Everyone else is doing it, so why don’t I? Reading several other people’s 2015 reflections nudged me to write this short piece connecting some observations this year to a plea for school leaders in 2016.

Attending educational conferences, visiting schools, working on national committees, leading work in my own school, reading, researching and listening to debate on social-media, there seems to have been a noticeable ramp-up of language, expectation and gravitation to performativity and standards-base accountability, especially the sort that can be seen ‘in action’, is evidence-based and places teachers and their work under the microscope. Harsh also that this is expected when much needed funding is being cut. More with less? Harsh. I’m not convinced that people recoil at the existence or utterance of standards, but there can be resistance when they are misunderstood, misused or other people’s top-down mandates mean a fundamental, forced shift in practice and thinking.

I am a strong advocate for researching one’s own practice or a collective endeavour. I fully support working to make things better for students’ learning and wellbeing which supports teachers growing in confidence and develops greater agency – as long as teachers are actually agents in this. My issue is how all of this is couched, especially from school leadership. Shared work requires buy-in, sustained effort, time and very importantly, a transparent and clear vision – the ‘why?’ I’m not convinced this is always the case. The points below are certainly NOT a checklist. I have absolutely no jurisdiction, authority or perhaps the evidence to suggest that these should guide work, they are merely observations and resulting questions from working alongside teachers that could provoke thinking and planning.

• Avoid espousing the objectives and timelines of work as airtight, complete and locked-in. Certainty and a promise of evidence-based success can be comforting to some, but can motivation be sustained if there is a well-articulated apogee of practice and development that doesn’t create room for evaluation, reflection and realignment if necessary?
• Teachers are busy folk and can see through redacted, edited thinking or research to suit a priority or push a barrow. Take standards-based teaching. Suggesting there is ‘an’ illustration of practice is nonsense. It is helpful to know how something works, but ‘my’ illustration of practice as a result of research, reflection, coaching (if necessary) and peer observation (if desired) is surely more powerful than ‘that’ illustration.
• Overuse of sanctimonious platitudes directed towards an individual, an approach or being excessively pious about some research or evidence might put people off. It is healthy to encourage exploration, i.e. ‘have you considered reading …?’ ‘Here are a few perspectives you might be interested in.’ ‘What do you think of this evidence? How might it assist you?’
• In exploring and developing practice, encourage healthy debate and a fruitful exchange of ideas. How will this happen? In teaching teams? Meetings? PLC’s? PD time? Make space for this and avoid manufacturing circumstances that realign people to your central purpose. Don’t reach for the ‘candle-snuffer’ or ‘Shoosher’ and extinguish curiosity, rebuttal and the chance to create new evidence. There is nothing worse than a ‘let’s work as a team and do it my way’ mentality.
• Education is full of jargon and diatribe. Keep the vernacular common and understandable. It will create clarity. Better still, let the vocabulary evolve as a result of the work of those directly involved. Ownership of that language can build agency as it details and reflects what is ACTUALLY happening not what is being foist on people.

I wish everyone a healthy, happy and enjoyable 2016, one which supports and encourages teachers, makes the work simpler and exciting and centres efforts on making educational communities equitable and successful for all.