We’ve all been swept up by the hype that has come in the wake of the creation of generative AI (aka GenAI) systems. Back in 2023, when ChatGPT was launched, its capability was limited to text generation, spell checking and rudimentary admin work. Now, however, the form factors of GenAI come in so many shapes and sizes. People are using AI to create slide presentations, images and videos, to record meeting notes, to generate complex documents such as spreadsheets and academic papers and even to act as virtual therapists.
One thing that I would like to assure all of my readers about is that I have NOT used GenAI to write this blog post. I believe that bloggers, journalists, reporters and writers have a duty to be genuine and sincere. That’s why, from now on, you’ll see this badge on my blog posts as a verified symbol of my authenticity:
And, before we begin, I think this juxtaposition is a good place to launch my tips from: AI tools can save us tons and tons of time, but they cannot replicate human authenticity. For someone who’s an award-winning author, like myself, it’s actually very easy to tell when an email, for example, has been created solely from prompt engineering. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that GenAI is a bad thing: it’s just that there are optimal and sub-optimal ways of using such systems, which I will outline today.
DISCLAIMER: Always check your school’s policies and procedures before using any GenAI system. If in doubt, check with your school’s senior leadership team.
My Top Three Use Cases for GenAI Systems as a Teacher
I recently discovered this system when preparing to deliver one of my corporate training workshops. Here’s what I love about it:
You can generate very high quality slides from simple prompts, in a matter of seconds. It’s very good for quick slide preparation (even quicker than sourcing slides from places like the TES, for example).
The content produced is really, really good!
Slides come with AI generated images (which are brilliant), which saves you the hassle of having to include citations/captions when attributing images to their sources.
Things to consider:
The text produced on the slides can be quite small, in parts, so you may have to change font sizes afterwards.
A free trial only gives you so many generations, and the slides come with the Gamma logo on them. However, the logo is removed if you pay for the full subscription, which is only US $8 per month (billed annually at US $96). This plan gives you unlimited AI generation for slide decks up to 20 slides per time (which fulfills most of my needs as a teacher).
Here’s an example of a slide that Gamma created for me recently:
Overall, Gamma is an excellent system and I recommend teachers everywhere to give it a go. Do the free trial and see if it is the right app for you. I personally signed up for the Plus plan, as I can see Gamma being an excellent assistant for a lot of the presentations I deliver.
This is probably the app that will make you gaze in wonder the most when you first try it – at least that’s what happened to me! Gone are the days when you need to hurriedly write down everything you could manage to hear in a meeting, and then figure what to do (and by when) once the meeting was over. Otter does all of that for you.
By listening to the meeting conversation, Otter can identify speakers and transcribe the meeting as it happens, in real-time. It’ll even provide a summary of what was said at the end, along with a list of key action items (you’ll be amazed at how much it picks up, and how much you missed, when you see it!). The action items even come with check boxes for you to tick off when they’re done!
Like Gamma, Otter allows you a limited free trial (300 monthly minutes of meetings). For the Pro version, which gives you 1200 transcription minutes per month (with a maximum of 90 minutes per meeting), the price is US $8.33 per month (billed annually as US $99.99).
I’ve not (yet) gone for the pro version of Otter, but it is something I’m considering. One thing I hate about meetings is the inability to be fully present as I feel the need to constantly make written notes. With Otter, I can see myself relaxing and being fully attentive whilst the system transcribes everything for me.
#3. Your Overall Personal Assistant: ChatGPT 5 (and further iterations)
GPT 5 has been hailed as a “PhD Level” assistant by its creators, Open AI. Interestingly, as if by a weird mixing of Murphy’s Law with a slap-in-the-face, I made a video all about the three apps I’ve mentioned today on August 7th, which you will see below. In that video, I mentioned ChatGPT 4 as one of my favourites. Later that day, I found out that ChatGPT 5 had just been released (that very same day!). Talk about a coincidence!
