Bitesize Research: Keeping A Diary & Teacher Wellbeing

By Jaya Carrier

I hope you’re all having a good final week and wishing you all a lovely summer break when it comes around! For the final bitesize research of the academic year, I was interested to see some research on teacher wellbeing and how keeping a diary can support this.

Objectives: To understand how keeping a diary might support teacher wellbeing.

Summary: 

• The researchers acknowledged that lots of systemic changes would be necessary to overhaul teacher wellbeing.

• However, in their project, the researchers worked with 450 teachers. These teachers were asked to keep a daily diary for either three, six or twelve months. 

• The diary toolkit used was not just a writing tool - it incorporated scrapbooking and audio recordings too if the participants wanted to.

• 70% of participants reported that the diary keeping made their wellbeing improve

• The researchers conclude that keeping a diary helps teachers to navigate their professional and personal lives, and supports them to keep things in perspective.

• The research suggests the following practices of diary keeping that can support with teacher wellbeing:

• 1) Define your wellbeing - write out, in your own words, what wellbeing means to you. 

• 2) Write or draw a wellbeing recipe - create a visual reminder of things that you want to do to prioritise your wellbeing

• 3) Understand what rest means to you - the authors suggest drawing a rainbow, whereby each colour represents a different activity to support you to rest. 

How does this impact me and my practice?: Some reflections arising from this that might be helpful to consider are: 

• What is important for my wellbeing?

• What does rest mean to me? How does the summer break support with this?

• Is diary keeping or other reflective practices something I want to try in the new academic year?

• What support do I need for this? 

Please do get in touch if you would like to talk further about this - I’d love to hear from you!

Thoughts From A Visitor: Centre For Tutorial Teaching

By Tessa Palfreyman, Director of Teaching and Learning at CTT https://www.centrefortutorialteaching.org/ 

We are a global centre for tutorial teaching based in Oxford, UK. We are a community of professors, researchers, experienced teachers, executive leaders and instructional designers, each of whom have experienced the Tutorial Method at some point in our careers. Some of us have been delivering tutorials at the University of Oxford for decades, while some of us have implemented tutorial learning in our local primary school classrooms. We have staff who were taught by the Tutorial Method at the University of Oxford, and others who are veteran instructional designers who have long wanted to embed the method in their work. We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit Westminster Academy in January 2023 and gained some valuable insights into the International Baccalaureate (IB), how it can work in a non-fee-paying school sixth form and the impact it has on students. There are a number of parallels between the IB and the Tutorial Method and this was evident when visiting the school. 

What did we do during our visit?

During our visit we met with Holly Youlden, Assistant Vice Principal for Teaching and Learning, and Dr Paul Wood, Principal and CEO of Westminster Academy. Holly and Paul talked us through the Diploma and Career-related IB programmes that are on offer to their sixth form students. We discussed the importance of students leaving school being fully prepared and equipped for further education and employment and what schools can do to ensure this. Dialogue-based learning and metacognition were two key pieces that we agreed were fundamental for students and the Tutorial Method and IB offer students. During our morning at the school, we were also able to observe some Year 12 and Year 13 students in their IB lessons in both Maths and Anthropology, this gave us the chance to see the two programmes in practice and the way in which teachers facilitate learning. In the Maths class, we were able to speak with three students and ask questions about their experiences of the IB and the way in which they are taught at the school. This was certainly the highlight of our visit and gave us insights and learnings we could take back to our work at CTT. 

What did we learn from our visit? 

We took a huge amount of learning away from our visit to Westminster Academy and are incredibly grateful to have met Holly and Paul and their articulate and interesting sixth form students. Hearing the positive impact that the IB has on students from both senior leaders and the students themselves consolidated what the data shows, but more importantly the crucial life-long skills that are developed through this way of teaching. As dialogue-based learning, independent work, study skills, relevance and intent are some of the key aspects of the IB programmes we, as experts in the Tutorial Method, were able to see how aligned the IB and the Tutorial Method are and how the method can be utilized by teachers on IB programmes to further enhance their teaching and offerings to students. We were encouraged to see how a programme typically only available in fee-paying schools is working so well in a state school, demonstrating the potential that other programmes and schools can have without being confined to traditions that may no longer work for students in the 21st century. We are excited to learn even more about the IB and the ways in which the Tutorial Method can be used within and alongside IB programmes.

Thoughts From A Visiting Teacher: University of Leiden

By Luca, Britt, Doris, Lola and Myrthe

We are students from the Netherlands in our second-last year to become teachers at the University of Applied Sciences Leiden. Last November 15^th we visited Westminster Academy to experience the differences and similarities between the British and the Dutch school systems. We were excited and learned a lot. We had a great time because of all the nice people we met. 
 
The first thing we noticed are the school uniforms. In the Netherlands it’s normal to wear casual clothing to school. Teachers are required to dress presentable, but whether you do that wearing a dress, a skirt or jeans doesn’t matter. Children are allowed to choose how to dress. To us it was a new experience to see all the students wearing uniforms and for all the teachers to be in business dress.
 
