during the lesson? Telling them when they should be listening and when they should be writing is critical.

Change things up – I tend to switch to video, showing my face when I want to explain something to them to break up the slides.

It’s ok to expect periods of silence – Is it just me that gets weirded out by the silence online? I know I’ve just asked them to write but it’s strange when I can’t see them do it.

Use the opportunity for live modelling – they can watch you type up sample answers and then discuss them.

At the end of the lesson

Summarise key learning points from the lesson so they can see how far they have come on the journey you identified at the start.

Run a true or false quiz – Just like the kids, we don’t have physical cues either. We can’t spot the kid with the confused face or glazed over eyes so build in some check points. (it can be something like 3 questions and asking them to put a T or F in the chat). This can help you check understanding.

Managing the chat

This is where most of my teachers get a bit flustered – kids making comments during lessons, nothing wrong but they can be distracting when you’re trying to present at the same time. Here’s some of the ways we are managing that:

  • Cold call – means only one child is responding at any one time
  • Polls – a clearer and quicker way of gauging understanding
  • True or false/Yes or No Qs – Requiring students to put a simple T/F/Y/N in the chat area
  • Being clear at the start of every lesson they are for work related comments only

Finally, go easy on yourself. You are modelling that learning can be challenging and that is ok. We won’t always get it right, but we strive to keep getting better and isn’t that all we want from our kids. So why are we hard on ourselves to get it perfect?

If you’d like, I’ve shared the slides I have gone through with staff in a staff briefing here. Please feel free to download and adapt.