Until recently, teachers’ playlists were strictly music of the night. But suddenly (Seymour), many found themselves working from home (if not 9-5), with space to sing, sing, sing their favourite tracks. You may have guessed, but I love a musical - and my brain got to thinking about the many ways we could use musical tracks for good by feeding it into our CPD. Seriously, once I started thinking about it, I couldn’t let it go. So dammit, Janet, have a look at my top 10 - I know not all will be popular choices but if you don’t like the list, please don’t rain on my parade…

10. Haus of Holbein (Six)

A newer entry but one set to become a Broadway hit, Six reimagines the wives of Henry VIII as pop queens. The show has a number of catchy hits teaching us about history, but the queens don neon ruffs for techno hit Haus of Holbein, introducing us to German vocabulary, Hans Holbein’s work, the development of female fashion and cosmetics, and 16th-century royal marriage conventions. This is the ultimate cultural capital anthem, reinforcing the important interdisciplinary nature of our subjects, and how outside knowledge of a topic can develop student understanding across the curriculum.  

9. We Go Together (Grease)

Although low on the list, there’s a lot any teacher can learn from Grease. Firstly, this song reinforces the importance of support: teaching can feel lonely (particularly at the moment, when many of our interactions are through fuzzy webcams) but it doesn’t need to be: lean on your department and teacher communities or forums such as EduTwitter: there’s very little out there that they can’t help with. Taking that time to connect will build comfort, trust, and will help support mental health. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Grease also teaches you that the best way to manage any student’s bad behaviour is through the threat of the FBI and Federal charges.

8. And You Don’t Even Know It (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie)

Although a mere three years old, it’s no surprise that glitter laden Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has made it into this top 10. This opening number is a stark reminder of why behaviour management matters. Jamie is a Year 11 and clearly just one student in a “cray cray” cohort who don’t care that poor Miss Hedge feels like she’s given up. Behaviour management is the foundation of our classrooms: without it, nothing works. It comes from a variety of places: SLT expectations, effective procedures, supportive staff, respectful teacher/student relationships… things that - considering Jamie openly reads fashion magazines in class and proudly flouts school uniform policies - are clearly not in place.

7. Cabaret (Cabaret)

There was no way Liza (with a “Z”) wasn’t making it onto this list. In at number 7, Cabaret is the perfect penultimate-night-of-the-holidays tune (and not just because you’re bound to feel as exhausted after the first day back as Liza’s throat must have done from that killer end note): it’s time to “put down the knitting, the book and the broom” and get your game face on. It’s a reminder that although it is hard work, and it can feel an awful lot like you’re a presenter, teaching is fun! The classroom is a living, breathing, loud cabaret show, where you can’t always be sure what’s coming next.

6. This is Me (The Greatest Showman)

I could have picked any of the songs from this modern musical masterpiece, but This is Me has exactly the kind of anthemic message that every teacher should hold close to them: find your teaching persona and don’t wobble. Nail those routines, those expectations and those ”…absolutely NOT, thank you very much Year 9” warnings. There’s power in routine and expectation, not just for students, but for you: teachers make hundreds of micro-decisions every day and routines relieve some of the mental pressure this creates. 

5. All That Jazz (Chicago)

And we’re into the top 5! Segueing neatly from nailing your routines and expectations, this means keeping them even during that most feared beast of all classroom traditions: lesson observations. Yes, slick your hair and wear your buckled shoes, but avoid unnecessary nonsense: just show up and do what you do, every single day, and do it brilliantly…leave the jazz at home! (Other things to leave at home for an observation include knee rouging, gin drinking and piano playing.)

4. Friend Like Me (Aladdin)

I’ve never seen a real genie, but I do feel like I’ve often been promised one by enticingly titled training courses that have turned out to be little more than a pile of Poundland glitter and broken promises. Great CPD is worth the investment, and it doesn’t even have to be expensive. With great books, research-led courses and more online CPD from groups who take getting it right very seriously available than ever before, there’s no reason to be spending both precious time and money on activities that fade away once you’re back in the classroom.

3. Hello! (Book of Mormon)

Teachers all over the world have a very special skill, and it’s one that the Book of Mormon introduces in its opening tune: relentless persuasiveness. The Elders are trying to push their religious choices; teachers everywhere are pushing anything from Shakespeare to quadratic equations. Now between you and me, there are bits of our subject that we all enjoy teaching more than others, but do we show it? Absolutely not! This song reinforces how much students rely on teacher-led passion and the constant dripping of subject knowledge to make even the most dry and difficult topics exciting.

2. Non-Stop (Hamilton)

It was difficult to not make this an entirely Hamilton-based article, but if there is one song that directly describes a day in the life of a teacher, it’s Non-Stop. The title alone works, right? This song is about maintaining professional relationships, having effective time management and navigating other work problems including frenemies and promotions. It’s a whirlwind number that leaves you feeling exhausted when you try to do a one-person-production, but also leaves you smiling…a lot like teaching. You may feel even more satisfied (get it?) if you change the lyrics to “Why do you assume you’re the smartest in the Zoom?”, “Why do you type like you’re running out of time?” and “Why do you always write what you believe (on Google Classroom)?”.

1. One Day More (Les Miserables)

How could there possibly be any other song at number one than the absolutely belting One Day More from Les Mis? This song is about hope, even when things couldn’t be more hopeless. It’s about enduring pain and difficulty in order to become a better version of yourself. It’s about pushing on “to a new beginning” and “raising the flag of freedom high”. it’s about recovering from one matinee and getting ready to tread the boards again a little while later… or, as we in the Show(myhomework)business call it: getting ready for September.

Lauran Hampshire-Dell is a secondary English teacher