Honest Teaching

A classroom needs to be an honest space.

A place where mistakes can be learnt from, feelings can be shared, and opinions can be nurtured.  

A few years ago, I wrote a blog about the importance of seeing teachers as human beings. Children act as mirrors to the adults around them. How can we expect them to be compassionate, diverse, forward-thinking, self-aware, emotionally literate individuals if we don’t model those traits in the first place? 

I once knew of a teacher who had a pink streak in her hair over the summer. Her Headteacher asked her to remove it before term started. One pink streak. In my opinion, there was nothing offensive or unprofessional about one pink streak. That teacher was showing her children that she knew her own style and was comfortable expressing herself. But instead her locks were banished to a colour deemed more acceptable by her boss.  She was straight-jacketed. Forced to conform to the traditional ideas of what is respectable, and therefore diluting the person she was.

This week, the media and many non-teachers have been outraged by Howden Junior School Headteacher Lee Hill, who decided to rejuvenate his school House names with a fresh, diverse batch of monikers, using the names of modern activists such as Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg. By changing the names used for Houses at his primary school, Mr Hill has found himself accused of ‘erasing history’ and the media have whipped up a storm. One person who was particularly upset about this was Piers Morgan, who took to the airwaves on GMB to express how much the new House names of this primary school had hurt him personally. Not satisfied with criticising Mr Hill’s skills as a leader and educator, the TV personality then went on to attack Mr Hill for his appearance, citing his sleeve of tattoos as unprofessional. Here is another example of expecting teachers to live up to this robotic ideal. People have tattoos. It is a fact we cannot shield children from. Many of the children in Mr Hill’s school will grow up to have tattoos regardless of Mr Hill’s personal choices. Having a tattoo does not make a teacher any less able to do their job and it does not impact their ability to treat others with kindness, empathy and care. Morgan believes that Mr Hill’s tattoos make him an unfit role model, but I would argue that his mere presence in an educational environment is teaching children not to be judgemental about appearances, and his commitment to his job and the way he treats others would be a much firmer basis on which to assess his suitability as a role model.   

By sharing honest aspects of ourselves, we are revealing that we can make human choices. We are teaching children to accept diversity and to not be judgemental of others. Is it really the end of the world if a child sees an adult with a tattoo? Or a piercing? Or a different hair colour? Does appearance matter more than that adult’s commitment to nurturing a compassionate and safe learning environment?  

I’m a firm believer in an honest classroom, and that doesn’t just relate to appearances. It is important that we are honest about our emotions and experiences too.  

I often refer to my time in secondary school, when I was hopeless at maths (or so I thought). Maths wasn’t my thing at all, but that was only because I thought I wasn’t very good at it. As I grew older, I ended up re-sitting a maths exam at 23 where I got a B grade. When a child tells me they ‘can’t do maths’ I always answer with ‘yet’, and then sometimes I’ll tell them my story. It is important for children to see that they won’t have all the answers yet (and in some areas of life they never will!) but perseverance is key to learning. If I was to pretend that I’d always found maths engaging and I’d sailed through my maths GCSE, what benefit would that be to the children? 

On days where I’m feeling particularly sad about something, I might share that with my class. If I’m finding things tough or feeling drained, I’ll share that, just as I would if I was feeling enthusiastic and motivated. It is important for children to see a 3D image of us and to know that experiencing negative emotions is OK. They see me feeling sad, but they also see me feeling happy, so if I’m in a particularly low mood they know that it won’t last, and they can then relate that to their own experiences and feelings. By projecting this white-washed, streamlined, 2D model of ourselves we are promoting the impossible, and that is something that neither benefits the children or our own mental health.  

So for those clutching their pearls over a teacher with tattoos, or a TA with a nose piercing, or a headteacher with one pink streak, consider the reasons why that person is in that job. Consider the value of an honest classroom and a generation of children who are accepting of others. And consider not judging by appearances.

Online learning: The Positives!

I’ve been undercover.  

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me an article from a tabloid newspaper. It was a lacklustre ‘investigation’ into the quality of online learning, judging the nation’s approach solely on a comment by one individual loosely linked to education. It implied that children across the country were being ‘let down’ by lazy teachers and ‘militant’ unions. The comments section was a cascade of accusations, admonishing teachers for ‘adding to their holidays’ and ‘refusing to work’. Anyone who has any real connection to the world of education knows this is all untrue, but I couldn’t help becoming rattled by these comments. Not just for myself, but for my colleagues. I decided to go undercover and, taking a deep breath, dove headfirst into the pit of anti-teacher rage within the comments section of this newspaper, with the aim of spreading some sort of positivity and awareness of exactly what teachers were going through.  

As I scrolled through the barrage of hatred and spelling errors, I made a promise to myself that I could only respond positively. As tempting as it was to unleash a few barbed insults back, that would have got us nowhere and I would just been adding to the troll cycle.  

The first thing I did was make sure I thanked every teacher who was posting in the forum for their hard work and commitment. This seemed to upset a lot of trolls. Bless.  