I’ve only had two days to test ChatGPT 5 and, to be honest, I’ve not seen much of a difference (yet) between it and ChatGPT 4. However, if it really is a better version of GPT 4, then it is destined to be absolutely awesome!
ChatGPT is my go-to app for a variety of generative needs. Here’s what teachers all around the world have told me about how they use ChatGPT:
A personal therapist: ChatGPT is capable of participating in complex conversations, which makes it ideal for therapy. It offers non-biased, factual advice that can really make people feel reassured. I recently went through a mini-crisis in my life, which is very personal to me, and I found ChatGPT to be an amazing ‘friend’. It analysed my situation fully, and in a balanced way, and made me feel a lot better. It also gave me great advice. Please be aware, however, that some researchers do have legitimate concerns about using AI systems as personal therapists, so definitely consider this before using ChatGPT in this way.
Creating student report cards: ChatGPT can create report cards in a matter of seconds, which you can easily copy and paste into your school’s system. As mentioned in the disclaimer at the top of this blog post: please CHECK WITH YOUR SCHOOL FIRST before using GenAI in this way. If you get the green light from SLT, then remember to be a good ‘prompt engineer’: you may need to iterate outputs as they are generated. Don’t forget to specify the genders of the students you are reporting on, and provide the system with enough information to create accurate report cards. ALWAYS double-check for accuracy.
Other generative needs: ChatGPT can create pretty much anything that you ask it too: images, Excel files, slides, and so on. However, the quality of these outputs can vary. I recommend using specialised apps (such as Gamma for slides, Otter for meetings, etc.) if you have special, and regular, use cases.
The dreaded em dash: a penultimate thought
One dead giveaway of GenAI content is the dreaded em dash, which looks like this: (—). It’s basically a very long hyphen, which is very, very rarely used in everyday situations. Even as an award-winning author, I never use em dashes in my books (unless my proofreader inserts them). There isn’t even an em dash key on standard computer keyboards. Instead, it is accessed through alt codes or special inputs. If you want your GenAI content to look more genuine, then I recommend specifying in your prompts that em dashes should not be used, or tell the system to remove em dashes during the iteration process.
My thoughts on the current stigma surrounding GenAI usage in schools
Unfortunately, whilst the corporate sector is scrambling to create smart workflows using GenAI systems, schools are woefully lagging far behind. In the teaching profession generally, the use of AI systems for the reasons I have specified today is still frowned upon. Even sourcing slides that other people have made is looked upon unfavorably by some school leaders. This, sadly, has caused a lot of teachers to go ‘underground’ and use GenAI covertly.
Things will have to change soon, however. I have been doing a lot of courses in AI this year (check out my LinkedIn profile to see my certs) and I can tell you sincerely: it’s FRIGHTENING how advanced GenAI has already become. These systems are already breathtakingly good, and they’re only going to get better. Sooner or later, the stigma surrounding teachers usage of GenAI in schools will have to dissolve: it’s the only way that schools are going to be able to stay relevant.
As a teacher who’s worked with students across a range of schools and contexts, I often hear colleagues say, “The gender gap? Isn’t that old news?” At first glance, that might seem fair. After all, in many parts of the world, girls are now outperforming boys academically. But when you take a closer look, a much more complex picture emerges.
A gender gap in education does, actually, exist. However, it is not a simple case of one gender consistently falling behind. Instead, it reflects a range of disparities that shift depending on region, subject, and socioeconomic status. Over the past few years, researchers have taken a fresh look at how gender intersects with learning. The findings are as relevant as ever for us in the classroom, and in this blog post I’d like to take a deep dive into what the latest research tells us.
Girls are Leading in Academic Performance, But at What Cost?
Recent international data shows that girls continue to outperform boys in reading, writing, and overall academic attainment in many high-income countries (OECD, 2022). The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results indicate that girls significantly outperform boys in reading across almost all participating countries, and the gap is getting wider.
However, this success often comes with a price. Girls report higher levels of school-related stress and anxiety, particularly around exams and future expectations (UNESCO, 2023). A global study by the World Health Organization found that adolescent girls are much more likely than boys to experience internalising mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, which can be exacerbated by academic pressure (WHO, 2021).
