A commitment to public service is a strong part of the self-selection process for people deciding to become teachers. 

Wanting to “make a difference” may be a cliché, but it gets close to describing the reasons many of us do this job.

Whenever I hear that, I tend to ask: “How do you want the world to be different because of you?” Because the “make a difference” bit doesn’t go far enough for me. I want to learn more about people’s motivations and values. 

I’ve never met a teacher like this, but anyone who is - as the age-old jibe goes - in it for the holidays probably won’t last long. We like to think we’re all altruists, and it’s partly because of this that I find myself shocked every single time I read in Tes of a case of exam malpractice, financial malfeasance or disturbing behaviour heard by the Teaching Regulation Agency. 

How does someone go from fresh-faced idealistic NQT to cynical exam cheater, greedy fraudster or gutless off-roller?

The angelisation of teachers

I like Saul Bellow’s way of describing my rose-tinted perspective. He calls it “angelisation”; teachers are good and right by virtue of being teachers.

Sadly, though, we can’t take being good and right for granted. In common with plenty of headteachers, I have had to use disciplinary measures with colleagues whose conduct fell below that which is acceptable. In a couple of cases, I dismissed people from their posts.  

This is why the values of our schools are vital to keeping our individual and collective conduct in check. Many schools have a set of stated values. They are often front and centre in a glossy prospectus and website or printed on lanyards to ensure visibility.

But visibility doesn’t guarantee actuality. It is one thing to display values in schools, it is quite another to live them. 

The importance of school values

Values should set an unbreakable boundary between what you and your colleagues will and will not do to be successful. They should inform decision-making and policy direction so as to ensure that school leaders individually and collectively are incorruptible. 

Every time a child whose results present a risk to a school’s performance is off-rolled, or a leader tells a prospective parent that their child with SEND would be better off at the school down the road, values are hypocritically and conveniently sidestepped.    

How often do you revisit the values of your school with your staff? Do you explicitly check to see if policies and decisions are consistent with these values? This is a good challenge for governors and trustees to make to school leaders when developing policy. 

School leaders make decisions every day, yet they may only think about values infrequently and, for some staff, they only see them or hear about them on that first day in September when leaders set the school year off with a reminder of what the school is about and where it is going.

Do the right thing

The point where values cease to mean anything occurs when what a leader will do to be successful overwhelms their commitment to doing the right thing. I fear that this may well be a one-way street, which is why, as both a school leader and a multi-academy trust trustee, I need to place a greater emphasis on explicitly examining how decisions and policies are consistent with our values. 

And, as a trustee, I want to go further. I am actively asking our schools for information that will help us to ensure that our values are watertight.

For instance, I want to know particular details about the turnover of students in our schools. This is not to suggest that our schools are doing anything wrong, but leaders (including governors and trustees) need to be alert to signs that decisions are being made that may run counter to our values. 

It is not enough to expect brave individual whistleblowers to bring issues to light. We need to ensure that our systems and processes work to ensure accountability and collective responsibility to help us all withstand the undoubted pressures resulting from our performative culture that can corrupt our leadership behaviours. 

As a profession we’re good, and it takes effort and commitment to be good, but we’re not angels.

Jarlath O’Brien is a headteacher and the author of Better Behaviour - A guide for teachers and works in special education in London