Another concept we are not familiar with, is the houses. Houses and house points are things we only recognise from the Harry Potter books. To see it in real life was a special experience for us. Something we noticed about Westminster Academy is the self-made lessons that are taught. In the Netherlands it’s normal for a school to have pre-made lesson plans. Teachers don’t usually make their own lessons. In the Netherlands they are trying to encourage teachers to find a balance in making lessons and using the pre-made lesson plans. The teachers at Westminster Academy showed us the joy of teaching self-made lessons and that the children can really benefit from it. 
 
After we had seen a few lessons, we also noticed that all the children are taught on the same level (i.e. mixed ability classes). In the Netherlands, especially in secondary school, there are different levels for children to learn at (i.e. students are streamed in all subjects in Secondary education). The level impacts the amount of lessons you have, the amount of years you spend at the school and the difficulty of the teaching material. This is a big difference to what we are used to in secondary school and is more similar to the Dutch primary schools. 
 
And maybe the biggest surprise to us, might be a silly one. We were really surprised to see that the children can get a warm lunch at the school. There were even different things to choose from. The lunches in the Netherlands are simple, cold and you bring them from home. The most common one is a slice of bread with some butter and cheese on it. It really felt like a special meal to us.  
 
We thank all the people for the great care we received at Westminster Academy. We had a great time! 

CPD Reflections: MA In Educational Leadership

By Divisha Patel

In 2020, I decided to embark on a Master’s in Educational Leadership at UCL-IOE. Initially, I was worried about how I might manage the workload of both my role here in WA as a Director of Learning, and the various readings and assignments I would be required to engage with in order to be successful in my MA. However, along the two years, I have found this learning to have had a hugely positive impact on my work here at WA and how I lead the Humanities team. 

Module 1: Leading Change and Improvement

This module involved learning about policy change through education in line with the changes in political leadership; different styles of leadership that exist in education and their various interpretations, strengths and weaknesses; and approaches of change management. The learning around leadership styles were particularly pertinent for me as I embarked on the new role of DOL for both Humanities and Enterprise. I really wanted to create a new identity and vision for this new amalgamated team, so that each subject and teacher felt a sense of belonging to the new ‘Humanities’ whilst also remaining true to their passion and pedagogy for their subject areas. I’ve always felt that a team operates best when it is truly collaborative and a sum of its well-functioning parts. Therefore, it was important for me to create and maintain the most effective form of dialogue between myself and the subject coordinators, rooted in professional trust and critical reflection. This approach is often referred to as ‘participative leadership’/’democratic leadership’/’distributed leadership’, where inclusive discussions are at the core. Completing the coaching course provided by the school for middle leaders was a great way to put this into practice and is still an ongoing area for development. Whilst not every decision can be approached in this way, it is what I fundamentally value and where possible, I’ve tried to put it into action. This, then, feeds into effective change management. This was imperative when we were tasked with writing a new KS3 curriculum for Y9 and/or adapting the KS4 curriculum for a 2-year delivery. 

Module 2: Leading for the Learning Community

This module covered the issues and concepts related to effective learning for individuals and organisations. Sub-topics included learning about HR management issues; the role of coaching and mentoring and workload/wellbeing management. The biggest takeaway from this module was the importance of approaching professional learning with a ‘little and often’ approach, which is in line with Jaya and the Academic SLT's vision for WA’s CPD provision too. It was this learning that informed my leadership approach for how best to plant seeds of professional learning within the Humanities department. Something that I’ve implemented at WA that I’m most proud of is the peer-led T&L showcase segment of our Humanities department meetings. 

At the beginning of the term, I allocate slots to each staff member, ensuring that everyone delivers an equal number of sessions for the academic year. Each Humanities member is given the autonomy to do the showcase on anything they would like, such as: 

• A form of AfL/questioning

• A piece of work

• An online resource

• A teaching strategy

• Academic reading/research

  
  

During the T&L showcase, the teacher tells us a little bit about why they have chosen the topic; the reasoning behind the focus and how they implemented/plan to implement the focus in the classroom. As a team, we then discuss how we could be flexible with the focus and its use for specific key groups such as SEND, EAL or different attainer groups. I love watching all staff deliver their showcase, but particularly ECTs, because they always present with passion, genuine interest and an eagerness to be better practitioners. The discussions that follow act as windows into peoples’ teacher personas and whilst not the intention, learn more about who they are as people and their values, and in a profession as emotive as teaching, this is important for building a strong, successful team. Further information about how Humanities is trying to be a research-informed department can be found here.

Module 3: Research Methods in Educational Research

Admittedly my least enjoyable module, this was about learning how to use principles of research design to create and test research questions and select appropriate methods to conduct a robust project. Discussions of epistemology and ontology have never been my strength, but ultimately, I found this module incredibly useful in considering how best to understand a concept/problem, which could then be used as an enquiry for both my own teacher/leader development, and organisational development if scaled up. My assignment was to write a research proposal, which allowed me to prepare for my final report. As someone who is interested in the academic ‘side’ of teaching, I wanted to explore the concept of teacher agency (causing/generating action) within curriculum development and investigating to what extent curriculum leaders have/enact/exercise agency when writing unit plans, lessons and assessments. 