Boys and Disengagement: A Persistent Problem
On the other hand, boys are consistently more likely to struggle with engagement and behaviour in the classroom. Data from the UK’s Department for Education (2021) shows that boys are overrepresented in exclusion rates and more likely to underachieve in language-based subjects. In many classrooms I’ve observed, boys are often the ones more likely to act out, resist extended writing tasks, or show reluctance to participate in group discussions. This pattern has shown itself throughout my entire teaching career, which now amounts to almost twenty years of full-time practice.
The pandemic appears to have made this worse, however. Research from McKinsey & Company (2021) indicates that male students in the United States experienced greater learning loss in reading than female students during school closures. That is a trend echoed in other countries, particularly among lower-income and marginalised groups.
The STEM Gender Divide Persists
Despite progress, the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) remains a global challenge. While girls now often match or even outperform boys in school-based STEM assessments, they remain underrepresented in STEM degrees and careers (UNESCO, 2021). The issue is not about ability. It is about confidence, self-concept and (dare I say it) personal choice.
A recent report by the European Institute for Gender Equality (2022) revealed that girls are less likely to see themselves as good at maths, even when they perform at the same level as boys. This lack of confidence discourages them from pursuing further studies in technical fields. As teachers, we need to be aware of the subtle messages we send that may reinforce these patterns.
I think this is an apt moment for me to suggest some further reading that may be of use to anyone who wants to empower their students and build their confidence:
Check out the power of Subtle Reinforcement, a concept I formalized and outlined back in 2018, which is a very impactful way to build character and self-belief in our students over time.
As teachers we tend to praise our students a lot, but praise is something that has to be deployed carefully in order for it to be effective. Read my blog post on the Four Rules of Praise to find out how you can give positive feedback that truly inspires, empowers and builds your students up.
All of our students deserve to be recognised for their efforts and have their work acknowledged, regardless of their gender. However, I think it’s important to bear in mind the findings of European Institute for Gender Equality cited above and remember that many of the girls we teach may have self-confidence issues, and we should aim to build them up, encourage them, empower them and refer them to other professionals if the need arises (e.g. school counsellors).
Mental Health and Gendered Experiences in School
Gender gaps in education are not only about achievement. They are also about well-being. A recent OECD study (2023) found that girls are more likely to report anxiety about schoolwork and a fear of failure, while boys are more likely to report boredom and a lack of connection with school.
This suggests that educational environments may not be equally supportive for all students. Girls may feel pressure to excel, leading to perfectionism and anxiety. Boys may feel alienated or disengaged, leading to underperformance. Both groups need support, but in different ways.
So What Can We Do?
As teachers, we are in a unique position to break cycles and challenge stereotypes. Here are some simple strategies I’ve used that can make a difference:
Model gender-neutral attitudes in classroom discussions. Avoid statements that imply certain subjects are more “for boys” or “for girls.” Everyone brings skills and abilities to the table, and we should acknowledge all of our students’ hopes, dreams and career aspirations.
Provide diverse role models in your curriculum. Highlight both male and female scientists, writers, leaders and thinkers. As a mathematics and science teacher, I have sometimes found it more challenging to find female examples of experts in these fields than male ones, but that has not deterred me from trying. I’ve certainly found that girls tend to connect more with the content when they can see that other females have accomplished greatness in the subject. Let’s keep our role models that we cite and reference varied!
Encourage all students to take risks, ask questions, and reflect on their learning. Confidence-building matters just as much as content. The classroom should be a space where questions, inquiry and problem-solving are welcomed. This, after all, promotes deep-learning (as opposed to surface learning) and keeps things inclusive.
Track participation patterns. Who is speaking the most? Who is holding back? Use this data to plan for more inclusive engagement. Make a mental note (or maybe a written one) of who your ‘shy’ students are and utilize techniques to reach them. Read my blog post on Five Strategies for Engaging Quiet, Shy and Withdrawn Students for specific advice.