The main consensus was that teachers were ‘letting down’ their children by not being present in the classroom and online learning was not a patch on in- person education. Now, obviously classroom-based teaching is the much-preferred method (by everyone, including, would you believe, teachers!) and the current situation is far from ideal. However, we are in the middle of a global pandemic. The idea that teachers across the country have sat at home and rubbed their hands together, stress-free for the last twelve months is one that, frankly, I will not tolerate.  

Here’s why: 

1) In March 2020, teachers and education staff in Wales were given 2 days notice to completely re-purpose their buildings and adapt their teaching to a method that had barely existed before. And they did it.  

2) Contrary to popular belief, teachers and education staff are human, which means they have the same anxieties, pressures, family concerns and health risks as anyone else. Like the rest of the World, they were trying to navigate this bonkers new parallel universe of banana bread, Netflix and potentially life-threatening, government sanctioned handshakes. And they did it.  

3) Teachers want to teach! Whether it is from home or from the classroom, teachers have still been teaching. They didn’t go into teaching for the money, the holidays or the glue stick supply. They went into it because they wanted to educate, make a difference, support and encourage children to flourish. And they did it.  

Something that has emerged from this pandemic is constant comparison of professions and their challenges. In the Hell Forum, each time a teacher defended their anxiety about going back to a crowded room full of people (again, *during a global pandemic*), there were ten people wailing ‘but what about the supermarket workers?!’, ‘someone think of the lorry drivers!’. Nobody is dismissing the challenges of any other profession by sharing their personal anxieties. Covid-19 has not made anyone’s job any easier and each profession and sector is facing different challenges and hardships. Comparing those professions and the risks involved is pointless.  

And then there’s the debate about who ‘deserves’ a vaccine. Many argued that teachers hadn’t done enough to earn a vaccine. That’s right. They haven’t earned a vaccination against a potentially fatal virus. I don’t even have the energy to unpick that at the moment!  

In my opinion, a huge contribution to this ill-feeling towards teachers is the rhetoric spun by the media. Schools are always referred to as ‘closed’, when we know this is not the case. I don’t know of any schools that have been closed. The way in which schools deliver their learning has changed from the traditional method, but they are not, and never have been, closed. By telling the nation that schools will ‘remain closed’, the media and the government are discounting the hard work and dedication that has gone in to maintaining education and pupil wellbeing throughout the country.  

In first week of the spring term, after the confusion and uncertainty had settled and we had launched full throttle into online learning, my overwhelming feeling was of relief. Relief that, at home, away from the restrictions of the fluffy covid guidance, the pressure of keeping 30 children distanced and learning, and the necessary but time consuming hand washing rituals, I was actually able to focus on my teaching.  We delivered our teaching through a mix of live sessions and pre-recorded lessons. I really felt I was able to channel my energy and focus into the content and quality of those lessons, as the red tape and distractions of a ‘covid safe’ classroom were taken away. Everyone was in a safe learning environment. Let’s go!  

I know this won’t be the case for every child and educator in the country, but from my personal experience and from those I am in contact with, the response to online learning has been largely positive, and I think it is really important that we recognise the success stories.  

The media have focused intently on the disadvantages of the situation. We need to recognise the commitment schools, parents and the children themselves, have made to continuing education in turbulent times.  Yes, there will be children missing out and something must be done to correct that, but there are also children who are thriving in this situation, who are benefitting from 1:1 support they wouldn’t qualify for in school. I’ve seen children who, removed from the classroom and the battle for my attention, have flourished. I’ve seen children who would have been nervous talking in front of the class, delivering passionately delivered presentations. Children who have had the time to focus on their handwriting, which has gone from scribbles to gorgeously cursive in just a few weeks. From the other end of my laptop, I’m able to give focused, un-interrupted feedback to each individual child in my class, and whilst we would all prefer to be back in the classroom, we have to make the most of the situation we are in. With pre-recorded lessons, they can access their learning at their own (and their parents) convenience, and re-visit instructions if they need to. I put just as much effort into planning my recorded lessons as I do with my in-person lessons, and I am on-hand for feedback and support as I would be in school. The only real difference is that we are not sharing a learning space.   

When schools are able to return to in-person teaching, teachers will be putting all of their energies into ensuring children receive the emotional support and the education they deserve. That is what they have always done because that is their job. It will be their job to identify any areas children need a boost in and to provide the support they need. I can guarantee there are already teachers across the country planning for that moment. We don’t need great gestures of intervention and calls for summer holiday catch up from the public. (What we really need is funding, but that’s another s-Tory).  

I no longer look at the hate forum. It’s a cold case, as far as I am concerned, and I’m giving up undercover work to head back to the day job. I realised that it really didn’t matter what those people thought. How on earth can someone who hasn’t been in a classroom for many years themselves tell me how to do the job I have been doing for the last six years? The only opinions that really, truly matter are those of the children in my class. They’re happy, I’m SO proud of them, and I will continue to support them and hold their best interests at heart. As always.