“Oh well, in five years time we could be walking round a zoo/
With the sun shining down over me and you”
Noah and the Whale ‘Five Years Time’
Over eight years have passed since I first started blogging about education. In that time, I have been fortunate enough to publish five books and host hundreds of hours of podcast interviews.
I’ve been lucky enough to have the space to think deeply about education, and try to offer something that might contribute to the success and happiness of teachers and young people in schools.
I’m now at the point where I am thinking about next steps. I left the classroom almost three years ago to set up a new English PGDE at Edinburgh Napier University. I’ve learnt a huge amount from that experience and worked with some great people.
It has also allowed me much more flexibility. I’ve completed coaching qualifications and started a running and wellbeing business (www.runwithcompany.com). A project I initially set up to support teachers doing their year of teacher training, ‘Beyond Surivial: the New Teacher podcast’, has now over a hundred episodes and well over 50,000 downloads.
I’ve also been able to spend more time with my two young children in their early years than I would have had in schools – something I am very grateful for.
Best of all has been the amazing new teachers who I have supported. Getting to know them, understanding their motivations for entering the profession, and seeing the impact they have made in classrooms has been by far the best part of the job.
I do think, however, there are very real and pressing issues with how we as a profession support those who are making their first steps into a career in teaching. I’m also conscious I don’t particularly ‘fit’ in the world of academia.
I also, very simply, really miss working with young people and being in schools. For some time, I tried to resist the pull of this, I wasn’t sure if I just needed time to adapt to a new way of working.
Over time, I realised that it wasn’t about adapting – it was the simple fact that I am at my happiest, best and having the most positive impact when I am working with young people and in a school.
In Five Years’ Time
A wise person once told me to think about your career in five-year chunks. As I look forward, I’m really drawn towards working in the pastoral side of things in schools. I’m not sure what that will look like at the moment, or how I will get there – but another piece of valued mentor advice is to try to become comfortable with uncertainty.
So why start another education blog?
Writing has always helped me to make sense of things and reach decisions. I also know it has helped me to learn and made me better in the work I do in education.
I also like to use writing to explore what lies beneath the surface. Whatever I do next in schools will have this at its heart.
The iceberg analogy that this blog is named after encapsulates this perfectly: much of what happens in schools is on the surface, but that masks the complexity and depth of education.
This blog will explore just that: what happens beneath the superficial in schools. As I take tentative first steps towards the pastoral route forward in my teaching ‘career’ (whatever that means!), I feel like this analogy is particularly fitting.
I want to reflect, write and learn more about relationships, mental health, communication, inclusivity, teacher skill-sets and what really happens in classrooms to best support young people.
Strangers on a Bench
I’ve been listening to the brilliant podcast Strangers on a Bench recently. The host, Tom Rosenthal, walks up to a stranger on park bench and asks them if he can record their conversation. It is in turn charming and deeply moving, a reminder of how complex and fascinating we are as human beings.
His final question he asks is always: “What are you going to do next?”
That question can be anxiety inducing or exciting. It can be answered very simply, or profoundly.
I’m not sure how to answer it now, but this blog will be one of the ways I will try to continue to make a small and positive contribution to the world of education.
Thank you for reading.