Final Report: The work that I had engaged with for two years culminated in writing up my final research project which was about the role of teacher agency in curriculum development. Teacher agency is about teachers having the ability to act and be change agents, and given that teachers are an increasingly important part of curriculum  design, if not the most important part, then understanding their perceptions of exercising teacher agency and the different influences that can possibly have an effect is imperative for school leaders. The findings showed that curriculum leaders felt like they did have agency in planning their curricula, however accountability measures and performativity stifled this, especially during pinch-points of the school year. For example, many participants said that they felt constrained by external pressures such as government policy, Ofsted, and school performance tables. Whilst these pressures cannot be controlled by a school, the study allowed for some insights into what schools can do to further enable agency, such as providing greater opportunities for collaboration and an increased sense of dialogue amongst staff, which WA has, and is taking steps to address. Opportunities like the PLC meetings, CPD Twilights and departmental QA process, allows curriculum leaders to develop their curricular in line with the school’s vision; latest subject pedagogy; and in an empowered way, by promoting collaborative conversations between teachers, middle and senior leaders. 

Whilst completing a MA has been great in allowing me to learn more about leadership in education, there are plenty of other opportunities to support peoples’ development as effective leaders, and the following websites/organisations/methods have been effective for me so far and I will continue to learn from:

1. TeacherTapp app: this is a free app which asks 3 questions about school life to build a picture of what’s happening in schools, followed by a recommended daily read which acts as a form of quick, ongoing, on-the-move CPD. 

2. ‘Edutwitter’

3. Membership to subject associations 

4. Local networking meetings, which are often passed on by the Academic SLT team for curriculum leaders and subject teachers to attend

   
   

There were various people who helped me along this journey that I am eternally grateful for, namely the participants who took part in my final study; Jaya, for her nurturing line management during this stressful time; Holly, for her sound advice about how best to approach agency within curriculum development; and Ruhina, Bec and Ellie, for their constant encouragement-the best hype women anyone could ask for! 

Further reading: 

National College for Teaching and Leadership (2010) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-strong-claims-about-successful-school-leadership 

Mujis et al (2014), State of the art – teacher effectiveness and professional learning

Briggs et al (2015), Research Methods in Educational Leadership and Management

Fullan (2015), A New Meaning for Educational Change

CPD Reflections: Being An Examiner

By Donna Boam, Sophia Evans, Sid Garg, Mira Jugoo, David Madden, Dipesh Patel & Divisha Patel

1. What is involved? Donna: As an examiner, you get given a number of questions to mark from a particular exam. I mark for Edexcel GCSE English Language Paper 2 and also the IB English Language and Literature orals. Before commencing marking, you attend some remote training and then have to complete qualification, which is when a more experienced examiner checks over your marks. You then commence marking, and some of your scripts are "seeds" and others are checked by a more experienced examiner, meaning that your marking is often being double marked to ensure you are accurate. You are given direct feedback about where you need to adjust your marks. It is a hefty additional workload that can be quite daunting, and you do have to be very organised. The exam boards set incremental marking targets so that you don't leave it all to the last minute, which I would advise anyone to stick to. Also, remember that the marking takes place during the glorious summer months; this past weekend when I wanted to be out enjoying the sunshine I was inside my flat marking! 2. What have you learned from being an examiner? Dipesh: It has radically changed my thinking in terms of how to apply mark schemes as well as how they are constructed. Generally speaking, it has improved my knowledge across the board (mathematical, written, practical questions) but a few main ideas that stand out are the level of detail required to 'show understanding' and 'how to answer the question'. It has shown me how students who clearly have a detailed understanding of a concept, still lose marks due to their own idea of how to respond. The success is in the detail. Sophia: How important presentation of work is. Some students have worked out that it is all over the page and is quite tricky to read. Sitting in the examiner’s chair has made me understand what it is like to read and mark their work (and when this can be tricky). Additionally, the importance of language when answering questions. The mark scheme underlines keywords that need to be in specific answers (such as “angles subtended by the same arc are equal). Many students miss out on marks because they have written their answers without these words, despite us understanding what they’re trying to say. Divisha: I've learnt that it is a disservice to heavily emphasize the use of writing frames and sentence starters with students, because whilst those answers score well, it's not enough to get a 9, so if your teaching is too focused on this approach, it limits the higher ability students. In Geography, I've also learnt that students often miss map/graph skills because they get used to looking for longer answers. Similarly to this, students get hung up on the number of lines provided by the exam board so deliberately limit their answers but should be encouraged to use extra paper if needed. David: The biggest takeaway I’ve learned is that pupils are generally not good at providing answers where they need to write an explanation or describe what has happened. For example, a question required pupils to draw a box plot for a set of data (online sales) and then compare the data results with a box plot included in the question (in shop sales). Many pupils had difficulty in explaining a comparison, especially in terms of the context of the question. I would also concur with Sophia’s comments - it was often difficult to follow a pupil's train of thought as working out was often completed in random spaces on the question sheet. Nana: I have understood how students use methods with limited understanding of the process. E.g. finding the median of a grouped data. A lot of students attempted methods but were unable to complete it adequately showing significant gaps in understanding. 2. How have you/do you intend to use your learning within your lessons/teaching in the future? Sophia: Stressing the importance of laying out work for younger year groups. I think it’s easy for students to slip into bad habits when writing out they are working (being all over the place and hard to read). I also think focusing on literacy (which I know is a school-wide focus) by being strict when marking these types of questions and getting students to use this language orally in class more. Divisha: Since I've become an exam marker, I understand how to cut the 'fluff' from answers so that students' answers become more concise, so when they produce work, I cross out their work (with a pencil!) which is not relevant. In the future, I want to start incorporating this approach into peer assessment, so that students learn by doing. Nana: As a teacher, I will be making a mark scheme template for my students to use for peer marking so that they have an overview of how GCSE marking is done. This is to highlight the importance of completing a process in order to receive the necessary marks. In addition, I hope to build students' understanding of mathematics by hammering and iterating the reasons and importance of certain methods and using AFL to secure such understanding where students are able to complete a method and explain the logic behind it.

