Why do we forget the basics?

I was reflecting on the past terms’ work in my consultancy – as you do – and thought of how many times I have had to say – ‘well if you check the curriculum it says…’. I try my best not to sound like a condescending so and so when this happens for the simple reason that often once prompted the penny does drop. 

I remember looking in the cupboard of one of my trainee teachers a few weeks ago and found some real nuggets hidden away – from the original Letters and Sounds pack including the CD (like – wow), shed loads of RWI stuff and of course Fred was staring back, all the Numicon you can imagine, a lovely class set of Nelson’s handwriting workbooks, a class set of Singapore Maths workbooks and teacher guide and right on top of that some grammar workbooks from Collins and a whole class set of reading comprehension workbooks (forgive me – the name escapes). OK, loads of resources right? This school had indeed spent!  So, I asked my trainee how many of the resources for literacy did she actually use? Resounding answer? None (with the exception of the RWI stuff which the TA depends on)! Queue jaw drop – in my head of course. She further explained, she gets trained then trained again and new things come in and then again and even newer things come in which renders the previous things obsolete. Familiar? Then here I was with yet another training which will no doubt mean she has to rework all her planning and thought processes. I understood.

How many times do we inundate teachers with the latest ‘new thing’ in an attempt to aid their delivery of lessons in the classroom thinking that this will be helpful? Then how many times do we throw it all out and start again because the ‘new thing’ doesn’t work? We all know the importance of professional development and keeping up with recent pedagogical research because we really do want to make our children exceptional learners. However, the buck should stop with that teacher to adapt and put in place what works best for their class and certainly what suits their own teaching style. Schemes hardly gives avenue for such autonomy. They are often systems that teachers have to adhere to as a whole year group or school with some degree of input. 

Is it any wonder we forget the basics on the daily? We all enter the classroom full of ideas based on our training, excited to make our mark on education and give our all to any child we have the privilege of teaching. How quickly we realise that everything we thought we would do or be, did. not. fit! I remember being made to use all kinds of schemes that never benefitted the children in my class and just felt like an ill-fitted jacket I was forced to wear.

In an ideal world – this is what I would love to see…

CPD focussing on classroom practice which puts our teachers first as the key to unlock any resources they may use (and not the other way around).

Resources introduced as a – ‘you may use this for these pros or you may carry on if what you do works!’

I wonder if this is too much to ask?

By the end of my training the teacher had fished out the comprehension texts from one of the workbooks and had begun creating her own activities and questions which met the needs of her learners. She definitely enjoyed having the coaching and felt empowered to deliver her lessons by the end. Her feedback – ‘I have clarity for once and feel this training will stay with my for a lifetime.’ No extra resources necessary: just a happy teacher refreshed on the basics, armed with the practicalities and in the driving seat. 

This is what anything we provide teachers needs to give. 

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