Teach First, the independent charity, created by Brett Wigdortz in 2002, has been probably one of the most significant developments for England’s education system in recent history. The charity, which places successful and ambitious graduates into Britain’s most challenging schools, has recently had its hard work quantified with a boost following the Maximum Impact Report. The evidence from the document compiled by academics at the University of Manchester, points to a positive correlation between the number of Teach First teachers in a school and pupil achievement at Key Stage 4.
While of course this is worth celebrating, there is all too often something missing in England’s most challenging schools. As children are intensively reared in our increasingly results-orientated system to get the magic five ‘good’ GCSEs the idea of schools being a nurturing environment with collective values has been lost in favour of an ethos which has more in common with that a battery farm than of a school.
This situation has prompted the same charity to publish a policy booklet highlighting the necessity of promoting and encouraging positive school cultures. The publication is the latest of a series of ‘Policy First’ documents, which are inspired and created by those who have either completed, or are undertaking the programme.
From my own experience and from speaking to others who work in similarly challenging schools as my own, this document is a highly important recognition of an emerging problem. A problem, which all too often has been looked over by myopic governments and school leadership teams, who have been preoccupied by exam results.
The idea of promoting a positive culture, or ethos in a school has been on the periphery of most pragmatic headteacher’s agenda. The notion of creating and encouraging shared values is very much viewed as a waste of both time and resources. As a result schools can have the external signs of positive cultures, with posters, quotes and slogans on the wall. All too often, however, this is to appease onlookers, especially prospective parents. When you scratch beneath the surface, these values and beliefs are in no way part of either the teacher or the child’s mindset.
My own school, which employs a number of Teach First teachers, has made a significant effort to encourage a ‘whole school’ culture. In ensuring the school motto, which celebrates excellence is built into lessons, and by making consistent references to the values, which the school aims to embody. This ethos has been highly significant in a journey, which has seen the school losing the dreaded ‘special measures’ nametag. The school, day-by-day is becoming an institution of which students, staff and parents can proud. This would not be possible if staff, pupils and parents were not tied into the vision and values of the school.
Another school, King Solomon’s Academy in Marylebone, has gone even further in forming a positive culture for its pupils. Much of which is borrowed from the Knowledge is Power Programme from the USA. In these schools much is done to reinforce ideas of high expectations, and the philosophy that ‘there are no shortcuts.’ From inspiring chants, to regular trips to university the school looks to be making a significant step in reducing the staggering achievement gap between pupils from differing socioeconomic backgrounds.
In short, I welcome the report of the Teach First programme. It is of crucial significance that children have something, even if it is abstract notions such as achievement and community, to believe in and to hold on to. In sum, we cannot afford not to embed a positive culture in schools where the children themselves are so often surrounded by such a negative one.
what about the plans for vocational schools to open for kids from 14 ( enginneering,construction etc) english/maths/science to GCSE, but how can selection avoid curtailing development by diverting into this system children whose confidence may well be already under attack?
Great article and nice to hear how Ethos and Culture worked at your school. I’d love to know how you went about building the moto into lessons. I wrote the chapter in the report about what ethos and culture means and found the link between the symbol and common experience particularly interesting. I’ve written a blog about it which you might find interesting: http://lkmconsulting.co.uk/article/policy-first-2010-ethos-and-culture-schools-challenging-circumstances-22112010 Loic Report co-author and Director- L.K.M Consulting (Teach First 06)
Heartily endorse Geoff Wells’ comments and Teach First is an excellent scheme. Michael Rutter, (Prof Sir), the eminent academic child psychiatrist demonstrated the key importance of a schools’ ethos in his seminal work “15,000 Hours” a couple of decades or so ago. Leadership, the quality of teaching and learning, ethos, aspiration and curiosity are all factors that we have known for years are what really matters in education. Not structures…
We can all agree that addressing educational disadvantage is and will be a major concern in the coming years and decades. But why is a “New Labour pressure group of Labour party members and trade unionists” supporting Teach First when there is good evidence that such organisations (e.g. Teach for America) are a device to lower salary costs, get around wage agreements and force out more experienced but more expensive staff? In the US, the Teach for America (TfA) experiment is highly controversial. It is said Stateside, for example, that undertrained and non-qualified TfA teachers are not ready for the classroom when they begin, that they are employed instead of fully-trained staff, that their high turnover is having detrimental effects on learning and that in some subjects – if not all – TfA teachers do worse than their non-TfA counterparts. The jury is still out on these organisations despite their PR. The University of Manchester research that you cite was funded by Teach First itself. It is hardly going to fund a study that paints it in a poor light especially when education budgets are under attack and researchers will be under pressure to justify their posts. It seems to me that your pressure group’s “trade unionists”, in particular, should remember what a trade union is for and that cosying up to the neo-Thatcherites isn’t the answer.