Settling into a teaching practice placement – it’s a bit like staying at your Auntie’s house.

Photo by Nicole Michalou on Pexels.com Nothing quite prepares you for the feeling of being in, but not of, the school where you on Teaching Practice Placement. But for the majority of beginning teachers this is the reality. So many aspects of the placement school are familiar, but you have entered a new ecosystem with … Continue reading Settling into a teaching practice placement – it’s a bit like staying at your Auntie’s house. →

Recalibrating Your Teacher Identity: When Your Past Success Doesn’t Fit Your Current Experience

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com I feel like a failure At some point every year I will have a conversation with a beginning teacher who confesses that they feel like a total failure. "I just don't think I'm up to the job," they say. “I just don’t seem to be able to do it”. … Continue reading Recalibrating Your Teacher Identity: When Your Past Success Doesn’t Fit Your Current Experience →

Getting email right: Learning to communicate professionally with colleagues in school

Every school has its own culture, ways of being and patterns of interaction and communication. I learnt this sage lesson when starting a new post in my second school. I entered the profession in an age of scribbled notes or printed memos left in pigeon holes to be collected and responded to at the recipient's … Continue reading Getting email right: Learning to communicate professionally with colleagues in school →

Getting a foot in the door: Applying for a teaching job

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com As we enter peak job application season in our secondary schools (I’m aware the application window for primary colleagues is different), I am reminded of the huge amount of time beginning teachers spend on applying for jobs. They often find the process of writing the application, and the … Continue reading Getting a foot in the door: Applying for a teaching job →

Moving Schools: Finding your footing in a new school as a teacher

Photo by Victoria Strelka_ph on Pexels.com One of the first blogs I wrote for the mentors of beginning teachers explored why mentees find changing teaching placements so hard. This blog contextualised the feelings that beginning teachers (although this is also true of more experienced teachers) can have when beginning roles in new school settings. It … Continue reading Moving Schools: Finding your footing in a new school as a teacher →

You don’t need it, but it helps: Why Teacher Training applicants find work experience helpful

Photo by Monstera Production on Pexels.com Throughout my time in ITE (Initial Teacher Education) one aspect of the interview process has remained the same - that moment when the candidates smile from their eyes as they speak fondly of a teacher who made a difference in their life. These teachers inspired them to study a … Continue reading You don’t need it, but it helps: Why Teacher Training applicants find work experience helpful →

What New Teachers Should Know About Professionalism: It’s about more than your shoes.

Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com Most beginning teachers are very concerned about what they should wear on their first day at their school placement. Do they need a tie? Are these shoes (imagine a comfy formal shoe with echoes of trainer) ok? Do tattoos need to be covered, and piercings removed? Why is this one … Continue reading What New Teachers Should Know About Professionalism: It’s about more than your shoes. →

It’s not about the money, money, money – until it is. Teacher recruitment and the need for bursaries

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) landscape should be driven by market forces like every other employment market. This is an argument we hear time and time again. There is a shortage of physics, maths, geography teachers (add or delete as appropriate) therefore we need to recognise the market forces at … Continue reading It’s not about the money, money, money – until it is. Teacher recruitment and the need for bursaries →

Tough teaching interviews: reflections on intentions and impacts

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com I was recently in a conversation with a beginning teacher who told me about an interview question they had been posed. Then they laid down a challenge: “I’m interested what you would have said”. The interview question was interesting, and not one I’d heard before: What three substantive historical … Continue reading Tough teaching interviews: reflections on intentions and impacts →