Sharing Good Practice

I feel like it is a long time since I put finger to keyboard but hey, life is like that sometimes with just too much to squeeze in.

So where am I up to?

O yeah…I met a fantastic group of dedicated teachers when I took part in the directors’ training day for The Shakespeare for Schools Festival on 25th May the week before half term. What an inspirational bunch. We were from all over the South East and met up at The National Theatre’s rehearsal rooms near Waterloo. I was so excited to be out of school and learning something new. The day before, I consulted the very nice man at the station and he recommended I get the silly o’clock train (6:17 am from Bicester North to Waterloo) because I would not want to be late and I might have to let several tube trains go by because they would be so crowded. I arrived at 7:45 for a 9:00am kick off! But I had time to get a coffee and sit in the sunshine watching the Thames glide by; pinching myself with excitement…I am very easily pleased.

We had a fabulous time working with a professional actor and a director. The best part though was just sharing good practice with other colleagues because our school has never participated before and for some of the others this was their 6th or 7th year in succession. Some of the teachers were from special schools where the young people cannot speak far less remember lines by themselves. I am fortunate enough to work with a fantastic colleague, Louisa Hook at the special school behind us Bardwell. It is because of her encouragement that I have taken the plunge this year. We have a performance space with lights so for two years they have come to rehearse under our lights just so that it would not be so intimidating in the real thing. It did my year 10’s so much good to watch the young people from Bardwell performing their signed version of ‘Macbeth’. Some of the helpers stood behind the characters feeding them the lines and some just signed. They used soundscapes and musical instruments to great effect creating a truly spooky atmosphere. It was proper piece of theatre. We are doing ‘Macbeth’ too and Louisa is going to lend me her severed head!

Why is it so difficult to get out of school just for a day to learn so much from each other and other professionals from different fields? We now have this ‘rarely cover’ phenomenon which means your non contact lessons are hardly ever taken to cover absent colleagues and classes are taught by cover supervisors…we have two excellent supervisors. The downside though, is that if there are a lot of people away because of illness, insets have to be cancelled at short notice and tempers get VERY frayed. It does not just happen in our establishment all the wonderful people I met complained of the same things: hardly ever allowed out and too little time to rehearse because of the exam pressure…oh don’t get me started on that! That’s a whole new can of worms!

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What the new coalition means for education – Jean Ramsey

I am sure all we teachers are sleeping more easily in our beds having been freed from the tyranny of the local education authorities by the new coalition government’s Department for Education led by Michael Gove. In our spare time, we can join together with a bunch of like minded parents and teachers and form small schools of our own. I have been in this game a long time, thirty years and counting, and it seems like only yesterday, that under a Conservative government, we were fighting to preserve small, rural schools from closure on the grounds that they were uneconomic.

There are alarm bells ringing in my head at the thought of myriads of small schools run by pressure groups of very earnest parents and teachers all going back to basics! What will happen to these schools when the founding fathers’ and mothers’ children have passed through and gone on to higher education? When my daughters were small, I was on the playgroup committee then I progressed to being chair of their primary school’s Parent Teachers Association and their dad was a governor. As I taught at the secondary school they attended, I figured I was already as involved as I possibly could be. You move on with your children. Will their enthusiasm for their cause be undimmed or will they too move on? More importantly, what will happen to the students when the original group’s enthusiasm wanes? Is this really the kind of thinking we need to help young people prepare for the demands of the new millennium and beyond?

My heart leaps at the prospect of ex army personnel being drafted in to help us poor teachers to enforce a bit of discipline. Would that be discipline as demonstrated at the Deepcut Barracks in Surrey where four young soldiers died? I have been coaching in schools for a considerable number of years now and I know that eventually, given the right circumstances, even the most challenging young person can be won round. They do not enjoy the consequences of their disruptive behaviour but they need to be given the tools to help themselves make better choices. They need to have respectful behaviour modelled; they need to have their feelings acknowledged and they need time to reflect. They do NOT need to be barked at by some retired, parade ground martinet!

Since I adopted a coaching mindset in all my activities at school I know that my stress levels have gone down and my enjoyment of the job has increased. I look forward to interacting with the young people I have the privilege to work with on a daily basis. I enjoy supporting my colleagues with the challenging behaviour of students and staff!

What’s in a name? I wonder just how much it has already cost to change the name from the Department for Children Schools and Families to the Department for Education. Why bother if, as they claim, they are going to be covering the same areas? Please don’t think that we are fooled by changing the name of an underachieving school on special measures to the such and such academy. It took Marie Stubbs 15 months to turn St George’s (the school in London where Philip Lawrence was murdered outside the school gate). She did it with ingenuity and indefatigable energy. She created a place of discipline and self control and she inspired teachers and children with a vision of their potential. She did it with love.

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Educating Youth in Social Media

The wonderful Andrew Davis has just sent me the results for his first Social Media course in a school and it is impressive.

Every student received a Grade C and above for 90% of course work submitted. All students were border line C/D before. (Quite a few As and Bs)

· Two thirds of boys targeted, benefited by remaining or by moving into a top target group.

· Submitted as part of the School Improvement Plan (SIP)

· 100% course work submitted, which equates to 90% of English Course work.

· 100% attendance over the 4 weeks

· Hitting tight turnover deadlines in all of the course work

Here is a video on his work please help spread the word

Socia Media Fundamentals Case Study from andrew davis on Vimeo.

National Anti-Bullying Week

National charity Parentline Plus is calling for a stronger partnership between parents, pupils and teachers to tackle bullying in UK schools.

The call comes during National Anti-Bullying Week* (16th – 20th November) and follows research carried out by Parentline Plus from calls to their free 0808 800 2222 Parentline which shows most bullying happens in schools.

f 41,513 calls taken by Parentline Plus during the period October 2008 – September 2009; 1,847 calls (4.4 %) concerned bullying in its various forms.

