Thrive

In your first three years in teaching

Ben Wright, Emily Clements, Martha Boyne

• Publisher: Crown House Publishing
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781785833045
• eBook ISBN: 9781785833267
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Martha, Emily and Ben are thriving teachers. In Thrive they share their personal experiences and demonstrate how you too can thrive during the tricky training year, the daunting NQT year and the crucial RQT year. Using their collective insights, and plenty of evidence-informed strategies and advice, they detail how you can get to grips with the classroom basics - from behaviour management and lesson planning to differentiation and providing for SEND - and effectively continue your professional development.

This book is not just a survival manual to help teachers get through their first three years in teaching. Nor is it an academic text that has been written by authors who have only a distant memory of what it takes to stand in front of a class of teenagers for the first time. Thrive is something very different. It gives both the aspiring and the newly qualified the support and guidance to become a thriving teacher, and has been co-authored by three recently qualified teachers who in this book invest their passion and practical knowledge to inspire and inform others who want to pursue enjoyable and rewarding careers in teaching.

Thrive is divided into three parts specifically detailing what can be expected in the training year, NQT year and RQT year respectively - with the authors' commentary threaded throughout to demonstrate how the ideas discussed can be successfully put into practice. Their accounts are also complemented by expert advice from two people who are at the very top of their profession, Lianne Allison and Dr Simon Thompson, who provide wider perspectives drawn from a wealth of teaching experience. Forty of the book's forty-six chapters begin with a checklist outlining what a developing teacher is expected to do, and each chapter ends with a to-do list that can be used as a quick reference point to structure the strategies implemented. These to-do lists are also followed by lists of suggested further reading so that readers can delve deeper into topics and fields of research that they find particularly interesting or relevant.

Furthermore, the book offers helpful counsel on choosing the best training route as well as an in-depth analysis of the change in priorities for busy teachers as they progress: encouraging constant reflection, outlining potential pathways and emphasising the importance of evidence-based practice and how new teachers can, and should, incorporate this into their teaching.

Rooted in practical strategies and innovative ideas, Thrive is the essential guide for trainee secondary school teachers and teacher trainers.

1. Getting Ahead of the Game

A prospective trainee will:

Carefully consider the different types of courses available as initial teacher training (ITT).

Read a couple of books or articles from the recommended reading list.

Gain work experience in a school prior to starting ITT in September.

If you have not already decided on your route into teaching, there are several different routes available to you, which are generally split into two camps: university-led training and school-led training.2 To find the best option for you, try to discuss the possible routes with current trainees. Before you complete your application for either route you could ask the university, training provider or local school if you could be put in contact with some of their current students. Speaking to them directly about their experiences and the positives and negatives that they have encountered will enable you to make a more informed decision. Have a list of questions ready, for example:

Why did you choose to undertake the particular training route that you are on?

When did you start your first placement? Some start in September, others later, so have you seen any benefits in the timing you encountered?

What support was in place to prepare you for writing at master’s level?

You will have hopefully completed some work experience in a school setting prior to starting your ITT. Securing a place on an ITT programme should not prevent you from continuing to gain further work experience. Gaining insights from a wider variety of classes – for example, from across Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 – will give you an idea of the subject knowledge you will need to develop during your ITT year, as well as the different skills required to teach various age ranges.

You should also try to observe lessons from outside your subject area. You could do this by asking to follow a student around for the day, which will give you an insight into a range of different lessons as well as the student’s experience of them. Check with the school though, as you may be limited in terms of what you are allowed to do if you do not have a current Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, formerly CRB) check.

One of the things that most training providers would expect is for any trainee teacher to have gone into a school for at least five days. I think that’s important for two reasons: firstly because it gives that person a clear understanding that this is something they actually want to do, so it reinforces their commitment to teaching and, secondly, just from those five days, the trainee teacher reorients themselves to what it’s like being in a school. It allows them to begin to see the similarities to and differences from their own education. Otherwise the only model they go in with is their own teachers, for good or for ill.

I would also hope that they would already have a working understanding of what’s going on in education now. They would be up to date with some of the debates and arguments that are taking place among teachers and policy makers, and aware of some of the Government policy that’s coming in and start to form their own informed opinions.

Trainee teachers should take advantage of any subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) course offered. You may think that you know your subject because you’ve just done your degree, but what you’re not thinking about is how that knowledge might need to be translated into something accessible for pupils. Even if you have a PhD in a subject a short SKE course can really help.

Finally, one thing you mustn’t be misled by is the idea that a thriving trainee is the one who always answers questions and appears incredibly confident. My experience is that this does not always reflect reality and some trainees can be overconfident. You shouldn’t be intimidated by those peers on your course. Everyone has a range of prior experiences which can be drawn upon and everyone on the course has been selected because the admissions tutors could identify their potential. As such, make sure you have your own voice and don’t feel you have to demonstrate you know as much as someone else who may just have a lot to say.

Dr Simon Thompson, Head of Education, University of Sussex

You should also try to gain work experience in more than one school in order to have a more rounded experience. Only working in one school narrows your understanding of how schools work and your sense of what to expect when you are on placement. The more schools you gain experience in, the better prepared you will be for your ITT year. You will be more aware of the variations between schools and better understand what to expect if you are placed in a school which requires particularly strong behaviour management or one where you will need to stretch the most able as a priority. You will also develop a more rounded idea of the type of school that you might eventually want to work in when you are looking for your first teaching post.

While you are observing lessons, ask teachers to talk to you about the planning behind them. This will give you a better idea of what will be expected of you when you start planning your own lessons. Focus your observations on lesson structure and behaviour management. An awareness of these aspects will enable you to progress successfully during your ITT year. Look at the advice in Chapter 15: Observing Others for more ways to get the most out of these experiences.

Teaching is a profession which has a love of acronyms. Being familiar with these before you start your course will help you to understand conversations between teachers without feeling like you are listening to a foreign language. These acronyms will become part of your vocabulary but it can feel daunting when you’re not aware of what half of these even stand for! We will refer to various acronyms throughout the book, so we have included a list of some common ones in the front of the book.

When I was completing my PGCE at the University of Chichester I was asked to speak to some applicants while they were being interviewed for places on the next year’s course. The potential students were able to ask questions not ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise for Thrive
• Title Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Acronyms
• Icon Key
• Introduction
• 1. Getting Ahead of the Game
• Part One: The Training Year
• Part Two: The NQT Year
• Part Three: The RQT Year
• A Note for Family and Friends
• References
• Advertisement
• Copyright