September brings excitement for the school year ahead, and it is not just the students looking forward to shiny shoes and new stationery; many teachers also have a spring in their step as they launch themselves into the start of the academic year. But what happens when the shine wears off? What can school leaders do to keep motivation high and encourage teachers to stay?
In AMC’s quantitative research report, ‘Data based solutions for the global teacher shortage’, https://www.anthonymillard.co.uk one in five teachers stated that they are considering leaving within the next two years. With the workforce shrinking at both ends, the report emphasises that recruitment and retention should both be prioritised.
“When teachers do their job better, students live longer, are healthier, and contribute more to society.” (Dylan Wiliam, March 2014)
The positive impact on student outcomes is sufficiently compelling for Heads, and creating a culture of reflective practice can also reap benefits for staff development and retention. AMC’s research suggests that, to promote staff retention, school leaders should instil confidence, enable teachers to make a difference and alleviate workload where possible. The report also recommends a focus on culture and values to encourage staff retention, as well as seeking to empower teachers and instil joy. This report provides a timely reminder to Heads that a meaningful commitment to staff development is worth the effort.
In their report, ‘Effective Professional Development’ (updated October 2021) 1 The Education Endowment Foundation define professional development as “structured and facilitated activity for teachers intended to increase their teaching ability”. EEF recommend that, in order to be effective, initiatives should:
One of the most impactful professional development initiatives I used as a Head, was Staff Peer Observation.
“Peer Observation is when a teacher observes another teacher in order to develop their classroom practice… Peer observation is a two-way process that can benefit both the observer and the teacher being observed, with the goal of improving learning and teaching… Effective schools appreciate that non-judgemental observations can form part of high-quality professional development. These schools see peer observation as important because it can improve the quality of teaching and learning for an individual and a whole school.” 2(Cambridge Assessment International Education)
There are many models out there, should school leaders wish to roll out this initiative. The process I followed is broadly outlined in the diagram below:
The positive impacts, anecdotally, included:
In addition to the benefits above, my final cycle of peer observation produced perhaps one of the most powerful outcomes: increased compassion. The inset training session for staff, where they reviewed research on pupil perfectionism (the chosen focus), increased their knowledge and understanding. This resulted in some teachers stating that they now felt more able to support pupils with perfectionist tendencies, rather than reacting to behaviour.
As a Head, selfishly, running these cycles of peer observation also brought me joy. I looked forward to choosing a topic and preparing the inset training and regretted those occasions where I felt unable to give it the necessary time; peer observation had the potential to bring about tangible improvements across the school, and failing to prepare was a missed opportunity.
What could I have done better?
As the demands of headship increase, so the time for the more rewarding aspects of leadership and management seems to diminish. On occasion, the firefighting pulled me away from time for staff development, and I could sense when staff motivation for the chosen focus of peer observation was lower than it had been for cycles that I had better prioritised.
Each cycle ended with a staff meeting where individual teachers shared their reflections on how they would refine their practice to further enhance performance in that area. In the spirit of honest reflection, I see now that I also could have been more explicit and proactive about how teachers might reduce workload to create space for the peer observation task. While I dedicated staff meeting time to the training and reflection sessions, I perhaps relied too heavily on the belief that teachers would ask if they needed help finding time for the observation of their peer and subsequent peer feedback. If I was to do this again, the key refinement would be to avoid taking for granted my belief that I was an approachable and supportive Head, and to include in my preparation the mechanisms for teachers to make space for this valuable form of professional development.
