A Celebration of Teaching and Learning.

At the age of 10 years old, I was ready to give up on learning. Now at the age of 43 I am excited to be speaking at a conference that looks to celebrate the power of teaching and learning. Next week we host our second Elevate Conference which brings teachers in Luxembourg together to discuss and celebrate different teaching and learning strategies. Teachers will have the chance to share what they are excited about in the classroom, what appears to be having an impact on their young people, whilst encouraging other teachers to follow them down the rabbit hole and check out the research.

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When I was in Year 5, only 10 years old, my mum attended the school Parents Evening, and listened to my teacher explain that I was stupid, I am not sure what the reasoning was, but the lack of faith that teacher had surprises my adult self.? My mum complained to the Headteacher who said “well, she does have a point”.? One consequence of such an attitude can be imposter syndrome, something I have wrangled with over the course of my adult life, but I was reassured when reading When the Adults Change Everything Changes (2017) when Paul Dix mentioned that ?the “… art of teaching is built on the foundations of imposter syndrome.”? It brought a smile as well as a deep sense of relief!

In the years since being 10 years old it is clear how many leaps forward the teaching profession has taken.? With a keen desire to support as many children as possible, school leaders and teachers have thrown themselves at so many challenges, dealt with so much criticism and navigated the tricky waters of political election cycles whilst doing their best to support young people. In the face of so much challenge, positive voices have risen to the surface to encourage teachers to continue making progress.? The likes of @Paul Dix, Ross McGill , @Sir John Jones, Guy Claxton , John Tomsett and Alex Quigley have sought to challenge the profession to continue bettering itself, to see the magic and power of teaching and learning and to utilize research information evidence.? And isn`t it exciting?!

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I know there are still gaps, Alternative Provision still needs to improve, the connection between classroom practice and research still needs further improvement and approaches to behaviour management, child wellbeing and mental health still need to be addressed. But so many teachers and senior leaders are beating the drum, they are making a call to arms for all of us to continue bettering the profession that has such an important impact on the generations to come.? The likes of Sammy Wright are suggesting changes to improve the examination culture, Lee Elliot-Major OBE is demanding improvements in social mobility and George Peterkin is raising the bar for positive mental health support and understanding in schools and Matthew Savage is challenging school culture and climate with a #kindness first approach.

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I salute those powerhouses who are raising their voices, who are looking to better the experience of both teachers and students and who are all making a difference. In turn I hope to raise my small voice to help make my own classroom a better environment for the young people I am lucky enough to teach.? I hope to encourage, through Elevate, other teachers to tell and share their stories and I hope we can do our bit.? Our starting to is to help support, encourage and engage teachers here in Luxembourg, we want them to celebrate what they do, to love what they do and to be inspired to play with their subjects. We want teachers to come away with new perspectives and to recognize the unique nature of every student in the classroom.? I stand with the idealists, the change makers and I too want to make a difference.

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To come back to my experience of teaching in Year 5, my mum recently told me that she continued to write to my old school every time I achieved something.? I didn`t know, but when I became a prefect at school, when I picked up my GCSE results, when I saw my A level results and when I got my degree, she wrote to the school to remind them of that parents evening.? I was mortified when I found out.? The episode taught me some valuable lessons.? First of all, don`t mess with my mum, she has the tenacity to send angry letters for years, and secondly, I feel that I am part of a wonderful revolutionary profession that continues to seek to do the best by the young people in our charge.?