Dipesh: I will disseminate what I have learned to my department. Our shared improved knowledge will then be systematically applied to the lessons we teach. This will especially affect the way we question students during practicals, in terms of how to improve practicals as well as in terms of accuracy and precision.

3. What are your top tips for staff trying to apply exam board mark schemes in their own classes? Dipesh: When teaching, highlight the way the mark scheme works to help students to identify what is essential for a concept (e.g. {these brackets mean either /or must be said} - so that they then would highlight that section in their notes. Divisha: For levelled/banded questions, consider what the triggers are for each level/band. For example, do they need to use a case study to move into the next band? Do they need to compare/contrast? Incorporating these skills into lessons will develop the students' critical thinking skills, whilst also developing their flair for writing. Sophia: Be strict and vigilant with the mark scheme. Process marks don’t let you carry over numbers if they are worked out from using the wrong process. It is easy for us to mark papers more generously because we know what the students are trying to say, even if it’s not exactly correct. Examiners in maths don’t seem to care much about rounding (but I think this is good to not tell students!). Nana: As previously mentioned by my colleagues above it is important to understand and follow the mark scheme rigorously. This eliminates discrepancies in marking and gives students a better idea of their performance. It is important to clarify the mark scheme and make time for making so that marking is being done accurately and consistently. It is easy to be empathetic during marking in order to boost students’ confidence but this does not prepare students for the GCSE expectations. CASE STUDY: Mira Jugoo My summer 2022 exam series started last Christmas when I received an email from Pearson asking if I’d like to be an examiner again this year. Being offered contracts so far in advance (including all the key dates) makes it easier to plan ahead and balance school work with exam marking and personal commitments. A few weeks before the exam I was contacted by the BTEC Business Level 3 Team with details of the marking software (Epen), information about online training resources that are available for examiners and a project plan for that particular exam paper. Epen Software used by Pearson for onscreen marking All of the dates were laid out clearly so, again, I knew exactly when the important deadlines were. Approximately a week prior to the exam, I was contacted by my Team Leader who checked in on a more personal and supportive level to ensure that I was prepared and had everything I needed for the standardisation training day. Standardisation ran very smoothly and the Principal Examiner was very clear and on hand to solve any issues; the use of live text chat meant that it was easy to ask Team Leaders a question, and it was nice to hear a variety of voices when going through the different questions. What I particularly like is the time taken to discuss reasons why a mark is awarded and to what extent an Assessment Objective has been met. It also allowed me to work out if I was being too harsh or too generous. It was made clear that we are looking to find what we can reward and to adopt an approach of positive marking. Once the marking was underway, my Team Leader was my main source of support, offering encouragement, guidance on queries and useful reminders of marking progress. So much importance is placed on the quality of marking and all examiners need to submit a first sample of marking to be checked by their Team Leader before they are allowed to begin marking live scripts. Marking live scripts on Epen From then on, the main marking began and I was regularly monitored on the accuracy of my marking which is quality assured every few days. The performance peek feature was particularly helpful in being aware of how accurate my marking was.

Performance Peek Dashboard on Epen Even the little details like the visual graphic of the marking progress line was so helpful in monitoring my progress – there was a real sense of achievement in seeing the blue line pass each of the marking milestones. Being an examiner whilst teaching leads me to reflect as to how much it’s done for my own professional development which I can eventually share with my colleagues in the Enterprise department. Additionally, it is the most effective CPD I have been able to benefit from to improve my teaching practice.

Tracking progress and marking milestones on Epen I have a more in-depth knowledge of the assessments and I get to see how different students across the country have been taught to tackle exam questions. Altogether this experience has enhanced my teaching and developed my skills whilst also opening my career path to more senior opportunities in assessment design and delivery. This has been my tenth year as an examiner and it is always a pleasure working with such a well-organised and efficient team at Pearson. After working so hard during an intense period, I’m now looking forward to a well-earned summer break in Mauritius and using my hard-earned marking bonus which can be between £500 - £1000 depending on the type and volume of paper which is being marked.

Bitesize Research: Summer Holidays & Teacher Reflection

By Jaya Carrier

We’ve made it to the final week - huge congratulations to everyone, you’ve done brilliantly! In this final bitesize of the academic year, I was interested in this article about using the final days before the summer holiday for reflection on teacher practice. Objectives:

To consider how the summer holidays can be used as part of ongoing teacher reflections Summary:

• The author argues that taking a moment to reflect and pause ahead of the summer holiday is really vital in ongoing teacher reflective practices.
• She recommends the following steps to do this:

1. Review materials and resources - the author recommends using coaching-style questions to consider what worked well and what you might want to change for next year.
2. Write down reflections and notes somewhere you’ll remember - the author recommends that actually writing down your reflections makes them more powerful.
3. Share your reflections with a colleague - the author recommends sharing your reflections to ensure that collective efficacy and solidarity can be built strongly.
4. Celebrate yourself - you’ve made it to the end of the year, and you should feel extremely proud!