Final Thoughts
So, does the gender gap in education really exist? Yes. But it is not always where we expect to find it. Girls may be topping the leaderboards academically, but they are also more likely to suffer from stress and pressure. Boys may seem carefree, but they are falling behind in literacy and disengaging from school.
As educators, our job is to stay curious and informed. Gender equity is not just about access anymore. It is about ensuring that every student feels safe, empowered, and supported to succeed. The more we understand the complex realities behind the data, the more we can make a meaningful difference in our classrooms.
Let’s keep listening, adapting, championing every learner, regardless of gender.
OECD (2022) PISA 2018 Results: Are Students Ready to Thrive in an Interconnected World?. Paris: OECD Publishing. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/
Don’t forget to check out the full bibliography and recommended reading list at the end of this blog post.
The world is grappling with a significant teacher shortage crisis. According to UNESCO, an additional 44 million teachers are needed by 2030 to achieve universal primary and secondary education (UNESCO, 2024). This shortage is not just a statistic; it has profound implications for the quality of education and the future of societies worldwide.
A simple glance through teacher forums, such the incredibly popular International Schools Review, reveals a dark abyss that’s peppered with bleak testimonials:
“I believe that many of my colleagues feel unheard and mistreated – this has been shown time and again in our staff surveys. Of course, someone in the inner sanctum would not be subject to the toxic, exclusionary, bullying behaviour meted out by SLT; it does not mean it does not exist. Some colleagues are leaving this academic year due to feeling disenfranchised.“
– A teacher at a school in Singapore, May 2025
“The school is working to improve vertical curriculum alignment, but since the school has been in operation for many years, it is surprising that the curriculum is such a mess, at least in the department I taught in. I think that will get better in the next few years though. If you order your materials the year before, you can get things, but don’t expect to have them at the beginning of the school year. If you need classroom supplies like pencils, markers, erasers, etc, good luck.”
– A teacher at a school in Brazil, May 2025
“Walking through the corridors is akin to walking through a zoo. Children scream, shout and run about with no regard for safety. No teacher dares make an attempt to challenge this behaviour for various reasons. Two of which are fear of the parents and lack of support from the principal.”
– A teacher at a school in Kazakhstan, May 2025
These reviews, and others like them, offer some insight into the world of teaching at an international level, and go some way to explaining why so many teachers are quitting the profession. In today’s blog post, I aim to describe the key factors that are driving this exodus, and describe some much needed advice for all stakeholders who want to retain their brightest and best teachers for years to come.
Understanding the Crisis
Several factors are contributing to the current global teacher shortage:
High Attrition Rates: Many teachers are leaving the profession due to burnout, low salaries, and lack of support. In the United States, for example, 51,000 teachers quit their jobs in 2023 alone (Devlin Peck, 2025).
Uneven Distribution: Rural and underserved areas often struggle more with teacher shortages, exacerbating educational inequalities (UNESCO, 2024).
Aging Workforce: A significant portion of the teaching workforce is nearing retirement, and there aren’t enough new teachers to replace them (Devlin Peck, 2025).
Impacts on Education
When there aren’t enough teachers in schools, this leads to:
Larger Class Sizes: Overcrowded classrooms make it challenging to provide individual attention to students (UNESCO, 2024).
Reduced Educational Quality: Unqualified or overburdened teachers may not deliver the curriculum effectively, impacting student learning outcomes (Education Week, 2025).
Increased Inequality: Disadvantaged communities suffer the most, widening the education gap between different socioeconomic groups (UNESCO, 2024).
Strategies for Addressing the Shortage
To mitigate the teacher shortage crisis, stakeholders can consider the following approaches:
#1: Enhancing Teacher Training and Support
Mentorship Programs: Implementing structured mentorship can help new teachers acclimate and reduce early-career attrition (Frontline Education, 2025).
