Every weekday, we’d sit down to dinner as a family for “tea” at about 5pm. I can’t remember all the conversations that took place at the table but I remember one particular day: my dad was quite upset or stressed or maybe somewhere in between. My mum had to talk for him because he was so wound up. “Someone at work told your dad that his resources were too old-fashioned,” she explained.
My dad had, over the years, produced hundreds of worksheets painstakingly by hand - this was before widespread word processing. He’d taken hours and hours over them and, apparently, the kids loved them. They’d always want to do them. On each one was three cartoon strips, with some fill in the gaps, matching activities and simple comprehension questions. The children loved the pictures and the fact my dad had personally made them - he brought his humour in where appropriate.
But one of his bosses had torn into them, dismissed them, calling them old-fashioned and irrelevant. I could tell my dad was really hurt by it. When I started teaching myself, I understood why. Often as a teacher, you spend hours and hours creating something, you painstakingly think about how it can be applied in the classroom and if it goes well with the students, it’s such a buzz. If someone from “the outside” comes along and criticises it without first trying to see that journey, it can be really hard to take.
Teacher training
In 2007, when I started my teacher training in history, my dad presented me with a huge box with 30 or so copies of each of his worksheets inside. I used them pretty religiously as extension tasks throughout my first five years or so as a teacher. If students finished assessments early, I would give them one of these sheets on a particular topic. The students really liked them, they reinforced knowledge for those that felt secure in it and supported those who were struggling. I reluctantly left them behind, in my little classroom cupboard, when I left my first school in 2013. They’d served me well. The moral of the story for me was - never judge an educational resource by its cover and never judge an idea by the sound it makes.
But this same resource and idea-bashing still happen - and there’s no better space to see it than on social media. Particularly on Twitter, where teachers often share what they’ve been doing.
I’ve seen seemingly popular resources being ridiculed because they “seem” to be excuses for fun. Equally, I’ve seen resources that appear stilted and dull get the same treatment. I’ve seen people firing pointed questions at unsuspecting teachers who’ve shared something that’s worked for them.
Measuring effectiveness
Take this encounter, which I recorded last year, where one teacher seemed to imply that another didn’t know how to measure the effectiveness of their own resource or that the only reason for its success was the context it was being used in:
Teacher A: ”[The resource] works in my classroom, so I’m happy.”
Teacher B: “How do you define ‘works in my classroom’?”
Teacher A: “If it’s helping my students’ progress - or helping them retain knowledge and helping create a buzz - I can sleep happy.”
Teacher B: “But what if a different method - one backed by research evidence - could help them make more progress, retain more knowledge? And what if creating a buzz works against the first two things?”
Teacher A: “What if it aids the first two?”
Teacher B: “If it genuinely does: great. But some of what I see done in the name of engagement and creating a buzz (not specifically thinking only of what you share) gives me concerns that pupils will be thinking about the wrong things or could be misled about what the subject they are learning is actually about.”
Teacher A: “I’m very confident in what I’m doing - and while I understand your concerns, I disagree. Done effectively, these problems are negligible.”
Teacher B: ”‘Done effectively’ is of course hugely subjective.”
Teacher A: “But are impact and outcomes subjective? There are some measurable measures surely?”
Teacher B: “Yes of course - attainment and progress.”
Teacher A: “Thus, does this not point to effective strategies?”
Teacher B: “I don’t know, does it? What are your results like?”
Teacher A: “Above national average and some of the best in the local area.”
Teacher B: “Tremendous to hear, congratulations. What kind of demographic of pupils are you working with?”
Teacher A: “We have four grammar schools around us, we have a high proportion of SEN and we are a large comprehensive.”
End of conversation.
This “interrogation” serves to remind us how we often don’t need Ofsted to make us doubt our own professional worth.
Teacher snobbery
The essence of all this seems to be teacher snobbery: the tendency to dismiss or judge the work of others for some kind of power trip or perhaps because of some deep insecurity in the practice of the individual on the offensive. Whatever the reason, it’s a damn shame, because that same criticism of others can spread a fear of innovation and of sharing - two pillars of the professional development of teachers.
An “each to their own” philosophy should be the default, in my view, unless there is some kind of deep concern that it’s going wrong. It’s not just particular resources but “the way” we teach that sometimes gets flack.
Imagine two teachers teaching to the same objective. Imagine Teacher 1 teaches it through direct instruction and it takes one lesson. Imagine Teacher 2 teaches it through direct instruction but also includes some enquiry, discovery and collaboration and it takes two lessons. In my view, both are completely valid, as long as both teachers can justify it. There would be valid reasons for both approaches. Live and let live.
The biggest loser when teachers tear each other down rather than build each other up is the students. They deserve teachers who feel free to create, experiment and believe in themselves.
Thomas Rogers is a teacher who runs rogershistory.com and tweets @RogersHistory
For more columns by Tom, view his back catalogue
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