For decades, work experience has been seen as “a good thing” for students. In giving them a new perspective on life and the workplace, it energises their academic and vocational studies. Every autumn our Year 9 students return with exciting – and just occasionally exotic – stories to tell.
It only recently reoccurred to me that such widening of perspectives could be equally beneficial for teachers.
The fact is that in-school Inset can be rather stagnant, with rebranded versions of methodology (think-pair-share, for example) and uninspiring Powerpointed lectures in cold halls. So could teacher placements take us out of our everyday environment, put our experience into perspective and re-energise our teaching?
Unfortunately, training budgets won’t be able to finance trips to international hot-spots for geographers eager to assess the impact of tourism in the south of France, or for biologists to research marine wildlife whilst snorkelling in the Mediterranean. But there are many worthwhile destinations in organisations serviced by and servicing education.
Perhaps a good place to start would be at the top. How about following in the footsteps of education secretary Damian Hinds for a day, to see what influences political decision-making? Obviously, it might get a bit cramped if large numbers choose to attend, so visits would have to be staggered. Seeing top-level decision-making and debate in action would be fascinating; even better would be the chance for the classroom practitioner to provide a reality check to balance the political view.
Maybe the leaders at the top of multi-academy trusts or local authorities could open their doors to those they work for. This could allow for some very enlightening two-way discussions to inform future decision-making and the subsequent practical application at school-level; visiting teachers would be more than happy to highlight snags and barriers before the next potentially time-consuming initiative hits the classroom.
New ideas for teachers
Few teachers get the chance to lift their eyes above the horizon of the latest spreadsheet. So perhaps a day out at Durham University's Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) would be enlightening for both parties about the ways in which the data provided from students and teachers’ hard work via public examinations and initial Year 7 tests is adapted for CEM’s use. It could be the chance to contextualise and evaluate the ways in which schools currently use the statistical products.
As the pressure is on to become more IT-literate and proficient, there is surely a lot to be learned from the top providers, such as IBM. The culture of radical thinking which encourages “employees to engage in thinking that has the potential to disrupt the status quo and deviate from traditional ways in the business” could be very interesting if such a shift were to be implemented in education. Similarly, IBM sees itself promoting “trust, personal responsibility and respect for the individual… that support high employee morale and stronger alliances with business partners”. There may be disadvantages, but how refreshing to those education professionals embedded in a culture of “holding teachers to account”.
As schools are required to do more and more health and safety administration for day-to-day activities and trips, perhaps a visit to the Health and Safety Commission would come in handy to see how the true professionals do it. Failing that, a day spent observing risk assessments for truly dangerous occupations with firemen or stuntmen could put the bureaucracy of school activity into perspective.
It’s become a cliché to link teaching and management to sports coaching. But how often do we really get to see coaching in action? There are so many sporting ventures on our doorsteps to which we could turn. The most unpredictable sports are those involving animals. Take equestrianism: eventing, jumping and dressage all require courage, stamina, timing and technique. Make a mistake and the consequences can be catastrophic – or, at the very least, painful. It’s a good sport to observe because of the high levels of resilience, skill and empathy that coaches and riders have to display.
Football and cricket clubs offer much to observe and learn about the psychology of playing in a team. It isn’t just sports-keenies who could benefit here. Get the right day for Inset when a cricket match is on and there may even be a chance to see whether the lunches and teas live up to the eulogies on Test Match Special.
As teachers’ remits expand to include marketing, what could be more relevant than a visit to a marketing company to see campaigns being put together? More and more, the success of a school’s marketing lies in strategic use of social media, so a visit to the headquarters of social media platform providers could be worthwhile.
The traditional press, local and national newspapers and their online counterparts are still in vogue. So as long as these organisations aren’t over-full of media students, placements for teachers could be very useful for learning how to pitch and present articles. Of course, the ultimate day-out could be Tes Towers where the prolific daily output would ensure plenty of opportunity to learn the crafts of writing and editing…
Yvonne Williams is head of English and drama in a school in the south of England