Professional Development: Ongoing training opportunities keep teachers engaged and improve teaching quality (Education Week, 2025).One of my favourite platforms for this is the excellent Great Teaching Toolkit. My Blog Index for Teachers is also a very popular for those seeking free, yet high-quality, CPD material.
#2: Improving Compensation and Working Conditions
Competitive Salaries: Offering salaries that reflect the importance of the teaching profession can attract and retain talent (Devlin Peck, 2025). If pull factors, such as decent pay, are not present to begin with then many fresh graduates are simply not going to choose teaching as a profession.
Work-Life Balance: Flexible working arrangements and manageable workloads can reduce burnout (The Guardian, 2024).
With respect to managing workloads we must not forget about teachers who work online, too. Jessica Robinson from The Speaking Polymath write this great post for me back in 2022 with some good tips for preventing burnout whilst teaching online.
#3: Alternative Pathways into Teaching
Career Changers: Encouraging professionals from other fields to transition into teaching can bring diverse experiences into the classroom (Education Week, 2025).
Residency Programs: Programs like Urban Teacher Residencies provide hands-on training and have shown success in retaining teachers in high-need areas (Wikipedia, 2023).
#4: Policy Interventions
Legislative Support: Policies that provide financial incentives, such as student loan forgiveness or housing assistance, can make teaching more attractive (UNESCO, 2024).
Streamlining Certification: Simplifying the certification process without compromising quality can help fill vacancies more quickly (New York Post, 2025).
What does the future hold?
In addition to the above points, there’s a massive issue looming in the background that virtually no one is talking about: People simply aren’t having as many babies as they used to. Fertility rates have been falling steadily across much of the developed world for decades, and many countries are now well below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman. For example, South Korea’s fertility rate hit a record low of 0.72 in 2023, while countries like Japan (1.26), Italy (1.22), and China (1.09) are also experiencing unprecedented demographic decline (World Bank, 2024; United Nations, 2023).
This trend has profound implications for the future of education. While teacher shortages are currently critical, the long-term demand for teachers is likely to decline as school-age populations shrink. According to projections by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the number of children aged 5–14 will decline significantly in many high-income countries by 2050. This suggests that some of today’s recruitment pressures may ease over time: not due to systemic reform, but because of demographic inevitability (UN DESA, 2022).
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In essence, what this means is that current teacher shortages are likely to persist for a good while yet but by around 2050 we may see an inversion of this scenario as far fewer children exist to begin with. With the advent of generative AI, and it’s subsequent widespread adoption, we may soon see the role of educator becoming fully automated as schools cut back on salaries due to low student numbers.
Conclusion
The teacher shortage is a multifaceted issue requiring coordinated efforts from governments, educational institutions, and communities. By investing in teacher support, improving working conditions, and implementing innovative recruitment strategies, we can work towards a future where every child has access to quality education delivered by qualified and motivated teachers.
In terms of the longer term plan for teachers (i.e. 20 – 40 years down the road), I advise everyone to keep busy with studies and acquire as many skills as you can – we may soon be replaced by automated systems, and the ability to seamlessly transfer to another profession, or to capitalise on your skills in a business capacity, will be a tremendous advantage (hence my development of Corporate Training programs, which are becoming incredibly popular).
In addition to writing this blog post for you today, I’ve also recorded a podcast episode on the same topic. You can listen to it here:
Creating a strong school community is one of the most vital yet often overlooked aspects of school leadership. Whether you are a senior leadership team (SLT) member, a school principal, a middle manager, or a frontline teacher balancing a full schedule, fostering a sense of belonging among students and staff is crucial for a thriving educational environment.
I have recently stepped into the role of Acting Head of Secondary at my international school in Thailand. After spending 20 years in the classroom teaching science, mathematics, and other subjects, this transition has been a profound learning experience. It has given me fresh insight into what makes a school function effectively and how community building is at the heart of it all.
A Tale of Two Schools: The Power of Community
Reflecting on my own school experience, I remember the stark contrast between my Record of Achievement celebrations and those of my friend from another school. My Roman Catholic school’s event was filled with singing, speeches, and a clear sense of togetherness. My friend’s event, in contrast, felt sterile and devoid of any real community spirit.