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflections arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• How can I build in some opportunities for reflection over the last few days of term?
• Who might be helpful to share your reflections with?
• How will you celebrate yourself?

If you would like to discuss this further with me please get in touch! I’d be delighted to hear from you!

Thoughts From A Trainee: My First Year At WA

 By Sally Ingram

This time last year was my final week of being a management consultant. I remember hosting a leaving party where my colleagues were describing my new job as ‘brave’ and a ‘big change’. I was so excited to leave the corporate world and start teaching that I hadn’t taken the time to process how much of a change school life was going to be. All I had heard from others was that teaching is a real rollercoaster but again I naively didn’t think too much into that as I was too excited to get started. I had no idea what to expect when I stood in front of my first class in September. All I knew is that I had a lot to learn. One thing I learned very quickly is that I should never tell a class that they are behaving like animals as all that will happen is they will all take on a different animal and proceed to make animal noises instead of speaking for the duration of the lesson. Another lesson was the importance of giving clear instructions when working with mini-whiteboards because if not I needed to be ready for all sorts of images and diagrams. It is definitely true that teaching is a rollercoaster full of ups and downs but I don’t think I was prepared for the extent of these ups and downs and how they are never steady. There have been times when I was riding from the success of a behaviour management strategy I had implemented to then have something out of my control come along and change the dynamics completely. At first I found these sudden changes would catch me by surprise and I was lacking confidence in my ability to adapt to them- I think it is hard to separate the idea that a bad lesson is not solely down to my teaching and that sometimes there are things that are out of my control. Reflecting afterwards helped me determine what was and was not within my power to influence and think of the best ways to respond. I have found myself caring more about each lesson and each pupil. I am still learning when I need to detach and put things in perspective, to avoid taking something too personally or feeling overwhelmed. I used to think I was quite resilient but now looking back I realise how wrong I was- you have to be a whole other level of resilience in teaching. I have noticed that teachers also have this incredible ability to go from a really tough hour of teaching where you can feel quite drained, to quickly resetting your energy levels and welcoming in a brand new class ready to go for another lesson. I also don’t think anything can prepare you for the brutally honest comments that kids share with you; there is nothing more cutting than 14-year-old asking if you are ill today because you look it! Despite these honest comments from the pupils, this is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Without sounding too cringey, it is so nice to have a job where each day you feel and can often see the purpose and value that you are adding. My old job had a very different purpose to help clients achieve their project goals but there is something so much more satisfying about helping children, even if it is teaching them they look smarter when they tuck their shirt in. The biggest reflection I have of my first year at WA is how grateful I am to have been placed here! I have really appreciated the support of the wider WA community, whether that is sharing specific pupil behaviour strategies, helping me to use the printer, or even PGCE assignment advice, it has all been really appreciated so thank you. A huge thank you to the science team for welcoming me in and being so patient helping me with my many questions and for making sure my practical skills are up to scratch. I have been lucky enough to co-tutor two brilliant but very different tutor groups this year, 11X5 and 11Z1, alongside Alice and Jenny. Thank you both for teaching me about all the different aspects that come with being a tutor. My final thank you has to go to my amazing mentor Dipesh. Thank you for all the advice, support and constant encouragement you have given me; I really couldn’t have gotten through week 1 let alone this year without it. Bring on next year!

CPD Reflections: Learning From Other Schools

By Georgina Abbott

Sometimes it can be easy to become bogged down in the same routine, same style, same strategies. That is why when I was looking to moderate our GCSE Drama coursework with another school, I leapt at the opportunity to also partake in a visit to their Drama department for the day. Though my primary focus was the moderation of the coursework, I feel the inclusion of lesson visits and discussions with the HoD came at just the right time! With the news of a reformed timetable and adaptations to the curriculum, particularly affecting Year 9, and an aspiration to expand my subject, Drama, into IB territory, I was fortunate enough to see both Year 9 and Year 12 lessons on my visit. Hopefully, as you read on you will be convinced of the benefits of visiting another school too, no matter your level of experience! Beginning the day my first lesson visit was to a Year 12 double period where the A-Level group were studying their set text Woyzech. The class was being assessed on presentations of their vision and intentions if they were to put on their own production of Woyzech. They were responsible for creating slides to explain their vision and picking key moments from the text to act out demonstrating their intentions. The teachers role-played as rich investors (I became a Baroness, without the money) while the students pitched their ideas. As I watched the students, with the motivation of a winning pitch up for grabs, I was considering how I could scale down this task for a Year 10/11 revision activity to adapt into my own practice; How could I stray away from the shackles of practice questions and revision quizzes? How could I create more autonomy and life transferable skills? After this, I was then able to see a double Year 9 assessment lesson. I watched as students rehearsed their scripted performances and saw some very impressive acting! Students were given 2 double lessons prior to learn their lines and the majority had - which is something I have found can be quite challenging for my own students. This made me reflect on the expectations I have with regard to the skill of line-learning; how long is fair? How can I motivate students to take it seriously? What should I expect from my Year 9s and does this need to be adjusted, given this will soon apply to an entire year group?

