‘If you want something done, give it to a busy middle leader.’
I’m struck by how many passionate, motivated and frankly, brilliant people there are in our profession. So many of us want the absolute best for young people and are completely committed to our jobs as educators. Yes, there are a smattering of less than committed individuals in some schools, but on the whole the world is full of excellent humans, doing an incredibly challenging job, day in day out.
This experience, at the chalk face and on the ground working directly with young people, makes proactive, and gives us valuable insights into the system. A system which is good, but not perfect and which could be so much better.
We’ve seen our fair share of change in Education. But as educators, we are hungry for improvement. Not just change for change sake. Not surface level change. Not a change of paperwork or policy. But systematic, considered and impactful change which wholeheartedly benefits and improves the life chances of the young people and families we serve. A brave, bold change which moves away from simply tweaking the ways things have always been done. A deep rooted, meaningful change which encompasses research-informed practices, sensible approaches and puts the 21st century young person at the centre.
As Barry Black’s recent post summarises, there are many common threads amongst the improvement drivers which educators feel are important. Of course, this only encompasses a small number of educators but it is easy to see there is appetite for change. Recently David Cameron’s TES article highlighted his proposal for important improvement within Scottish assessment. Something he’s been addressing for a long time. Two years ago almost exactly to the day, I was privileged to be invited to Scottish Government to chat with Shirley Somerville about Education. Many of the points we discussed that day are still pertinent today. Consider the number of educational consultations and reviews we’ve been involved in over the last few years yet still we see little in the way of real improvement. And yet I can’t help thinking that educators in schools are incredibly skilled in getting things done.
But it would be overly simplistic of me to think that systematic educational decision making should be handed directly to teachers. I understand how easy it is to become blinkered in education, only seeing things from one individual viewpoint after years of being in a specific role. The class teacher who struggles to understand the complexities of timetabling, staffing budgets or HR procedures. Or a school leader who finds it difficult to empathise with staff teaching full period days and the challenges of behaviour management in today’s educational landscape. Or those no longer teaching in schools, placing unrealistic timeframes or demands on schools. Each has their own individual priorities and agenda.
As an experienced middle leader, and having a husband within Senior leadership, I often feel I am in the fortunate position of sitting centrally between the learning and teaching of class teachers and the more high level thinking of senior leaders and management. It’s this pivotal point which allows me to see the demands on both those above me and below me, shaping my perspective, and giving me a nuanced, balanced stance. And it’s these voices of experience, reality and action which we need around the table, driving the improvement. I for one, would be happy to be involved in getting things done.
We’ve been talking about educational reform for too long. A little less conversation, a little more action.