This comparison serves as a reminder: schools are not just places of academic instruction but communities where students, staff, and parents should feel connected. So, how can we, as educators, foster a strong sense of school community? Here are some key strategies.
#1: Meaningful and Well-Designed Assemblies
Assemblies, when planned thoughtfully, can be a powerful tool for community building. The key is to ensure they are engaging, purposeful, and inclusive. Here are some ways to make assemblies effective:
Showcase student achievements: In my first assembly as Acting Head of Secondary, I invited teachers to contribute to a Google Slides presentation featuring student work. Mathematics notes, science experiment photographs, coding projects, and sports achievements were all highlighted. This not only celebrated student success but also encouraged peer recognition.
Welcome new students: A simple introduction and round of applause for newcomers can make a world of difference in making them feel at home.
Incorporate student-led contributions: Allow students to share announcements, projects, or school events to give them a voice and foster engagement.
Share important updates: Assemblies are a great time to reinforce school values, rules, and upcoming events in a unified setting.
Keep a theme: Whether it’s perseverance, kindness, or academic excellence, having a clear message ensures assemblies are more than just announcements.
#2: The Power of Collective Praise
One of my core beliefs, which I wrote about in The Quick Guide to Classroom Management, is: Praise must be collective in order to be effective. When a student excels, their achievement should not only be acknowledged by their subject teacher but also by their homeroom teacher, the head of secondary, and even their peers. This creates a culture where excellence is recognized and reinforced throughout the school.
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For example, when our school principal mentioned two students with exceptional artistic talent, I made sure to acknowledge them personally. This small act had a significant impact—it showed the students that their work mattered and was valued beyond the art department.
#3: School Events and Theme Days
Special events and theme days are excellent ways to foster school spirit. Here are some ideas:
Charity fundraising events: Simple initiatives like ‘own clothes days’ (or ‘mufti days’) where students donate to a cause can create a sense of collective purpose.
Student-led events: Science fairs, talent shows, or Model United Nations conferences encourage student participation and leadership.
Cultural or theme weeks: Mental health awareness, sustainability, or literature weeks can bring the community together around a shared focus.
Car boot sales or parent engagement days: Involving parents in school activities strengthens the home-school connection.
#4: Leveraging Your School’s Unique Identity
Every school has something that sets it apart. Whether your school specializes in science, the arts, environmental education, or mindfulness, use that unique aspect to create a shared sense of purpose.
For example, if your school is an eco-school, organizing sustainability projects, eco-friendly challenges, or themed assemblies around environmental responsibility can reinforce that identity while strengthening community ties.
#5: Effective Communication Through Newsletters and Social Media
Transparent and engaging communication is key to keeping the school community connected. Consider these approaches:
Weekly newsletters: Highlight student achievements, upcoming events, and important school updates. These can be distributed via email or through homeroom teachers.
Student announcements: Having homeroom teachers read daily or weekly notices fosters a more connected student body.
Social media engagement: Sharing photos of assemblies, student projects, and school events (with appropriate permissions) helps parents and the wider community stay involved.
#6: External Engagement: Speakers and Field Trips
Bringing in guest speakers or organizing field trips enhances learning while strengthening school-community links. Consider:
Guest speakers: Experts in various fields can provide students with valuable insights and inspiration.
Local partnerships: Universities, museums, and businesses often have programs that align with school curricula.
Community visits: Taking students to local cultural centers, science labs, or art galleries broadens their horizons and connects learning to the real world.
#7: Student Voice and Leadership Opportunities
Giving students a voice in school governance enhances their sense of belonging. A well-structured student council, for example, allows students to take ownership of initiatives, fostering leadership and community spirit.
Conclusion
Building a strong school community requires intentional effort from all members of the school—from leadership to classroom teachers, students, and parents. Assemblies, collective praise, school events, effective communication, and external engagement all contribute to a vibrant, inclusive environment where students feel valued and motivated.
