The importance of great teaching

It comes as no real surprise to us in education that research looking into what makes children succeed generally comes down to the fact that great teaching from great teachers is the key. The best investment any school can make is in getting effective, enthusiastic and committed teachers in front of its pupils. I hope you can all remember fondly a favourite teacher who inspired you and gave you great confidence in your potential and abilities. For me, it was an English teacher who could recite poetry from heart, weaved engaging stories into every lesson and always looked immaculate. I thought she was the bees’ knees and am sure she played a huge part in my future career choices.

However, those of us in education do not just leave these memories at the schoolroom door. We are working every day surrounded by such enthusiasts, experts and those with a deep passion for their subject and commitment to the betterment of the pupils in their care. I have lost count of how many times I have met with a colleague and been swept away with enthusiasm for a project or topic that I previously knew nothing about. Such is the power of a great teacher.

A recent article summed it up thus: 'Teaching is about engagement, about getting children to listen and switch on.'

The author's subsequent comments resonated with me:

"As a society, we spend an inordinate amount of time, resources and money looking at how to improve the quality of education in our schools. The questions we ask ourselves are always the same. How do we improve the quality of teaching and learning? (and its corollary, our examination results?) How do we make our children more motivated and competitive? And how do we get children to value and ‘own’ their education?

"And yet, after all the talk of new methodologies and curricula; after new and different methods of teaching and models of assessment; after all the time and money spent on technology; after the personalisation of education and differentiated teaching; after learning styles and habits of mind; after the debates about continuous and formative assessment; and after all the constant tinkering, bureaucratic and legislative, with their greater focus on data and compliance, we seem to be no closer to establishing what are the most important factors that make children succeed.

"The only consistent factor we can identify is the role of the teacher, whose abilities and skillset, knowledge and enthusiasm are crucial in determining the success or otherwise, of the children they teach."

The article goes on to say:

"The best teachers entered the profession to make a difference. While they may use resources to embellish their lessons, they will not allow the resources to become the lesson. The best teachers are always wanting to do and find out more about their own craft, pushing out the boundaries of their learning and teaching, which is why many exceptional teaches re-work or even discard their teaching notes on a regular basis and look for new topics, and ways, to teach."

It is exactly these kinds of teachers that we are privileged to have and seek to appoint to our team here at LCS. Teachers who teach with heart and head.

In simple terms: Great teachers may be unorthodox, idiosyncratic, employing a variety of approaches to get children to want to learn and to question what they are being taught, but, are typified by their passion, their non-negotiable standards, breadth of interests, high expectations, understanding of how children learn, empathy, an insistence on greater self-discipline and by their relationship with their pupils. Like our pupils, they are gloriously individual too!

Inservi Deo et laetare