Diary of an NQT In the mode pastoral


THE MORE I think about it, the more I realise that my PGCE year was really only a taster to teaching. It taught me how to plan lessons and helped


improve my knowledge and ability to communicate science, and introduced me to some of the more mundane aspects of teaching – namely the mindless bureaucracy. The first few months of


my NQT year improved my teaching no end, but the one thing that the PGCE year didn’t prepare me for was the varied pastoral roles that are involved in teaching. The last few weeks have been really hammering that home to me – and have been quite tough. A few Fridays ago I


walked into my science lab with another teacher to see out of my window a huge fight kick off. Two year 11 boys were laying into one another and half the school had gathered to watch. The tallest year 11 boy was being beaten up by quite possibly the smallest. It was comical to start with,


more akin to something out of Bridget Jones. But that all changed just as we burst through the fire exit to break it up. Each boy managed to land a few hard blows, which ruined an expensive pair of headphones, tore a t-shirt, cut one boy’s head, and broke the other’s thumb. As soon as we broke it up, the several hundred-strong crowd seemed to melt away into nothing. I took one boy into my lab and the other ran off. After the remaining boy calmed down, I completed the forms and went home. The following Monday, just before briefing,


I discovered that one of my tutees had tried to overdose on painkillers at the weekend, and that it


wasn’t the first time. Over the last few weeks, she’s not been in much; in fact attendance is a real problem as she slips further behind and her grades drop more and more. Thankfully she was back in school by Wednesday. This was followed by one of my A level students coming to see me after school. She broke down into tears and spent over an hour telling me all about her home life. She was clearly depressed and I was genuinely worried about her as she repeatedly mentioned harming herself. I explained to her that I was duty bound to talk to the child protection officer. By the next day, a booking with the confidential GP who comes to the school was arranged. I just hope that goes some way to helping


her.


There have been several other “breakdowns”, “stress- outs” and depressed students recently. I’m wondering if it’s the combination of hormones, exams and sunny weather, or whether this always happens but that the students are now accepting me as a member of staff that they can trust and so are


coming to me more and more. I was aware that there would be some students with problems, but the onslaught of recent events was not something I was prepared


for. Consequently, I’m looking forward to Easter, not because I’m tired from teaching, but it will give me a few weeks to re-cooperate from the emotional rollercoaster.


• Our NQT diarist this year writes anonymously and is a teacher of science from a secondary school in the East of England. He returns next week.


A dream school? Moral support


“IT IS hard teaching kids,” exclaimed one of the students in Jamie Oliver’s Channel 4 show Dream School in just one of the episodes I have seen. As teachers, we know that she is not wrong. We know that teaching is a rewarding, yet challenging profession, but does this television experiment to use subject experts – or as Jamie calls them “18 of Britain’s most brilliant people” – to teach some of Britain’s most disruptive students in order to shine a light on the state of education really portray the true state of teaching in our schools? In this one episode, the expert


teachers were faced with behaviour disruption, discipline issues, social problems, swearing, fighting, crying, confidence issues, respect issues, subject relevance, and even a case of chicken pox. It was not all bad; one student discovered a previously unknown aptitude for history, another found that she was better at Latin than she had ever thought she could be, while another was visibly pleased at his first very competent attempt at poetry. However, while there did seem


hope, the tone of the show was predominantly negative. At one point Jamie asked the assembled students who wants to improve schools for their children. Almost all the students raised their hand. Let’s be real. This is not a true


reflection of the state of education. Yes, we know that discipline is an issue in schools. That is why we are working with the teaching unions and the Education Select Committee to help improve the issue, but in reality we found in our 2010 Behaviour Survey that teachers are not affected by discipline problems on a day-to-day basis. For Jamie and his expert staff, discipline is clearly


a serious problem, but it should not be forgotten that these students have already been failed by the school system once for whatever reason. It is also important to remember that while experts in their field, these are not trained teachers. Many of the issues that affected Mary Beard’s first Latin class, for instance, could have been dealt with quickly if Mary was aware of some simple classroom techniques. It is not just discipline that isn’t quite real. Even


if you forget that these teachers are working in a bubble that means they are not affected by many external concerns such as parents, communities and


local authorities that we know impact on the day- to-day lives of teachers, Jamie’s experts are free to teach “whatever they want, however they want” in an attempt to engage the students. This may well work, but only if you forget the need for standardised testing, examinations or comparison. Similarly, in Jamie’s school, classes can become


one-to-one when necessary or indeed optional as the staff attempts to tackle the discipline problem. The benefits of these kinds of teaching are clear, but in a climate where school buildings are not being rebuilt, budgets are being cut, and teachers’ workloads continue to increase, just how likely can one-to- one lessons be? While I see the benefits of


optional lessons from a certain age, I wonder how many year 7 parents will be happy when their child comes home after opting out of English because they don’t


like poetry, as they did in Andrew Motion’s class? Yet, it was not all make-believe. There was one moment that I’m


sure all teachers could identify with. Headteacher John had struggled throughout the week with the discipline issues of his students and his staff. He explained that he had felt more stress in the last three days than in the last three years as headteacher. When speaking to Jamie, John


broke down in his office, admitting that he feared not only for his career, but that he had somehow failed. What was inspiring is that on hearing of his stress, two other experts Jazzy B and Alistair Campbell went straight to the head to offer whatever support they could.


