Thanks for your comment, Rosie. Changing schools is not always easy but autonomy within the profession is just so important. If there’s the opportunity to have more freedom and trust in another setting, this is an important reason to make this change. Best of luck in your new school!
The tension between consistency and autonomy is one that many schools resolve by defaulting to compliance, losing the professional engagement that makes teaching sustainable and curriculum genuinely responsive to the children in the room. The point about long and medium-term planning being increasingly disengaged from is worth taking seriously, because without that broader view teachers lose the sense of why this, why now, which is precisely what gives lessons their intentionality.
Thank you for a really coherent and concise summary. I do believe that in “saving time” by planning lessons on slides, this critical long-term overview and thinking is lost. I write more on thinking beyond the slide deck here, if of interest: https://lauraspargo.substack.com/p/instead-of-a-slide-deck
@Mary Myatt and I have also had a number of interesting conversations about this.
Absolutely! One of the reasons I am about to change schools in fact!
Thanks for your comment, Rosie. Changing schools is not always easy but autonomy within the profession is just so important. If there’s the opportunity to have more freedom and trust in another setting, this is an important reason to make this change. Best of luck in your new school!
Love your emphasis on giving teachers time to make informed decisions. Totally agree!
Good read. Trust--absolutely necessary!
It truly is, Jennifer. Thanks for your feedback. I wrote a whole ‘glimmer’ on the importance of trust, if of interest:
https://lauraspargo.substack.com/p/trust?r=4cvlkw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I look forward to following you here on Substack :)
The tension between consistency and autonomy is one that many schools resolve by defaulting to compliance, losing the professional engagement that makes teaching sustainable and curriculum genuinely responsive to the children in the room. The point about long and medium-term planning being increasingly disengaged from is worth taking seriously, because without that broader view teachers lose the sense of why this, why now, which is precisely what gives lessons their intentionality.
Thank you for a really coherent and concise summary. I do believe that in “saving time” by planning lessons on slides, this critical long-term overview and thinking is lost. I write more on thinking beyond the slide deck here, if of interest: https://lauraspargo.substack.com/p/instead-of-a-slide-deck
@Mary Myatt and I have also had a number of interesting conversations about this.