Thursday 24 December 2015

Dear Santa, Here's our Christmas Wishlist for Education – Love, Teachers By Sarah Marsh

Santa Claus and wish list

Dear Santa,
As you know, teachers are a dedicated bunch, working tirelessly to help the nation’s sprogs, sorry, next generation.
Anyway, we think they deserve some extra special festive gifts this year, and to make it easier for you to know exactly what to give them, our community has put together a Christmas wishlist. If you could sort out any of the below, that would be ace:

Pay parity and a pet unicorn

1 I’d like to see pay parity with other professions – specifically doctors and lawyers (perhaps somewhere in between to recognise the fact that we don’t actually have the power of life and death over our students).
2 Give us more time to reflect, organise, self-evaluate, assess and, above all, teach.
3 An exam system that reflects and assesses the skills and capabilities of our wonderful young people – rather than how well they can sit still and remember stuff.
4 A recognition that university, while useful for some, may not be the end-point for all.
5 A pet unicorn for the maths department.
  • John Rutter is a headteacher.
  • A sprinkle of optimism wouldn’t go amiss

    1 Promote the successes of teachers and students in school more to foster a culture of positivity at a time when so much negativity floats around the corridors.
    2 Increase funding so I can stop spending my own money on pencils and pens.
    3 Adequate time to implement curriculum changes. Wait, it’s too late for that, but one can still dream.
    • Anonymous teacher at a secondary school.

    Put the admin out with the recycling

  • Ofsted can be left for the bin men too

    1 Abolish Ofsted and replace it with something that makes a positive difference to schools. Almost everything that causes problems, unnecessary workload, fear and stress in education can be attributed to the deadly hand of Ofsted. Headteachers live in fear of “the call” and pass on all manner of burdens to staff.
    2 Require the minister for education to have actually taught in a state school.
    • Anonymous teacher at a primary school.

    A sack full of trust would be nice, though

    1 Top of my list is greater trust for the teaching profession. Increasingly teachers are less trusted to know what works, but they need to be given the chance to do their jobs. There’s too much glancing over our shoulders rather than focusing on making a difference, which we know we can.
    2 Give us time to make real, embedded change. There is an expectation that we can turn around failing schools on a sixpence. Although superficial change can be imposed quickly, lasting improvements come from cultural change and take time.
    • Peter Tomkins is vice principal at an academy.

    And could you also magic our classroom cupboards clean?

    Classroom cupboards, in my experience, only come in one shape and size – too small, and bursting with clutter that never gets used. Mine is no exception. It’s full of arcane, yet somehow indisposable resources from topics no longer covered in the national curriculum: my class’s books from last year, heaps of crusty watercolour paint tins, half-empty packets of oil pastels and sketching pens. You can also find folders containing ancient worksheets, schemes of work and the SAT results of children who passed through school a decade ago. The trouble with junk and clutter is that despite your best intentions, it simply expands to fit into the space available (how’re your lofts looking, folks?). I’d chuck the lot only I don’t currently have a skip outside my classroom – or the day it would take to sift through everything. This is the present which features on my Christmas list every year, but Santa never gets it for me.
    • Ben Culverhouse is a teacher at a primary school.

    Cool secondment opportunities would also be great

    I’d love to be able to go on secondment and become part of a university staff for a year (partially to top up my knowledge), or work in another English-speaking country’s school.
  • As well as some good books on growth mindset

    I would like Santa to bring every teacher a copy of The Marshmallow Test by Walter Mischel. There has been a great deal of confusion surrounding character, resilience, grit and growth mindset. Some of the scepticism is justified, given that many interventions do not appear to be underpinned by a proper understanding.
    This book sets out why we should explicitly teach how to exercise self-control and how this can result in better learning and life outcomes for pupils. Almost as sure as Christmas, exam stress stories are round the corner. Teachers can help young people manage these and other challenges more effectively, but we have to do some learning first.
    • Andrew Foster is a teacher at an independent school.

    Finally, give us a sprinkle of digital confidence

    I want more teachers to let go of the fear of failing, especially when it relates to using technology. If everyone tried a new piece of tech this year, from Kahoots to Google Hangouts, I would be super happy.

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