Walking the talk

When ethos meets action.

Photo by farzaneh nili on Unsplash

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Thoughts and musings

I remember, during my PGCE year, myself and my fellow aspiring teachers being asked by one of our lecturers to curate our personal educational ethos. A flurry of words and phrases were banded around. Individualised learning. The whole child. Academic. Social. Emotional. Wellbeing. Every child. Sound familiar? At the time, I felt like the line I landed on was merely a tool to enhance my CV. It wasn’t until I started teaching, until I got behind the wheel myself and independently drove the proverbial ‘car’, that my ethos became clear.

It all started in the classroom. As educators, our second home. I remember ‘moving in’ to my first learning environment. Year 1. I was terrifically out of my comfort zone. However, I had that fire in my belly. The blank canvas. I had toured around a number of schools during my placements and captured a mental image of displays, table layouts, carpet spots and drawer labels. I was fortunate to work with an absolutely amazing caretaker who I shared my creative vision with for my role play corners. He helped me build a pirate ship, a jungle and suspended a picnic basket from the ceiling as I launched ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’. The hours that went into these projects. Now, I am certainly not saying that the children did not enjoy and benefit from these imaginative areas, but reflecting back so much time was spent on the aesthetics of my learning environment that I am not certain I had given much thought to intentionally embedding and reflecting my ethos in my classroom space.

It took me a little longer to land on what the word ‘ethos’ really meant. I started to understand that it isn’t surface level. It isn’t a motto on a wall or a rehearsed line shared during an interview. It is the walking of the talk. In my second teaching post, after a short career break travelling the world (and volunteering in a school in Australia) my head felt a little clearer. I reflected back on an exceptional session I had attended during my NQT year with education expert Trevor Hawes. He talked about effective conditions for learning, attention span and purposeful displays. As he was speaking, the lightbulb illuminated. I got it. It was my ethos. It went hand in hand with another insightful lecture when the idea of ‘birthday balloons’ was shared (more on this below). I wanted every child to feel like they belonged, that I was creating a safe space for them to learn, to make mistakes and to be unapologetically themselves. As I entered my third year of teaching I was able to identify and action what I believed really mattered. That which had been swallowed up in my first teaching post amongst my frantic attempts to keep my head above water and make everything ‘look’ like a classroom without really considering the depths that go into this.

Ideas and practical suggestions

So how can you ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to embedding and actioning your educational ethos? Below are two suggestions which I hope can be actioned with minimal time spent preparing. Think of these more as a shift towards intentionality as you identify, evaluate and implement impactful strategies to ensure that what you truly believe in translates into your everyday practice and learning environments.

1. Start with your pupils

It sounds so simple. However, if you were now to do a non-judgemental analysis on your routines, learning environment, behaviour management strategies and any other daily systems you have in place, are they always considering and reflecting your current cohort of children? I know, initially, mine weren’t. There will always be certain approaches, displays and policies which are non-negotiables in an educational setting and are often part of a whole-school strategy. As the title suggests, these are non-negotiable and need to be in place. However, beyond these, are you walking your talk? As with many of the areas in education which I have written about in my posts, it can be so easy to lose your glimmers in the midst of the daily roles and responsibilities of being an educator. My hope is that through sharing a few thoughts and ideas, these may just reignite some of the glowing embers to ensure that your ethos really is reflected in the choices that you make for your pupils.

• So, what considerations may be undertaken when activating your ethos and putting your students first?

  • I’ll begin with birthday balloons. This really does encapsulate the idea of recognising the needs of the individual child. I remember it hitting me like a ton of bricks when one of my university lecturers shared the idea of birthday balloons, stating, “You may be the first person that wishes this child a happy birthday on their special day.” I am exceptionally lucky to have grown up in a loving household where my wellbeing and needs were continually anticipated, recognised and met. This cannot be said for all children.

  • Birthday balloons are created by the pupils for one other assigned pupil in the class. They write this pupil a special note for the their birthday which is put inside the balloon along with confetti pieces. On their birthday, the pupil is given the inflated balloon to pop where they are sprinkled in sparkles and receive their personalised, celebratory message. An alternative to this is where the children make a birthday card for a secretly assigned member of the class. I saw this in action in a school recently and the child whose birthday it was literally lit up when receiving his handmade card.

  • On the note of being the ‘first person who…’, as an educator you are literally ‘in loco parentis’ in your daily role. Thresholds and morning routines hold perhaps more value than they may at first appear to. We have all been there - the busy morning preparing resources, checking through pre-learning tasks, attending meetings. Before we know it, the class have arrived and the day has begun. Many of us will be under timetable pressures to get through the register and ready to dive into the first lesson of the day before 9am hits (even earlier in my international teaching experience!) However, are we setting the tone for the day if we are preoccupied in the administrative constraints rather than acknowledging the more human element to welcoming each individual into our classrooms?

  • The power of the smile is not lost here. It is not only the ‘getting into role’ for the day but the acknowledgement that our pupils deserve to be warmly greeted in to their learning space when they arrive. This is not to suggest feigning false positivity. It is important to acknowledge and discuss the range of emotions we all feel in our daily lives but a greeting is something I feel we all deserve to start the day.

