When I was new to the teaching profession, I had a huge amount of freedom. My schemes of work were simply a list of things to cover, and I was told to go and pick whichever one I fancied or was left from the cupboard.
As a beginner, it often left me feeling unsure and a bit panicked, and I’m not sure the students always got the best deal.
At the other end of the scale of teacher freedom is the concept of scripted lessons.
Fear of scripted lessons
Many teachers, especially English teachers, live in fear of these, of being handed a script they just need to go with, from which there can be no deviation and every lesson must be the same.
I have never experienced this level of prescription in action in secondary English, but scripted lessons have been made popular through the rise of books such as Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion, with micro-scripts ensuring that routines for learning are clear, consistent and followed by all.
There is a blunt equity to it: if we script every moment, we know that all students are receiving the same basic entitlement, the thinking goes. Some shudder at the idea, while others believe it could be the answer to many of our problems, including workload.
There are certainly points in English where scripting can be useful. At the earliest point of reading, where pupils have their initial introduction to phonics and the alphabetic code, scripts can be powerful. This stage is a precise and high-yield phase of learning, and having a script means that there is clarity and economy, both of which help pupils to learn.
However, when you are reading a text for comprehension or sharing it for enjoyment and enrichment, a script seems considerably less helpful. In these sessions, the discussions that occur are likely to be organic, and driven by what pupils know or notice and find interesting. They might make connections across texts and ideas that we may not have imagined. They will have a variety of gaps in their knowledge. There is not necessarily one size that fits all.
Collaborative working
It isn’t only when pupils are learning the foundations of reading and writing where scripting comes in handy. Working together as a team of educators to identify the tough areas to teach in a lesson and scripting these collaboratively could be useful, enabling staff to draw on each other’s knowledge.
Scripting isn’t the only way this can happen, but it could certainly support with those more tricky pinch points.
But the idea of a script provided by someone who does not know the school, the students or what they need to know is a different matter. Context is key and a script devoid of that can end up doing our subject, our teachers and our students a disservice.
Save the micro-scripting for when the granular aspects need precision. Save it for routines and reinforcing key messages.
But remember that teaching is, above all, a human endeavour. We employ people for their knowledge but also for their care, their humour and their empathy. Let’s try not to script that out of the classroom.
Zoe Enser is the school improvement lead for a trust in the North West of England
For the latest research, pedagogy and classroom advice, sign up for our weekly Teaching Essentials newsletter
