Should a Principal be teaching in a school or college?
Different schools have different approaches in answering this question.
Looking back through my career, where I’ve taught in four different schools, I can recollect a number of examples which have ensured that the answer is firmly established in my mind.
Going back to my first school, when I commenced my teaching career, the Headteacher selflessly took on the bottom set Year 11 GCSE English group because he knew it was best for the school. It would act to minimise poor behaviour, whilst showing the rest of the staff that he was ready to lead from the front. My next school saw the Head teaching PSHE across all year groups, largely so that he had a way to maintain a connection with all of the students within the community. My previous school before joining the College allowed me to experience a different approach. The Principal there had a non-teaching timetable, and though she worked tirelessly, I always thought that staff held only a begrudging respect for her because she wasn’t standing in front of the students at least some of the time.
Classroom delivery remains one of my favourite parts of the job, and I see my own performance in the classroom as a vital indicator of how things are on a wider scale within the College. It sets a strong example to staff about how they should go about their teaching, whilst ensuring that I continue to have my finger on the pulse of the mood within the student body. Starting lessons on time and with purpose, getting my marking done in a timely manner and ensuring detailed feedback are all fundamentals - I’ve been doing them for years, but they are part of the high standards which I simply won’t compromise on. A slackening of them on my part would send a message to staff that I don’t want them to hear: that it’s ok to be lax; that our students are not the top priority; that second best is ok. Students at the College are knowledgeable about what an excellent lesson is - and they, themselves, have high expectations about what they should receive. It is one of the reasons why I intend to bring in a Student-Teacher Charter - an agreement throughout the College about what should happen within teaching and learning here. We want to build a partnership between staff and students - a shared set of goals that we aspire to which brings the best out of both groups.
In a small college, it’s very important for all staff to contribute. I am the only History teacher here - something which could easily be restrictive - and so I have to be self-motivated: to be reflective and to seek new ways of improving my practice. I like to think that I’ve always been a reflective practitioner - in my first school, I brought in new ideas to make learning more accessible for the students by introducing ‘Top Trumps’ cards, which improved retention of key facts within areas they found tricky - like dates of reigns of kings and queens or terms of office for prime ministers. In my next school, I worked with a designer to transform the History corridor into a replica of a First World War trench. School tours, which used to avoid the corridor completely, now made a beeline for it. Becoming Principal here has only made me more determined to improve my practice, and I’m enjoying doing so through the collaborative power of Google Classroom. Every year I teach my favourite A Level topic, Tsarist and Communist Russia, I gain a thirst for further knowledge within it. Only last week, I was delighted to successfully answer an AQA A-Level History Facebook group plea for resources on the first part of the course by helping out an NQT. It took five minutes for me to send, and saved her hours of work. A vital priority for the College this year is to invest in staff development - and I’ll be attending refresher courses on the delivery of the NEA within A Level, and fundamental skills in answering GCSE questions to seek out a means in enhancing further the chances for students to gain an edge in maximising their scores. Just because I’m Principal does not mean I can’t be a better teacher, and nor does it mean I can’t help others to improve.
That’s the mindset that I want all teachers who come to teach here to adopt, and I’m pleased to have introduced a timetabled teacher CPD session on a Friday afternoon for all staff to attend, led by our Head of Maths and Teacher Development Lead Adrian Winiecki. Time has been set aside to explore the theory behind effective teaching - focusing at the moment on retrieval practice - and then to disseminate good practice amongst the staff, with practical examples to the fore and the firm establishment of an environment where teachers are helping each other raise our collective standards. Every teacher is buying into this - and it’s pleasing to see leadership coming from many different sources within the staff room. The Head of Science has guided the staff through Quizlet, the Head of Biology has taken us through installing our marking policy using Google Classroom and our Head of GCSE has modelled his organisational planner. I’m extremely happy to contribute and lead where I can but I’m also willing to learn from others. We must continue to aspire to be a College where all staff can reflect on their practice, can support one another towards improvement and where everyone feels valued.