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This is a transcript from an interview with Michael Wilshaw HMCI
Firstly, planning was
everything for them. They planned their lessons so that they knew what they were going to do; knew what resources they were
going to deploy, and knew roughly how long each activity would take. But
they also understood that planning shouldn’t be too detailed. It was a
framework to give them the necessary flexibility to adapt to a different way of
teaching at key moments in the lesson when the mood of the class, as it
inevitably does, changes. They recognised that the worst lessons are those
where the teacher ploughs through the lesson plan irrespective of how well or
badly the lesson is going. OFSTED won’t necessarily require a lesson plan when
inspectors observe, but they will want to see a planned lesson and there is a
difference.
Secondly, these two people I’ve mentioned were incredibly reflective teachers who would adapt their lesson plan when
things didn’t go well; so at the end of the lesson, or the end of the day,
they’d go back to the lesson plan and change it. Because they were reflective
people, they knew that they didn’t have the answers to everything and were
prepared to learn from others although they were acknowledged by the school to
be outstanding teachers. This meant that they talked a lot about their teaching
to others, were happy to go into other teachers’ classrooms and were only too
willing for other teachers to go into their classrooms. They acknowledged that,
no matter how experienced they were, teaching
was a learning experience.
Thirdly, they were very perceptive people who understood the dynamics of the classroom. They quickly noticed when the pace of the lesson had
dropped and when students had become disengaged and children’s attention
has started to slacken. They were quick to notice when the classroom hubbub had
reached an unacceptable level and Jack the lad was messing about at the back of
the room. At the same time, they were quick to spot when a youngster found it
difficult to understand the work and needed more help. In other words, they
were highly interventionist teachers and knew how to dictate the pace of the
lesson.
Fourthly, they understood the maxim
that nothing is taught unless it’s learned. They measured their success,
therefore, on whether children were learning and making progress and because
they were hugely successful teachers this meant rapid progress. Whenever I
observed them teach, they would stop the class at regular intervals and say “I
just want to check that you’ve learnt this”. They were all great at picking out
the inattentive child to ensure that he or she understood the importance of
keeping up.
Finally, they were incredibly
resilient people who withstood the slings and arrows and the occasional
paper dart unflinchingly. They never let failure get the better of them; they
learnt from it and came back stronger, tougher and better teachers. They were
all in their different ways fierce characters; fierce, not in a repressive or
bullying way, but tough on standards. They weren’t authoritarians but they were
authoritative. In other words they made sure youngsters knew who was in charge
and who was setting the boundaries for acceptable behaviour. Both took a lead
in professionally developing others and supported the school’s training
programme. Both of them would have said that the leadership of teaching was the
most important quality in headship and, of course, I endorse that view.
Headship is about leading teaching first and foremost. A good head understands
this and is, therefore, more outside his or her office than inside, patrolling
the corridor, entering classrooms and engaging teachers and children throughout
the school day. Good management is always secondary to good leadership of
teaching. I knew both of these teachers well because I did that as a head.