Thinking about...Northern Rocks 2017

‘Surround yourself with people that reflect who you want to be and how you want to feel, energies are contagious’

Last year I attended Northern Rocks for the first time. I left feeling invigorated and determined to better serve the pupils I teach and the staff I lead. I knew that, to develop professionally, I had to be a more active member of this community and therefore I made an attempt to ‘put myself out there’ and surround myself with individuals who would push me forwards.

I had to return for this year’s conference and I was delighted I could provide some of our staff the opportunity to attend. I had to expose them to the spirit, ideas and professional challenge that Northern Rocks generates. Neither I or they were disappointed.

The Northern Welcome

The Northern welcome came in the style of a Wonder Woman Panel – a collection of some of the greatest minds currently influencing education. Two consistent themes were introduced which, for me, seemed to underpin the whole conference:

1.       No-one has all the answers

2.       The importance of partnership and collaboration  

One of the panel stressed that ‘we are a profession and we need to stop being afraid’. The ‘accountability regime’ is simply not in the best interests of the teachers and or the children we serve. The Wonder Women themselves will admit that they do not possess ‘the answers’ and that ‘what is best for the sake of the children is really complicated to work out’. Schools and teachers shouldn’t be prescribed to. We need to be trusted. Trusted to use our professional judgement and to discuss not just what we are doing but why we are doing it.

‘Imagine a school in which you taught better simply by virtue of teaching in that school – what would such a school be like?’ (Judith Warren Little)

Such a school would regularly facilitate professional dialogue, expose its teachers to new ideas that challenge their thinking and provide greater clarity of how best to serve its pupils. It would be just like Northern Rocks!

Here is what I was exposed to and what I will take away.

Lazy Leadership (Stephen Tierney)

I must admit that I had to hold back the tears as Stephen opened his workshop by sharing the slides below - I need to ensure that I am present [at home] in mind as well as body.

Stephen’s session was not about being a lazy leader but about being a more effective leader by doing less better. He shared how he had refined his processes for leading T&L by stopping doing so many things. If it’s not a 9 or 10/10 he simply stops doing it or crosses it off his list. Stephen emphasised that teachers are working too hard and that they are teaching too many things. ‘Unless you stop you won’t improve!’.

Stephen, like the panel, shared the complexities of teaching by quoting Rob Coe; ‘What makes great teaching? … we don’t know as much about it as we’d like to..’.

Stephen shared how he challenges his teachers’ thinking to ensure that their practice is informed and focused. I left the workshop questioning:

·       How can I can better create the conditions for teachers to perform?

·       Do I develop a culture where my staff are willing to be vulnerable when discussing their teaching?

·       How do I contribute to the wellbeing of my staff so that they can be present at home, with their loved ones, without the burden of work hanging over them.

Professional Learning Without Limits (Dame Alison Peacock)

Alison explained how she is using her ‘learning without limits’ approach to inform her work as CEO of the Charted College of Teaching in order to positively impact the profession. She explained how the College will ‘work with teachers to share excellence across the profession’ and that it is like ‘Northern Rocks bottled’. That was enough to sell it to me!

All school’s should aspire to serve its teachers in the same way that Alison plans to serve the profession. How can my staff ‘learn without limits’?’

·       How can I support my teachers to make decisions about what works?

·       How best I can give teachers a greater awareness of the science of pedagogy?

Curriculum Imagineering (Hywel Roberts)

I told my staff that they had to attend this workshop. If you haven’t seen Hywel speak it is a must!

Hywel has been described as ‘a world leader in enthusiasm’ and he certainly lived up to that title. He gripped me right from the start and before I knew it, the session was over, not a single scribble in my notebook. I wasn’t sure quite what had happened but I knew I loved it!

When I see Hywel I often think of Ben Zander’s definition of success: ‘For me, it’s simple. It’s not about wealth, fame and power, but how many shining eyes I have around me’. I can assure you that whenever Hywel is in front of a group of people every single pair of eyes are shining. I left Hywel’s session reflecting on the messages I convey to my pupils on a daily basis and asking:

·       Who am I being if my children’s eyes are not shining?

High Challenge, Low Threat (Mary Myatt)

After reading her book, and loving it, I was thrilled to see Mary Myatt was presenting at Northern Rocks. She explained how we are a challenge seeking species and that ‘under the right conditions we are prepared to put ourselves under-pressure’. Mary refereed to cognitive conflict and how we need to recognise that ‘getting stuck is good’. As she progressed through her workshop she made reference to the work of Dweck, Willingham, Lemov and Berger as some of the essential ideas around creating the conditions to learn. We need to expose our staff to these ideas to help them make informed decisions about the best way to teach. To ensure that we providing a culture of ‘high challenge, low threat’ I need to make sure we:

·       Distinguish the work from the person.

·       Refer to prior attainment only and not ability.

·       Understand that sometimes progress goes backwards.

·       Pay greater attention to the quality of the spoken word.

 The Curriculum Debate

The conference ended with an insightful debate about the various education systems that exist across the UK. The debates reaffirmed the importance of collaboration and partnership and highlighted the danger of competition. When discussing one of the UK education systems David Cameron stated that; ‘we need to stop asking who are we better than, and start asking. who are we good enough for?’. Our policy makers are too busy with ‘PISA hysteria’ to consider if the policies actually serve our young people. Teachers are overworked and underfunded and our pupils feel neglected. As a 15 year-old form Manchester stated: ‘Education is supposed to set us up for life but does not teach us about life’.   

This is the reason I love Northern Rocks; no matter how bleak things seem to get, you can always count on the 500 teachers who are prepared to give up their Saturday and pay to attend a conference in Leeds.

There is no ego. It is simply a coming together of hearts and minds. The individuals who attend are passionate about their profession and they are just doing their best to improve the lives of the children they teach.   

Thanks Northern Rocks, see you again next year!