Teaching is often described as a vocation, and indeed, many teachers are driven by their passion for education. However, it is also true that teaching is a profession where career development has an important part to play.
As teaching is constantly evolving, it makes sense for teachers to take ownership of their own growth.
There are plenty of good reasons to look for a new job as a teacher. You might want to progress to a more challenging position, find a more specialised role or travel to a new location.
Whatever the reason for your search, here are some excellent ideas for making your job hunt more successful.
New Year resolutions are banded about in January with many good intentions and then often forgotten by February. Teachers might do better if they think about making some changes that will have a real impact in 2022.
Here are 4 ideas for changes that teachers can consider:
All teachers know that their learning about teaching doesn’t stop at the end of their degree or PGCE. As well as developing their own classroom experience, most teachers are genuinely interested in continuing to explore ideas and research.
It can be hard to decide which books to prioritise, so why not look at some recommended titles here:
This is an interesting take on teaching written by Prof Guy Claxton, a cognitive scientist who has some divisive opinions. His critical approach has caused some controversy on social media and the headlines created have certainly brought his book to the attention of many within the profession.
Claxton uses his knowledge to question the use of cognitive science in policymaking that dictates a particular teaching style. With the new Early Years Curriculum coming into play this year it is a very topical subject within the profession.
Paul Kirschner and Carl Hendrick have rigorously compiled what they consider to be the most important research publications in the psychology of education and gone on to provide a summary of the conclusions for each with some practical suggestions for teachers to use in the classroom.
This is an excellent book with distinct chapters that contain links to further reading, making this a very practical and accessible work for teachers to learn from.
Written and published by Andy Buck, a former headteacher, this is a guide for teachers and school leaders in the art of coaching.
It provides an excellent background in coaching with strategies for promoting coaching within schools. Designed with lots of interactive questions and self-evaluation it enables the reader to develop their techniques in coaching.
With 15 years of experience in conducting brain research, the author Jared Cooney Horvath is well qualified to advise on how people learn.
This book is a great read for those who are interested in finding out how to make their teaching more successful and get a deeper understanding of their students.
Despite a culture shift in the value of classroom observations for making judgements, observation is still very much a regular practice in most schools. This book, written by Prof Matt O’Leary, is an essential read for anyone who has responsibility for observing others.
Based on good research, it shows how effective observations can be when based on reliable evaluation methods. An excellent book for improving observation techniques and adding more value to the results.
Retrieval practice is a very topical idea in education. This book, by Kate Jones, a current teacher, is an excellent example of sharing peer knowledge and research findings to enhance practice.
It provides excellent evidence based ideas to help teachers in the classroom at primary and secondary to develop strategies for improving teaching, learning and long term memory.
This book, written in 2019 is by cognitive scientist Dr Pooja Agarwal and experienced teacher Dr Patrice Bain. Their collaboration led to a practical book that is full of research based ideas to bring easily implemented ideas to be applied in the classroom.
This very accessible book by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli presents 50 ideas divided into bite sized chunks with illustrations to inform teachers and provide a range of resources to use in class.
Easy to dip into but backed up by educational research it is a great one for teachers to have in their toolkit.
Tricia Taylor wrote this book in 2019 to explore the connection between relationships, memory and mindsets in relation to learning.
Based on excellent research in the field it contains useful guides for leaders to enable them to develop CPD training for staff as well as making it a great read for those teachers interested in cognitive science.
It has been approximately one year since the coronavirus pandemic changed the way in which we live, work and socialise. But how well are teachers coping with their remote education environment?
For many, it has been a constant struggle of trying to stay on top of increasing workloads alongside the challenges that come with permanently being online. As a result, this has led to a disconnect between the teacher and the student.
Questioning and teacher scripts have immeasurable benefits as an assessment tool. They can help with retention, behaviour and self-regulation, not to mention the long-term impact on teacher workload both in and out of the classroom.
What’s more, dialogue in class can help students activate hard thinking, enabling them to elaborate on themes and topics:
“One way for students to shoulder the responsibility for learning is for them to be the readers, writers, speakers, listeners, and thinkers in the classroom through active engagement in social interaction with others,” (Alvermann & Phelps, 2005; Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011).
For teachers up and down the country, 2020 has been an interesting year to say the least. The coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent lockdown threw our education system into disarray, with millions of parents forced to tackle the challenge of home-schooling.
During this time, teachers themselves became key workers and had to provide pupils with schemes of work that could be delivered remotely. But now teachers must overcome a new obstacle – helping students catch up on work missed during the six-month stretch of school closures.
In order to help schools, colleges and education leaders prepare for teaching in the coming months, the OECD and the Global Education Innovation Initiative at Harvard University have collaborated on a new paper.
Schooling disrupted, schooling rethought – How the COVID-19 pandemic is changing education has collected data and analysed information on the education conditions faced in 59 countries.
The current coronavirus pandemic has meant working remotely is the new norm for many. But does that mean we must simply accept that online criticism is standard practice too?
In a new paper – Harmful Comments on Social Media – published by the University of York (Law), author Kathryn Chick explains why social media has become a breeding ground for malicious, abusive, and offensive communications.
It goes without saying that every organisation and industry around the world is being affected by COVID-19, especially education.
According to the OECD, every week of school closures will cause a massive loss in the development of human capital with significant long-term economic and social implications.