After the lesson visits, we went on to do the standard moderation process which as stated previously was the primary focus and most helpful. However, the thing that surprised me about this day was the value of visiting lessons and the conversations I had with the HoD. As a single subject lead, I can often become stuck in my own ways yet my visit stimulated a whole host of questions. Though I yet have answers it has given me thought, inspiration, and ideas that I'm using as I begin to plan the curriculum for the next academic year. So if you are reading this and feel like you are stuck in a rut with your teaching or feel like you haven’t been able to experience the wider world of the profession, get yourself into another school, see what’s happening there and take, alter and adjust to your own practice. As I say to the students when discussing performance ideas - sharing is caring!

Reflections On Education, Labelling & Disadvantage

By Nazik Ahmed

Imagine you are presented with the following student profile:

• A refugee
• Arrived in England speaking no English
• Grew up in council housing
• Homeless at a key exam stage
• Parental illness coinciding with period of homelessness

What would be the labels that you immediately attach to this child, before meeting them? What are the factors that influence the labels you assign this child? Why is this the case? As you read this blog post, I urge you to keep these questions at the back of your mind and reflect on your answers and their impact on this child. As people, we all judge: even those of us that think we are open-minded individuals. As we go about our day-to-day working (and perhaps private) lives, we label privately in our minds; the naughty student, the smart student, the kind student. On the surface, this may not seem that bad, however sociological and educational research has found that assigning labels and pigeonholing can have detrimental effects on young people. The labelling theory Howard Becker (1963) began exploring the way in which teachers assign powerful labels to their students, stating that deviance is not about the quality of the act committed by an individual but rather “a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an ‘offender’. Deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label.” In other words, Becker meant that what makes something deviant is not what is done, but how people react to what is done and the label assigned to them (Becker, 1971). During his research, Becker concluded that people react differently to the same action depending on the social context and that this influences the label that is placed on the act. Becker argues that labelling is a powerful process in education, occurring when behaviour is given a particular meaning, positive or negative (e.g. high achiever, slow learner). Typically, this results in working-class and students of BAME (a problematic catch-all label) backgrounds being assumed to be less well behaved and less bright. Middle and upper-class students, on the other hand, are labelled positively as ‘ideal students.’ In 1968, Rosenthal and Jacobson carried out a field experiment in a school looking into the impact of the labelling process in education. As part of their research, teachers were (falsely) told that 20% of their students were “spurters” and likely to do well academically. Interestingly, the students labelled as “spurters” did, in fact, go on to do much better, demonstrating that teacher expectations influence student performance both positively and negatively. School factors & labelling Teachers attaching meaning to behaviours and subsequently treating certain students positively or negatively, is a powerful process in students’ school experiences, leading to positive or negative self-fulfilling prophecies. Within schools, and broadly speaking, in society, the labelling of groups differs; while some groups are labelled positively, such as Chinese and white middle-class students, others are not, such as Afro-Caribbean boys, who are perceived as a threat, angry or ‘macho’ (Sewell, 1998). These labels can often result from implicit biases and racial stereotypes which shape teachers’ responses to student behaviours, labels assigned and sanctions issued. Furthermore, the lack of ethnic minority teachers and leaders, as well as institutional racism within schools, are often contributing factors to over disciplining and negative labelling of ethnic minority students, in comparison to their white middle-class counterparts. Unfortunately, the ethnocentric nature of the British curriculum (whether subtle or obvious) does little to explore cultures or figures familiar to diverse student bodies or to recognise the important contributions of ethnic groups to British culture and life. The failure of our education system to recognise such contributions and an overemphasis in the media on the ‘deviant’ actions of ethnic minorities results in ethnic minority students experiencing higher levels of isolation and segregation within than outside of school (Lupton, 2005). Having said that, labelling or grouping students is sometimes necessary, as it may help teachers to accommodate student needs (e.g. EAL or SEN). In addition, a study by Fuller found that African-American girls rejected their labels and went on to be extremely successful, despite labels that had been attributed to them, thus showing a significant level of resistance to labelling. Generally speaking, however, negative labelling of ethnic groups has shown to have a negative impact on their attainment levels. ‘Poverty of aspirations’ Diane Reay, a professor at Cambridge University wrote a research paper in 2010, concluding that working-class students underperform due to ‘poverty of aspirations’ among politicians. In recent years, we have seen the impact of austerity measures on different communities, including funding cuts to services such as youth clubs and local libraries resulting in the closure of vital local hubs. Unfortunately, current educational policies and measures do little to improve working-class students' experiences and performance in education. Dr Treanor at the University of Stirling (2018) argues that policymakers need to promote policies which open up knowledge of the operation of school processes and procedures to families from all socioeconomic backgrounds and increase access to opportunities. Concluding thoughts Remember that student at the start of this blog? That student was me. I worked against all labels assigned to me, and have achieved many academic and professional successes in spite of them. However, it shouldn’t fall on me, students at our Academy like me or students such as those in Fuller's study to resist the labels assigned to us. The education system must address its shortcomings and find suitable alternatives to ensure that all students, despite their ethnic or socioeconomic background, have equally fulfilling and successful experiences in education.