Key findings from Parentline Plus:

• 84% of bullying occurs in the school environment
• For 89% of the cases, the perpetrator was known to the victim
• 11% of cases, the callers child is the perpetrator
• 69% of the perpetrators come from either the same class or same social circle as the victim in school.
• 76% of calls about bullying were from parents concerned about the verbal abuse their children had received, where as 56% concerned physical abuse.
• 5.7% of calls were from parents concerned about their child being cyber bullied.

Jeremy Todd, Parentline Plus Chief Executive said:
“Bullying in schools is a real concern to families and parents of bullied children often find the situation traumatic and difficult to manage. Some families may find it difficult to report bullying to the school concerned and parents should contact Parentline Plus, or visit our “Be Someone to Tell” website if they need support. Fostering strong partnerships between parents and schools will ensure that if problems do arise there is already a trusting relationship between teachers and families.”

Scary isn’t it.  So schools looks like we have not tackled this problem fully. What do you think the answer is…

Also take a look at Bullying by Text

Relationship vs. Measurement

“What students lack in school is an intellectual relationship or conversation with the teacher”.
William Glasser

I have to say that I love this quote and for me, it is the answer to everything when it come to education. A good relationship can heal a lot. Don’t you remember working for the teachers you liked and not for the ones you didn’t? It’s human nature.

However, for most schools this appears to be the last thing on the agenda. Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming the schools or the teachers, the problem is the system, a system that put measurement above relationships.

I believe that relationships are the key to any long-lasting change. If we want to influence and impact the next generation then we must ensure that we build our relationships with them over anything else.

Relationships vs Measurement in Schools

It is so easy for us to focus on measurement, behaviour and attitude. So easy for us to look outside and blame a young person for a result that we find undesirable. It a takes a strong, courageous person to look inside and say, “What am I doing that is not allowing this person to shine?”

Our interactions should not be based on how to get this person to do what you want but by asking whether what you are about to do is going to harm or damage the relationship.

To influence a young person we must be in what is known as a sphere of influence. As a teacher, a parent or employer, we need to be in this sphere if we are to effect any change and support this young person to be who we know they can be. We can only do this if we have a strong relationship with them.

A strong relationship can do ten times more than any rewards or punishment can.

Our relationship with them should be based upon seeing a real human being and all the potential within, not just what they do. We should see the qualities in them and not just the behaviour in front of us. These relationships must be based on trust, understanding and equality. So often, adult/young person relationships are based on the adult having power, no trust and the adult having little understanding. How can we expect our young people to grow up as conscious, giving citizens if we treat them with mistrust and contempt?

Change only happens when someone cares enough about themselves and others to want to change.

And that can only happen when we care about a young person more than they hate themselves. We show this by putting the relationship with them above all else.

So what can you do in your school with your students to put the relationship before any measurement?

I would love to hear your ideas….

Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World.

I came across this great report the other day called Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World. It is a study of Web 2.0 technology and how it is being used in UK schools.

It is so great to see that it is actually being talked about. I am an avid supporter of Web 2.0 technology and the opportunity it gives schools for open and honest communication with their students, as well as it’s ability to encourage participation, collaboration and community. However, the picture in schools is very different, with most not even considering the possibilities to connect with their students at a different level, or even acknowledge that we are now dealing with digital learners. My vision is that every school has a person dedicated to youth participation and engagement using social media.

So here are my highlights from Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World.

Today’s learners exist in a digital age. This implies access to, and use of, a range of Social Web tools and software that provide gateways to a multiplicity of interactive resources for information, entertainment and, not least, communication. We looked at access to digital technologies and their use from the point of view of level and pattern, purpose, approach and consequences. Our key findings were that:

• The digital divide, the division between the digital ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, has not been entirely overcome and persists in several dimensions: in access to, and engagement with, technology; the capability of the technology; and in individual competence.
• Use of Web 2.0 technologies is nevertheless high and pervasive across all age groups from 11 to 15 upwards.
• Using Web 2.0 technologies leads to development of a new sense of communities of interest and networks, and also of a clear notion of boundaries in web space – for example personal space (messages), group space (social networking sites such as Facebook) and publishing space (blogs and social media sites such as YouTube4).
• There is an area within the boundaries of the so-called group space that could be developed to support learning and teaching.
• The processes of engaging with Web 2.0 technologies develop a skill set that matches both to views on 21st-century learning skills and to those on 21st-century employability skills – communication, collaboration, creativity, leadership and technology proficiency.
• Information literacies, including searching, retrieving, critically evaluating information from a range of appropriate sources and also attributing it – represent a significant and growing deficit area
Web 2.0 use in higher education now.
We looked at the nature and extent of current deployment of Web 2.0 technologies in higher education and sought, in the process, to gauge the UK’s position relative to that of other countries. Here we found that institutions of higher education in the UK are presently as advanced as any internationally in their developing adoption of Web.
2.0, and that the UK is generally well served at present in the infrastructure – specifically broadband width – that is necessary to support Web 2.0 technologies. Other key findings were:
• Web 2.0 technologies are being deployed across a broad spectrum of university activities and in similar ways in the UK and overseas.
• Deployment is in no way systematic and the drive is principally bottom up, coming from the professional interest and enthusiasm of individual members of staff.
• In learning and teaching, usage is patchy but a considerable working base exists, as it does in other areas of university business, including administration, student support and advertising and marketing.
• On the basis of the strength and reach of its broadband infrastructure at least, the UK is presently well placed to be at the forefront of future development.
• Advice and guidance is available to institutions, but there is no blueprint for implementation of Web 2.0 technologies, and each is currently deciding its own path.
What are your thoughts?

Read the full report Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World here