(Sean) I was at the height of my career when I began a part-time PhD. I could 'control' the kids, and my teaching was judged to be consistently outstanding. I originally (and somewhat arrogantly) intended to research what made me so effective. I intended to disseminate my methods – because they ‘worked’! However, as I delved deeper into the process and exercised my critical faculties, I not only began to question what I did, but also what I had become as an educator and authority figure.
As I placed the persona I had crafted under scrutiny, I stumbled upon a phrase that encapsulated my condition. I realised I had become a living contradiction: someone who habitually compromised, even negated my values in the name of professionalism. I recognised that I had mistaken my unhealthy state of being a workaholic and perfectionist as a badge of honour and a mark of commitment.
Discerning similar traits in colleagues still at the chalkface, I sought a way to operate within the system while staying true to my own philosophy.
(Julia) While Sean was teaching at the local secondary school and studying for his PhD, I was working as a part-time nursery nurse and supply teacher in local primary schools. When Sean needed to write his thesis, I returned to full-time teaching. Our 3 children were in Year 1, 3, and 5 when he began his doctorate.
I listened with interest as Sean grappled with his ‘latent sense of dissatisfaction’. We shared a lot of common ground. We both began our initial teacher training at Marjons, Plymouth in 1988, completing our B.Ed honours degrees 4 years later. We both had high expectations of ourselves and wanted to make a difference for the children we taught. Although I was intrigued by the process Sean was involved in, his questioning of the status quo, and his search for a better way, it was a time of professional turmoil and I had no idea where it would all lead.
Rich Content, Shallow Learning: I agree, I never anticipated how the research might disrupt all I had previously subscribed to. It would involve swimming against the tide and critiquing existing norms.
For example, I recall when my colleague Jon took on a strategic role as Professional Development Lead. As an established and creative practitioner, Jon championed the wealth of talent within the staff and organised a team committed to sharing their expertise. Around 20 teachers signed up. Jon asked me to attend one of the sessions as a critical friend. From the range of in-house training options available, I chose Big Mike’s session on Classroom Management.
I found it excellent! Mike used his experience as a rugby player alongside pertinent video clips to illustrate the authority and manner of a referee dealing with 30 committed players in the midst of battle.
Afterwards, I simply got on with my busy schedule and commitments until, a couple of weeks later, Jon and I found time for our follow-up conversation.
“Tell me your thoughts,” Jon prompted.
“Well, I can feed back two things,” I replied, “Firstly, it was superb, I really enjoyed it. Secondly, I’m struggling to remember anything beyond the rugby theme.”
This was consistent with my habitual experience of professional development - spanning decades. Whether attending an external conference, reading and highlighting the latest educational book, or sitting through an INSET, typically any enthusiasm was quickly swept away by the relentless demands of the next school day. Teaching, marking, planning, duties, meetings, observations, preparing for inspection, dealing with incidents, writing reports… were my all-consuming reality.
My learning had, yet again, dissipated so easily. Excessive busyness had, yet again, sabotaged opportunities for professional growth. This ‘state of doubt, hesitation, and perplexity’ marked the beginning of Edusense Reflective Tools.
My own study enabled me to rebalance and discover a renewed sense of agency and satisfaction. I began to work laboriously to create a suite of online tools to equip, enable and empower teachers to resist being dragged under by the incessant demands of the job.
Edusense is an innovative approach to continuous professional development. The tools integrate four crucial dimensions to complement what teachers already do, so their routine action becomes reflective practice.
1st Dimension - Getting Close to Your Daily Work: O’Brien and Guiney’s (2021) academic paper affirms the credibility of the Edusense methodology. They concluded that the closer teachers got to the meaning and purpose of their daily work, the greater satisfaction they had. A common phrase encapsulating this was ‘whether they made a difference’.
Our tools facilitate specific reflections on recently taught lessons. Teachers consider not just what they did, but how the educational influence of their decisions impacted learning: their own, the learning of others, and the learning of the school or culture.
2nd Dimension - Valuing Teachers’ Contextual Knowledge
Prior to my research, I had signed up uncritically to the notion of evidence-informed practice. I still value its contribution. However, the preoccupation with knowledge being packaged up and commercialised for consumption was now seen with a fresh perspective. Teachers needn't be constrained by interpreting their practice through popularised models and external experts' theories; they are capable of generating their own educational theories about what is going on in their classrooms. Making claims to knowledge and using my personal and social values as standards of judgment were liberating, as they reminded me of why I came into teaching in the first place. This aspect has also become a feature of my reflective tools. I have resolved not to offer teachers yet more knowledge but to facilitate the discovery of ‘better’ knowledge – knowledge that would lead them to contextual insights and moments of realisation.
3rd Dimension - Building the Habits of an Intelligent Reflective Practitioner: During my research I came to realise there were aspects of my attitude and practice I needed to unlearn. James Clear makes a simple, yet pertinent observation: 'Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits.' An obvious example is your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. He goes on to say that habits will form whether you want them or not; whatever you repeat, you reinforce.
I saw immediate application to the Edusense approach, as Professor Dylan Wiliam commented, 'The most powerful knowledge is not explicit, that’s why telling teachers what to do doesn’t work, and that’s why most professional development is ineffective… Improving practice involves changing habits, not adding knowledge - that’s why it’s hard. And the hardest bit is not getting ideas into people’s heads, it’s getting the old ones out.'
Consequently, each reflection ends with a commitment for me to act with fresh intent instead of merely out of habit. We now have the components to cultivate the habits of an intelligent reflective practitioner. However, there is one significant obstacle we still need to navigate.
4th Dimension - Shifting Perspectives:
"But I just can't afford the time, I’m drowning in work!"
Through my research, I came to see my incessant busyness as a deeply ingrained habit. As a teacher, immediate demands and pressing tasks fought for priority. Although I appreciated the importance of investing in reflective practices, the constant urgency of the school day would remain an obstruction unless I made a definite commitment to change. A well-known optical illusion resonated with my struggle to break old habits and replace them with new ones. I likened the weight of responsibilities to the features of the 'Old Woman' - staring ahead and consumed with thoughts of all the tasks that need to be accomplished.
I acknowledged I did not have the power to change systemic elements, but I committed to routinely make time to engage in critically reflective practice. Lifting my eyes through subsequent moments of realisation and insights, I became aware of the ‘Young Woman’ within my daily work - who represented a new, enlightened perspective for me. As I questioned existing beliefs and practices, sought new approaches, and strived for continuous improvement, I took deliberate and systematic steps to reach a paradigm shift where I found ‘a better way to authenticate my practice without compromising standards or authority’.
Edusense Reflective Tools require time and commitment to be effective. If the challenge of being an intelligent reflective practitioner appeals to you, you’re in the right place.