Like many, I was made redundant during the pandemic.
Back in March 2021, my options boiled down to taking any job to make ends meet or pursuing my passion for working with teachers. With the support of my wife, Julia, I was blessed to be able to choose the latter.
Some two-and-a-half years on, and after a false start this time last year, I’m on the cusp of realising my dream of providing a fresh dimension of professional learning to those who remain at the chalkface. This is my first tentative post under the banner of Edusense Reflective Tools.
Finding my groove
My word, the professional development landscape is competitive! Defining a unique niche within it has been an invigorating challenge. Advice and guidance on ‘How to…’ saturates the market. I have little interest in competing with those prominent figures who dominate my social media feeds. With a grand total of 31 Twitter followers at the time of writing, they needn’t lose too much sleep ;-)
And becoming a speaker at conferences does little to float my boat. I’m happy to talk but only if I have something worthwhile to say. In truth, I prefer to watch and listen than to speak.
Instead, I’m advised to work in accordance with my values to identify my USP (Unique Selling Point) and refine my elevator pitch.
How to position myself: my career to date has etched a defined, distinctive path. This was subjected to rigorous scrutiny through my PhD and documented in Living Contradiction: A Teacher’s Examination of Tension and Disruption in Schools, in Classrooms, and in Self. This critique of effectiveness provides me with quiet assurance as I travel through this period of uncertainty. I am well into my fourth decade working in education and I have reached a point where I know who I am and I know what it is I do.
Recognising my niche
Prioritising quality as experienced rather than as measured
As an ambitious practitioner, I fully subscribed to the idea that knowledge exists as packages of information and theory to be downloaded and consumed.
However, through my research I came to champion the rich claims to knowledge that emerge from teachers’ authentic experiences as they provide explanations for what they do in their own unique contexts. That it is they (rather than politicians and civil servants, renowned educational gurus or external consultants), who are the experts in their domain. Drawing on the insights that are privy to you and those who share time and space with you, our suite of tools enable you to reflect on the difference you made in your daily work by examining the educational influence the exchanges and interactions had on your own learning, the learning or others, and the learning of your school culture.
Briefly:
Phase 1 contains a suite of innovative reflective tools, two of which have been selected to launch our brand: Chalkface Check-Up and Lesson DnA. Others exploring the themes of Adaptive Expertise, Transformative Mentoring, the Illusion of Knowing and Classroom Climate are scheduled to follow.
Phase 2 will extend our menu to develop the capacity for resilient leadership.
Phase 3 will draw attention to our ‘rough gems’!
Whereas the initial phases enable colleagues to select and subscribe to tools that capture their interests/meet their needs, Phase 4 will offer a new dimension. Here, I am able to interact with you remotely, as 1-1 coaching packages with an emphasis on the Resilient Mentor and the Functionally Fluent Teacher are made available.
If you’re looking to add value to what you already do, Edusense Reflective Tools may well provide you with that elusive X-Factor – take a look to find out more.