CPD Reflections: Our NPQML Journey

 By Leyla Marasli & Michael Paulus

In August 2020 Leyla and I started our NPQML (National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership) with Teach First. This consists of a number of modules, during which we spent time reading and participating in forums with other middle leaders across the country. The qualification focuses on six key content areas: 1. Strategy and Improvement 2. Teaching & Curriculum Excellence 3. Leading with Impact 4. Working in Partnership 5. Managing Resources and Risks 6. Increasing Capability The NPQML was assessed through one task; leading a school improvement project within our team, lasting at least two terms, aimed at improving pupil progress and/or attainment and improving team capability Our school improvement projects had to

• Be part of the school improvement plan and produce a demonstrable positive impact and sustainable change.
• Reflect on our practical experience and draw upon research obtained through relevant school, local and national data to show how leadership priorities have been determined.
• Apply our learning from the blended learning experiences to demonstrate how our knowledge and expertise about relevant national policy priorities have impacted the project.

Our NPQML projects were titled as follows: MPA: “Raising attainment and progress for Year 9 Business students through an embedded T&L approach” LM: “Working to improve pupil progress and attainment in year 8 and team capability through team planning Year 8 lessons” Both of our projects were primarily aimed at curriculum development through collaborative planning which meant having to work with our teams heavily and ensuring that together we were making high-quality lessons that deliver the intended curriculum. We also needed to measure our improvement using attainment data which meant using the summer examination results of a previous cohort to the current year group to (hopefully) show that our project made a difference! Despite the challenges of the 2020-21 academic year, our projects showed improvements in attainment data, and student voice feedback improved since the project introduction. We also found our teachers involved in the curriculum redevelopment gained from our project; Leyla’s project found that 100% of the team of teachers involved in her project agreed that ‘team planning helped them develop their confidence in lesson planning.’ We both found the NPQML process made us consider the crucial change-management processes needed to effectively implement a sustained change in our respective departments. We enjoyed the TeachFirst modules and the conversations we had as a result. I would strongly recommend applying for one of the NPQ opportunities! It’s definitely a challenge but it is very rewarding in the end!

Thoughts From A Visiting Teacher: UConn Student Teachers

By Frank Anile-Santiago & Holly Mason

We are Frank and Holly and we are pre-service teachers from the University of Connecticut that are working towards our Master's degrees in Curriculum and Instruction in our concentration area of secondary social studies. We are studying abroad in London for this semester and will be visiting multiple schools. Recently we had the opportunity to visit Westminster Academy for a week. What did we do during our visit?

During our time here, we observed several classes in history and geography. All of these courses ranged from Y7 to Y13 and covered topics ranging from public health, to Nazi resistance, to South African history. We also participated in meetings after school where teachers exhibited their commitment to continued growth. A PLC met to discuss student-led learning in a workshop which gave teachers the chance to work together to generate ideas to engage students in scenarios where they design their own paths in the classroom. We also observed a Humanities department meeting where the use of different grading methods and the many applications of data were discussed. In addition, one teacher led a presentation on trauma-informed practices. Earlier in the week, a group of teachers visited another school that is further along in the process of incorporating trauma-informed practices. They reported back on steps and tools this other school was using in order to inform and discuss the potential of them at WA. The presentation included both school-wide initiatives that could be implemented and a discussion of the myths of trauma-informed practices. On our last day at WA, we accompanied a group of students to Hyde Park for Holocaust Memorial Day. The Association of Jewish Refugees held a ceremony for their 80 Trees for 80 Years Campaign as it has been 80 years since their founding. Students got to experience the stories of members of AJR and a representative of the Queen. One Y12 student from WA also spoke at the ceremony and students participated in the planting of the tree. What did we learn from our visit?

After spending a few days at Westminster Academy, we were amazed at how the school culture is embedded in every aspect of the school. From the Senior Leadership Team to the student body, the values of thinking, knowledge, caring, open-mindedness, and reflection are fully present in the corridors and classrooms. Diversity is another key highlight of the school both in the population of the school itself, but also within the curriculum through imperative topics that connect to students’ identities and experiences. After engaging in productive conversation with a plethora of teachers and students, it is clear that all are valued and welcomed within WA which we think is the perfect blend of American and British values. Thank you for having us!

CPD Reflections: Leading Learning In Geography

By Lucy Taylor

I hope you have all had a fabulous half-term break! In January, I completed a Master's degree in Educational Leadership and wanted to share a bit about the process and key findings of my dissertation in case it is of interest! My dissertation focussed on exploring the adequacy of the current Geography GCSE curriculum and assessing whether transformational change is needed. Although my topic is Geography specific, I found when conducting my research that lots of issues discussed in the geography education space could be applied to other GCSE subjects and disciplines. 

What does the literature say?

A massive part of my dissertation was to undertake a critical analysis of current academic literature surrounding secondary Geography education. I analysed how powerful knowledge, ideally taught through the pedagogy of Enquiry Based Learning (EBL), is integral in creating successful geographers. However, this has not yet come to fruition due to a strict focus on results and exam-based performance, in addition to classroom practitioners struggling to find time to embed powerful knowledge within students' geographical learning. The concept of powerful knowledge was introduced into educational debates by Young (2008) as he felt this approach enabled pupils to access a richer, knowledge-led curriculum. Young (2008) argues that powerful knowledge allows pupils to gain cultural capital and the ‘cultural literacy’ needed to thrive within society. Furthermore, Young (2008) and Biddulph et al (2020) go as far as to say that pupils' entitlement to this type of knowledge is a matter of social justice, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds… I could talk forever about powerful knowledge so if you are interested in learning more I have listed some additional reading! 

