Gavin McCormack: If you want to improve your school, trust your teachers!

Photo courtesy Gavin McCormack LinkedIn post

School leaders, executives, leadership teams, parents and the government all want the schools in their communities to improve.

They want more engagement, higher student retention, independent learners and improved results. Whilst differentiation and assessment are topics we could discuss all day, the powers that be must first recognise that teaching is a profession. It’s a vocation that involves a high level of skill, dedication and hard work.

No teacher in the world gets out of bed in the morning wanting to fail their children. No teacher walks into class hoping that their children will be disengaged.

The problems with teaching in 2019 are the pressures on teachers to not only bring home the results for standardised tests but also meet the requirements set by governing bodies on professional development, self-assessment and ongoing scrutiny from all angles aimed at teachers.

If a school really is to improve, we must understand and trust that our teachers know how to teach, they each have their own styles, their own niche and their own way of getting the points across.

Let them be unique, let them teach how they want and become a master of their craft. Just as teachers understand that not all children learn the same, we must understand that not all teachers teach the same way.

Put faith in them, trust them and let them become a true master of their trade. Then we will surely see the chickens coming home to roost each night.

Reproduced from https://gavinmccormack.com.au/if-you-want-to-improve-your-school-trust-your-teachers/
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