What is more important than the quality of teaching in schools? It is a difficult question to avoid when you are part of a school leadership team, not that you would want to avoid it any how. It is a question I frequently revisit and discuss with two senior leader colleagues with whom I car pool most days. Worryingly, the 10 hours we spend in the confined space of the car is probably greater than the time (and proximity), we spend with our wives most weeks, but this topic is a perennial thorn is our conversation. Answering it is more like wrestling a crocodile than positioning an answer. Just as we think we have a firm grip on the answer, we are being spun round like a rag doll in the washing machine.
What is more important than the quality of teaching in schools? Gove at least gave us a starting point in his most recent (as I said I started writing this post some time ago now, June 7th), and uncharacteristically lauded speech and ironically last speech. I was reassured to see teaching quality was in the list, if mention third?
All of these principles – autonomy, accountability, teacher quality – are common across high-performing systems.
Gove (The purpose of our school reforms)
Autonomy and accountability given precedence over teacher quality? We had discussed autonomy, we work in an Academy, it would be hard not to, but accountability had not featured a great deal in our conversations.
Interesting, given the more macro view of the Education Secretary, “student behaviour” and “quality of the curriculum” – did not feature in his speech. Were these two aspects of everyday school life just wrapped up as part of the quality of teaching? And if not sufficiently important to be featured in the short list, few would argue that they are not symbiotic.
Autonomy swiftly became “autonomy and parent choice.” How schools operate and how Academies exert their autonomy will be a focus point of future car conversations, I am certain of that, as PRP changes the retention and recruitment landscape. As for parent choice, I have limited experienced as a parent, having only made one shared schooling decision with my wife for our son. We considered his Primary school options, visited our local and nearest Primary school (then satisfactory, now “an improving” and “Good” school), he liked it and attends enthusiastically every day. As a school leader I am aware of parental choice, but knowing parents have a choice does not in any way influence how I work. Conversely I am aware that year on year there is rarely a shortage of “couldn’t get into the school of choice” stories and forums and advice dedicated to the topic over at Netmums.
Accountability? School performance measures have been (are being) reformed, though education quality assurance is far from agile. As yet, I am not aware of an accountability formula that measures a schools contribution to the community it serves or the pupils hopes and dreams it fosters? It has an awful lot to do with achievement, but there is more to education than knowledge.
A survey of 198 employers in the UK indicated, for graduates, being good at communicating, a team player, confident and analytical were all more important than having technical knowledge. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-28560758)
And so, the third essential element in school success – the quality of teaching and the tried and test quotation
The difference between the progress made by children in a class with an excellent teacher and those in a class with an under-performing teacher can be as much as a year’s worth of learning, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/michael-gove-s-moral-mission/
Again, raising achievement has to be right in the crosshairs of school leaders, however, as point out above, it is not the only responsibility of schools. It is definitely a driver for parent choice, but I am confident that our parents are more savvy in their school choices than simply dragging their finger down the percentage 5A*-C grade list.
High quality teaching is a prerequisite of high achievement (in all but a few cases). What then, can be more important than purposeful professional development? Focusing on teaching and the commitment of teachers to improve themselves? I am confident it is not snapshot scheduled “marquee” Lesson Observations (also taking into account how students arrive, staff-student relationships, workbooks, in class behaviour, recording, tracking and monitoring and student interviews). And yet, how many of the truly exceptional teachers I have worked with would credit their schools CPD programme for their development as a teacher and subsequently the achievements of the students? From what I see of truly exceptional teachers, they are exceptional learners and dedicated to being better teachers each and every day, rather than the product of outstanding CPD programme. Determined and forthright in their belief that education has an important role to play in the lives of young people. And this saddens me.
The other contenders
Is strong leadership, with a clearly-articulated and shared philosophy more important than the quality of teaching. Possibly? Though it is worth considering the reverse view. Can a merely competent school leader, lead an outstanding or truly great school (the use of “great” a submission to Shaun Allison who importantly posits that there is more to a school than an Ofsted grade?)
Is accurate self-assessment, knowing your school and how to improve, more important than the where you are, the actual achievement? Are the underpinning monitoring systems and assessment procedures to assess performance and specifically under-performance more important than the quality of teaching? I find it difficult to support this perspective. Again a question reversal is useful here. Are there examples were students over-achieve in spite of poor monitoring and assessment? Probably.
Then there is the “good behaviour allows for good teaching,” versus the ‘good teaching leads to good behaviour’ dichotomy. A dichotomy I find unhelpful as high expectations of all pupils, secure and established routines, targeted praise, reward and sanctions is good teaching, rather than permits good teaching. Second, good behaviour also allows for truly awful teaching. Good teaching (not discounting classroom management) of course encourages good behaviour, the lesson should be worth your students attention. However good teaching without high expectations of students will ultimately led to exhausted teachers. You can of course debate this dichotomy, as we have done, repeatedly, as we have done. We have searched for tipping points, we have debated Vic Goddard’s inexorable “last chances” for Vinny Hunter numerous times, we have discussed social responsibility, schools as surrogate parents, we debated exclusion statistics, we have rung the praise and sanction continuum dry. Yet, it is Alan Woodhouse’s retirement speech (some two years ago now) still resonates with me.
So, what do I think I learnt over the years? What nuggets are in the Gospel according to Woody?
If you want to improve teaching and learning, firstly improve disciplined, the bedrock on which all learning is built.
Is the quality of teaching more important than the student behaviour? Our answer, raise expectations of students first, raise the standard of teaching at the same time. You can not afford not to. (This is a purposeful error).
Most recently I have been considering the importance of student readiness, specifically fluency in reading and writing, and mastery of mathematics. These are the very basic learning tools. Are they more important than the quality of teaching? Simply, for those students without them, for those students whose learning capacity is dependent, then yes. These are very basic learning skills, the keys which secure access to a broad and enriching academic curriculum. Without them, learning is locked.
What is more important than the quality of teaching in schools?
You decided for yourself, for your school and context.
- Strong leadership with a clearly-articulated, shared philosophy
- Monitoring systems to identify underperformance
- High-quality professional development
- Staff involvement in planning and taking responsibility for improvements
- Tailor-made support for pupils
- Attendance and behaviour management strategies consistently followed
- Involving parents
- A challenging but flexible curriculum
- Targeted intervention for younger students in basic skills, especially literacy
- High quality teaching
- Well-planned induction and transition arrangements
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The most powerful consequence in writing this post over an extended period of time has been the vicissitudinous nature of our thinking and our answer. Perhaps that observation is more important than the rather obvious answer that, very little is more important than the quality of teaching.