What is also apparent from the literature is the significant gap between university and school geographies. For the last two decades, many academics have admitted that there's a problem in geography education, yet no change has been made. Therefore, I see this as an opportunity for transformational change. Using Lambert and Morgan’s (2010) curriculum-making model to enact Young and Muller’s (2010) Future 3 (F3) curriculum seems a good way to combat this. A ‘F3’ curriculum demands pupils to be aware and engaged with the dynamic and evolving discipline of Geography. Lambert and Hopkin (2014) note that currently, a ‘F3’ curriculum is beyond any national curriculum, stressing that in order for a ‘F3’ curriculum to be effective and successful, it requires high levels of disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge. Young and Muller’s (2010) work is fascinating and also discusses the ideas of Future 1 and 2 curriculums which they believe we currently have in our education system - definitely worth a read so I have put the reference at the end of this post! 

Methodology

Throughout my research process, I constantly reflected on how my thoughts and experiences, as a geography teacher and leader, compared to those in academia and national curricula/specification documents. To do this I used the method of a reflective journal which was an incredibly useful process for my Master's study but also for my general teaching practice - I highly recommend it! 

After reading the literature I conducted a textual analysis of the curriculum documents (see chapter 3.1), using coding to sort key information that arose from the textual analysis. The curriculum documents and exam board specifications I analysed were: WJEC GCSE Geography, Edexcel GCSE Geography A, Edexcel GCSE Geography B, AQA GCSE Geography (8035), OCR GCSE Geography A, OCR GCSE Geography B, and the Department for Education National Curriculum for KS4: Geography GCSE subject content 2014. 

What were the findings and conclusions? 

This research project found that within the GCSE Geography curriculum there are three main issues: Restrictiveness, Disconnect from the discipline, and Curriculum Design. To elaborate, the research highlighted that the GCSE qualification is too restricted in terms of choice for students' learning, and opportunities for teachers to tailor their geography curriculums in schools. Additionally, my research found that there is a significant disconnect between school geography and the academic discipline of geography. Finally, the research identified that the current curriculum design lends itself to a Future 1 or 2 curriculum (Young and Muller, 2010; Lambert et al, 2015) which means students are not gaining powerful knowledge and instead simply learning information to regurgitate in an exam; this does not create successful geographers! However, teachers and curriculum leaders may be restricted in their ability to transformationally lead their departments in making changes due to the issue of restrictiveness caused by the national curriculum and exam specifications. Therefore, to truly revolutionise the GCSE geography curriculum, transformational leadership may be required from a governmental level first.

My position at the end of completing this research is that there were key aspects that arose from the literature review which matched with the experiences and reflections I have felt as a classroom practitioner and geography curriculum leader. Throughout this process, it has become clear that my research aligns particularly with Young and Muller (2010) who discuss the different types of curriculum; Future 1 to Future 3. I particularly agree with their point that we need a Future 3 curriculum to enable our students to develop powerful disciplinary knowledge, however, they find that in the UK only a Future 1 or 2 curriculum is present. Moreover, Hill and Jones' (2010) work accords with my research. Hill and Jones (2010) identify there has been a ‘fossilisation’ of school geography leading to it becoming further detached from the main discipline. This is something I also found when reflecting on my experiences as both a geography student, geography undergraduate, geography teacher, and curriculum leader. Despite this, I believe curriculum leaders within schools could be active change-makers and work within restrictions to create outstanding geographers. This is something further research needs to be conducted upon in order to consider what solutions classroom teachers and curriculum leaders can adopt to deal with the issues within GCSE Geography education highlighted in this research, whilst operating under a restrictive national curriculum and exam specifications. 

To conclude, my research joins the discourse championing for transformational change within the secondary geography education space. My research joins a large group of academics who have also found similar issues with the geography curriculum, GCSE in particular, and yet we are not seeing change. For this to happen, we need transformational leadership at a variety of levels; both at a governmental level and within the schools themselves.

References and Extra Reading!

• Young, M. (2008) Bringing Knowledge Back In, London: Routledge.
• M. Biddulph, T. Bèneker, D. Mitchell, M. Hanus, C. Leininger-Frézal, L. Zwartjes & K. Donert (2020) Teaching powerful geographical knowledge – a matter of social justice: initial findings from the GeoCapabilities 3 project, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 29:3: 260-274.
• Lambert, D. and Morgan, J. (2010) Teaching Geography 11-18 – A Conceptual Approach. MaidenHead: Open University Press
• Lambert, D. and Hopkin, J. (2014). A possibilist analysis of the geography national curriculum in England. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 23(1): 64-78.
• Young, M. and Muller, J. (2010). Three Educational Scenarios for the Future: lessons from the sociology of knowledge. European Journal of Education, 45(1): 11-27.
• Lambert, D., Solem, M. and Tani, S. (2015). Achieving Human Potential Through Geography Education: A Capabilities Approach to Curriculum Making in Schools. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 105(4): 723-735.
• Hill, J, and Jones, M. (2010). Joined-up geography: Connecting school-level and university-level geographies. Geography, 95: 22–32