*I originally created these posts for the micro-blogging education site Staffrm, which shut down mid-2017. I wanted to re-share these early forays into the blogging world but have not edited any of these posts from their original form. *
I’m a 2014 Teach First Ambassador and this year I will be stepping down from my role as Action Network chair in the East Midlands after two years. “What’s Action Network?” I hear you ask. Well, there is an Action Network within each of the regions in which TF works consisting of participants (still on the 2 year programme) and ambassadors (those who have completed it). The work of Action Network’s fall into 4 key areas:
Now, ‘community’ comes up a lot within Teach First and indeed it comes up a lot within education more widely. In this case, we consider ‘community’ in a wide sense, encompassing participants, ambassadors, mentors, tutors, staff, pupils, parents and schools (I’ve probably missed some out there!). During my two year tenure, we have focussed on two things: improving our means of gathering feedback and running events to improve wellbeing. In both of these cases we have centered our efforts on TF Participants but are increasingly working with Ambassadors too. We would love to work in even broader areas but as full time teachers who do this work on a voluntary basis, we are still growing our capacity to do this effectively so have focussed on the areas we can have the biggest impact in so far. In addition to this, representatives from ANs meet four times a year at the National Action Network to discuss and feedback on ideas within TF, plan projects and make suggestions for improvements. So what does the East Midlands Action Network (EMAN) do? Over the past two years we have been instrumental in setting up a zoning system to help with expenses for travelling to CPD, have held two teach meets, two weekends away to promote teacher well being, facilitated a buddying system for new teachers and fundraised to help address the NEET problem - one of the most prevalent in the East Mids. Coming out of EMAN, two of our reps have also set up The Broader View, which although I don’t have the space to discuss much here, I thoroughly recommend you check out. We’ve got lots more in the pipeline, including another weekend away and a policy event - exciting times. As Chair of EMAN, I have enjoyed taking a wider view of education policy. EMAN has enabled me to stay in touch and take part in discussions around how to improve TF and what can be done to tackle educational disadvantage, including the Challenge the Impossible campaign. Especially in the first couple of years of teaching, it can be easy to have tunnel vision. The classroom is all consuming and it can, frankly, become easy to be disillusioned with the state of education when the vigour and enthusiasm of Summer Institute seem distant on those dark December evenings. For me AN provides an outlet and allowed me to reconnect with why I joined TF, a reminder of what can be achieved.
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*I originally created these posts for the micro-blogging education site Staffrm, which shut down mid-2017. I wanted to re-share these early forays into the blogging world but have not edited any of these posts from their original form. *
If an animal could represent your teaching style, what would it be? As my NQT year, my second in the classroom and my final year as a Teach First participant, draws to a close, I am proud to say that last weekend I organised my first TeachMeet which was attended by just over 100 teachers. I have been lucky enough to attend a range of professional development opportunities over the last couple of years including ResearchEd’s national conference, the Festival of Education and a few TeachMeets along the way (plus many other great opportunities). I am a voracious reader of blogs (helped out by Feedly and Pocket along the way) and have benefited from a number of books, especially during my NQT year. I have taken what I can and learnt more than I can put into words from the educational community - something I intend to continue doing for many years to come. I have been inspired by events I have attended and the things that I have read, which is why I began to put the wheels in motion which led to our TeachMeet. We can learn a great deal from our colleagues and, whilst opportunities to watch one another in the classroom seem increasingly difficult to organise amongst the pressures of the day to day job, the chance to discuss our pedagogy and andragogy, sharing the best parts of our practise, seem invaluable to me. The inaugural East Midlands Teach First Action Network Team Meet (#EMTM) was a great success led and delivered by teachers in the first few years of their careers. An event dominated by NQTs and those coming to the end of their PGCE year. An event where those who are still learning share that they know with others who are still learning. An event we can all learn from. Ok, so we didn’t trend on Twitter, there was no raffle or prizes to be won. But it was great to hear the conversations started as a result of the presentations and the appetite for future events. So here’s to many more to come. Many thanks to all the speakers and attendees who made it a special night:
*I originally created these posts for the micro-blogging education site Staffrm, which shut down mid-2017. I wanted to re-share these early forays into the blogging world but have not edited any of these posts from their original form. *
As part of the Teach First programme we are encouraged to take part in a Summer Project. It was here that I first heard about LRTT – Limited Resources Teacher Training (http://lrtt.org/) – an organisation dedicated to sustainable teacher training in disadvantaged countries across the world. I’ve always enjoyed travel and working abroad and liked LRTT’s message. Thankfully I was lucky enough to be accepted as one of their fellows so this summer I’ll be spending three and a half weeks with a group of likeminded teachers in Guyana. I’ve only been in the profession a year (actually a little less – but I’ll have completed my first year in the baptism of fire that is a training teacher by the time I jet off to Guyana) so am still pretty fresh – a status that has benefits (read the usual proclamations about youth and enthusiasm) and drawbacks (read relative inexperience). Throughout my first year teaching though I’ve learnt more than I could have imagined. Looking back at the start of the year I wonder what on earth I was doing, and am sure I’ll do the same again in another 12 months. With any luck I can share some of the nuggets I’ve learnt this year to make other teacher’s practise that little bit better whilst learning a few gems myself. Teacher training is normally the purview of older, more experienced staff in the education community so the opportunity to be involved at this early stage in my career is exciting! We’re privileged to have strong Initial Teacher Training programmes here in the UK, and yes I know they’re not perfect (an issue which is well addressed by Debra Kidd in her book Notes from the Front Line – a book I am yet to read but have read some fascinating extracts from), but it’s a better offer than a lot of other countries across the world. My own PGCE is (or more specifically, will come from) the University of Nottingham, some of my teaching education was delivered through Teach First, much of it through CPD at my own school and I continue to learn through twitter, blogs and the Staffrm. Next year I intend to embark on a Masters course to further my own practice. However, the overwhelming majority of teachers in countries such as Guyana are not nearly so lucky, hence the need for improved teacher training programmes. We’ll be giving up the large majority of our much vaunted and hallowed six weeks ‘off’ to try and do our bit to improve education globally. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as though it’s a completely selfless act – we get to visit a fascinating new country on an exotic continent, go on some incredible trips and, hopefully, have a great time doing it. We know we’re not going in with some kind of magic wand but if we can do something to help improve the educational opportunities that are provided then surely we’re doing something worthwhile. Joining me as part of the group will be another teacher from my school, Anna Daubney, who is in her RQT year. If you would like to contribute to the cost of the programme for us to travel to Guyana then Anna and I have set up a fundraising page at: [LINK REMOVED, NO LONGER ACTIVE]. Now, how does that old saying go? ‘Teach a man to fish…’ |
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