  • I have seen some lovely ideas related to greetings, maximising time by considering a child’s entrance into the classroom or during the register. They may choose an action to perform, mirrored back by the teacher as they cross the threshold or a response to their name being called in the register. You could ask pupils to share how they are feeling, what they had for breakfast that morning or their favourite film. A guaranteed way for you to check in on or find out more about the children in your class, which takes no extra time.

  • On the note of ensuring every child ‘has a voice’ I would also highly recommend considering how inclusivity is embedded in your routines and environments. Widgit is an incredible, symbols-based resource which empowers all individuals to express themselves. Using symbols for children to communicate their greeting, as well as having access to these on fans, teacher lanyards and in addition to words on your displays creates a ‘Communication Friendly Environment’ by removing any barriers which may be present.

  • Two of the effective conditions for learning, which stuck with me from my session with Trevor Hawes, were being a comfortable temperature and adequately full and hydrated. I am sure that we have all experienced times when these basic needs have not been met and you simply cannot think of anything beyond how hot/cold, hungry or thirsty you are. Your classroom environment is covered in more detail below, but for now I want to proffer the idea of a flexible snack time. I was in a fabulous school recently where bagels were available for the children to dive in to when they needed. This was clearly an ingrained routine as the the energy boosting snacks were taken as and when they were genuinely required and did not at all disrupt the learning. It was seamless. Now, this idea absolutely will need to be approved by school leaders, but it is an idea. Some children will arrive for a day of learning not having eaten breakfast. Waiting until the 10am mark could be an hour plus of lost learning due to a preoccupation with a rumbling stomach.

  • I was lucky enough to attend the University of Birmingham, Dubai’s Action Research Network presentations earlier this year. One of the projects focused on reflecting a particularly lively cohort’s preferences for learning in their timetable. This was no mean feat. The pair of passionate teachers used their research and findings to present to their senior leaders the need for their pupils to start the day with the more creative, right-brained subjects, including art and reading, with optimised knowledge-rich learning time being cited as after break. Increase in attainment and focus were noted as some of the positive outcomes and I truly do believe there is a lot to be said for tailoring the timetable to your cohort’s needs, where this may be possible. Even a slight amendment or addition, particularly to the start of the day, could really make the difference.

2, Then, consider your environments

So, changes to routines, scheduling and those special individualised touches that make the extra difference have been considered and actioned. Now it is time to turn the focus to the four walls which our students spend the majority of their days in. Of course, beautifully presented displays have their place, particularly when showcasing or celebrating pupils work…

• however, what depths can we add to our learning environments which embody our ethos and value the individual child?

  • It really is important to curate a climate in your room which is comfortable and keeps your learners alert. Keep an eye on that thermostat or AC control and get those windows open for a blast of fresh air (unless it is June in the Middle East) and inject some extra oxygen into the learning environment. Many teachers also choose to have plants in their classrooms for the same reason.

  • Intentionally design your learning areas to reflect the needs of your cohort. In addition to the many roles of an educator, this is where you need to add ‘interior designer’. Carefully consider how you can use your furniture to create intentional spaces for quiet moments, collaborative learning and a flow to the room that allows for easy movement. There is so much to be said about the benefits of ‘reading for pleasure’ which will be shared in a future post but a comfy, inviting reading corner should be a staple.

  • Ensure displays don’t become wallpaper. Another Trevor Hawes gem, where he shared the surprisingly minimal amount of time it takes for students to stop noticing what is on the walls around them. I have recommended Claire Gadsby’s ‘Dynamically Different Classrooms’ previously (and will continue to do so) for easy to implement ideas with high impact which ensure your walls support and provide further challenge for your pupils’ learning. Classrooms should be there to capture and display the learning journey. Flip chart paper, washing lines, sticky back plastic for easy wipe solutions (WAY better than laminating), enlarged squares for modelling maths - the list goes on. All dual-coded with Widgit symbols. Inclusivity and productivity at its best.

  • Environments can go beyond the physical. They also embody the atmosphere that you wish to create. Labelling a class as the ‘lively’, ‘noisy’, ‘difficult’ cohort is one of my biggest bugbears in education. Where we are certainly not in the business of changing our pupils’ personalities, and there is no escaping that some blending of these may not always result in the smoothest daily experience, it is our responsibility as educators to curate a learning environment that is productive and conducive to learning. There are a plethora of amazing ideas out there (and I would love to hear more in the comments below) but for today, I would like to offer quiet critters. These little balls of fur sit in a jar, eagerly awaiting the moment they can join the pupils at their desks. Like any strategy, this will not work with every pupil or for every class, but in my experience most love it. Once again, knowing your pupils helps here. Could they make their own critter? Decorate it with their favourite singer, sports star or artist? When the critters are out, the noise level is at a minimum - they’re scared of noise you see! You may also want to experiment with a noise-o-meter, the use of table points and competition such as ‘student v teacher’.

Absolutely standing the test of time:

Find out more about using symbols to empower all students to express themselves:

For further thoughts and ideas, listen to Paul Dix discuss his highly-recommended book, ‘When the Adults Change, Everything Changes’:

For practical ideas to embed your ethos in your learning environments, explore Claire Gadsby’s, ‘Dynamically Different Classrooms':