Learning About

I’ve been asked to talk with a group of new teachers about workload and wellbeing. Below, I’ve scripted what I plan to say.

(Running alongside this, I’ve tried to highlight different, hopefully effective, explanation techniques).

When I began my teaching career, I was expected to plan every lesson I taught. I was given a huge amount of freedom and choice. I designed some cracking lessons and learnt the joy of planning from scratch.

(This aims to connect – I too was once new to the profession)!

The wellbeing that accompanies such freedom was quickly offset by the ordeal of having to do this at least four times a day, five times a week. I said some of my lessons were cracking. Most were pretty awful. There’s nothing worse for your wellbeing than going into a lesson and hoping you can wing it because you haven’t had the time to properly prepare.

(This begins to move the audience from a concrete example to an abstract idea).

About 20 years ago, autonomy was the sorcerer’s broom of education. Apprentices like me were given it as a gift but it ran out of control. As a result, I’d hope the door of my classroom would remain closed for fear that somebody would see the mess I was making. And at the end of each day, I’d spend a serious amount of time tidying up the detritus of one, two, sometimes three inadequately planned lessons.

(This uses an analogy as a cognitive shorthand).

Back then, autonomy was prized above all else. But now there’s a recognition that success is far better for wellbeing than ridiculous expectations masquerading as choice.

(Story device – a central conflict).

The most direct route to success in the classroom is through a well-made curriculum.

(Story device – here comes the hero).

At Chipping Norton School, you’ll find that our curriculum is a big contributor to staff wellbeing. As a member of a team, you’ll have access to lessons that have been taught a dozen times by experienced teachers who have modified each lesson every time they’ve taught it. The philosophy is to prioritise team work, iterative improvement and economies of scale. The approach sacrifices ‘choice’ in favour of success and so restores agency. This is highly motivating because you can now enter a classroom with the expectation that the lesson will work (because it has worked for others) and because the cost of delivery is massively diminished (you haven’t been up until midnight making the resources).

(Repetition of ‘you’ – a quasi-call to action).

What has happened at my school is characteristic of a trend in education – a tendency towards the centralisation of lessons. As a school we have embraced that trend. Years ago, I would sometimes hear the loss-of-autonomy argument (more cynically phrased as ‘you want us to teach like robots’).

There was some fear that teaching from a well-planned, expertly-curated, often-updated curriculum would rob teachers of their independence and agency. Our experience, here at Chipping Norton School, has been the exact opposite – by creating a culture in which teams work together on their curriculum, we have delivered massively improved results for our young people. Teacher wellbeing has also greatly improved.

(Story device – a ‘rags-to-riches’ narrative).

And the sorcerers’ broom? Tamed and in safe hands – teachers still contribute new lessons, built from scratch. Just every so often, not every time.

(Resolves the central conflict, returns to the analogy).

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-> I’m delivering this training next week so will update on how this lands!