We know that every teacher, deputy headteacher


and headteacher will be stressed at some point throughout their career. What they need is a system that provides early detection of problems and the appropriate support. Jamie spotted the problem quickly. Support arrived immediately. Now, if that happened in every school, well that really would be a dream.


• Julian Stanley is chief executive of the Teacher Support Network. Visit www.teachersupport.info or call 08000 562 561 (England), 08000 855088 (Wales). Moral support returns after Easter.


SHAKESPEARE


Teaching the Bard


Last month, the 2011 Playing Shakespeare production of Macbeth took place at the Globe Theatre with free tickets for 14,000 students and in-school workshops. We asked Globe Education’s practitioners to offer their advice on teaching Macbeth at key stage 3


Fiona Banks


Head of Learning, Globe Education There are many, many different ways of teaching a Shakespeare play and in this article the Globe Education Practitioners who lead Globe Education’s programmes share some of the ways that work for them whether at the Globe, in our local community of Southwark, nationally or around the world. All have different approaches – that is our strength – but generally all believe the following. Keep it personal. What way is the best way into the


play for your students? What will make them want to ask questions? What will provoke a reaction? Which character or situation will they most relate to? Forming some kind of personal connection with the theme/ dilemmas of the play or character is often a good starting point. We usually work from exploring a situation or character towards language so students understand the issues that inform and motivate character’s speech before they engage with the words themselves. Make it active. Reading Shakespeare without


speaking the words and exploring the interactions between characters practically is like looking at a piece of music without ever hearing it played. Active approaches can be quick and easy and carried out in any classroom. They can be integrated within every lesson. Actors work actively and talk about exploring the text “on their feet”; they try different approaches and consider how each deepens their understanding. This is the approach we use in all of our work at


Globe Education and it informs all aspects of our new Globe Education Shakespeare editions of the plays that have this active ethos at their core, and demonstrate how active learning deepens academic achievement.


There are no right answers: or right ways to interpret


a character or scene. Every production is different. All we have is the language of Shakespeare’s plays and this tells us everything we need to know. Any interpretation that can be justified in the text is valid. All we can do is explore a play and take from this exploration our own deductions. This is one of the reasons why Shakespeare endures.


Sarah Nunn


Learning consultant, Globe Education, and firector of programmes, Creative Elements and Partners Shakespeare’s language communicates a character’s deepest emotions and paints pictures of times past, but are words simply enough for our students today? Young people want lessons that challenge their thinking and stimulate their senses. Their hours outside of the classroom, more often


than not, are spent updating their social networks, strategising within the latest computer game, and watching 3D movies that transport them to a time and space beyond their immediate environment. Faced with this highly saturated visual world of communication, how do teachers awaken their students’ enjoyment of Macbeth in the classroom? Finding creative ways to immerse your class into


the essence of the play and maintain their interest as you travel through the text is fundamental. At Globe Education, our workshops lift the text off the printed page and into a tangible physical experience that resonates within a young person, leaving an imprint on their sensory memory. These memorable experiences can be evoked at


any time with ease and enthusiasm, presenting the young people with a real starting point to begin deeper analysis of the complex themes and the character’s dilemmas alongside the language. These rehearsal room techniques act as a prerequisite to shaping thoughtful written responses. Experience is the pathway that leads to understanding. Following your practical exploration of the


text, begin to build a visual profile of Macbeth in the classroom that is constantly updated: use this “Discovery Board” to document Macbeth’s journey as the play unfolds. Appealing to the students’ skills of deduction is often very effective and can be used as a reference point at the beginning of each lesson. Photograph the students in role as Macbeth and


other key characters; add the text to illustrate the images, interview characters and attach their soundbites, include letters and opinions alongside any other visuals that help to establish key events and pivotal decisions. When a student makes a significant observation


following a practical exercise, capture their statement on a post-it note and add to the display. The “Discovery Board” should grow organically and will eventually clearly account for the demise of Macbeth, providing a rich visual profile and storyboard of his journey infused with the student’s opinions discovered within the text. Taking time to incorporate a visual record of the


active approaches you have explored, I believe is time well spent, as the rewards for pupils and teachers can be immense, triggering insights into Shakespeare that may otherwise lay dormant.


Adam Coleman


Senior practitioner, Globe Education I have been working as a theatre practitioner at the Globe since 1998 and in my experienceMacbeth is one of the most requested play scripts at key stage 3. I don’t believe there is a single reason for this but ultimately, just as the success of a professional production of Macbeth will often be measured by its box office takings, so the success of a workshop will be entirely based upon how engaged the students have been.


8 SecEd • April 7 2011


Photo: Manuel Harlan


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