If you found these insights useful or have your own strategies to share, feel free to reach out. And if you have a topic request for future blog posts, email me at info@richardjamesrogers.com. Let’s continue the conversation on building stronger, more connected school communities!
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Starting your teaching career is an exciting adventure, but it can also feel overwhelming. When I first starting teaching high school science back in 2005, for example, I soon found myself struggling to succeed at (what I see today as) basic tasks, such as marking, lesson planning and managing behaviour. So many aspects of the job were completely new to me, despite the limited teaching experience I gained from the Army Cadet Force as a teenager. I even found it difficult to think straight with so many students making requests and needing attention at the same time. Even writing basic sentences on the classroom whiteboard, in a large and tidy format so that the students could read the words clearly, was a challenge for me at first!
The reassuring news is that every teacher makes mistakes – it’s part of the learning process. To give you a head start, here are ten of the most common rookie blunders new high school teachers make (and, that I have made at some point on my journey!), along with some friendly advice on how to avoid them!
1. Doing Too Much Marking
Marking mountains of work is a fast track to burnout. Many new teachers feel they need to mark everything in detail, but that’s not sustainable! Start exploring alternatives like peer assessment, self-assessment, verbal feedback or even automated tools like online quizzes. You could also try live marking during class, where you give immediate feedback as students work. This not only saves time but also boosts student understanding.
2. Trying to Be Too Friendly with Students
It’s natural to want to be liked by your students, but remember: you’re their teacher, not their buddy. Building rapport is important, but you still need to maintain a professional distance. Being too friendly can blur the lines, making it difficult to manage behavior or assert authority. Keep your role clear, and your students will respect you more in the long run.
3. Inappropriate Use of Social Media
We live in a digital world, and social media can be a fun way to share ideas, but it’s important to be cautious. Avoid posting anything that could reflect poorly on you, your school, or the profession. It’s always better to keep your personal and professional online presence separate. Remember: once it’s online, it’s forever!
4. Oversharing with Colleagues
It’s great to get to know your colleagues, but be mindful of what you share, especially in the early days. Oversharing personal information can blur professional boundaries and lead to awkward situations. Keep conversations friendly, but professional – save your deeper personal stories for your friends outside of work.
5. Not Pacing Lessons According to Long-Term Plans
Pacing is one of the trickiest things to get right. New teachers often get caught up in the moment, spending too much time on early topics and falling behind on their curriculum goals. It’s important to balance the desire to be thorough with the need to stick to long-term plans. Keep an eye on your timeline and adjust your lessons to stay on track.
6. Being Too Lenient with Grading
Being too kind with your grades can do more harm than good. New teachers sometimes grade work too generously, not realizing that they aren’t preparing their students for the higher standards of external exams. Make sure your grading reflects the rigor of official exam boards so students get used to working at the correct level.
7. Relying on Quickly Sourced Content from the Internet
The internet is a treasure trove of resources, but not everything online is classroom-ready. Some teachers fall into the trap of quickly grabbing videos, slides, or worksheets without checking them thoroughly. Always preview your resources before using them in class to ensure they’re accurate, appropriate, and aligned with your lesson goals.
8. Not Preparing Marking Schemes
Without a clear marking scheme, grading assessments can become a time-consuming nightmare. Having a well-prepared scheme not only saves you hours but also ensures consistency and fairness across all students. It’s worth the extra effort upfront to develop marking rubrics and criteria that make assessment straightforward and manageable.
9. Making Promises You Can’t Keep
As a new teacher, you want to impress your students, but making promises you can’t keep – like grading a mountain of work in just a few days – will quickly erode their trust. Be realistic with your deadlines and commitments. It’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around!
10. Engaging in Gossip
Gossip can be tempting in any workplace, but in a school environment, it’s especially toxic. Avoid conversations that focus on negative chatter about colleagues, students, or policies. Instead, foster positive, professional relationships. Being a person of integrity will earn you respect from your peers and create a healthier working environmentgenerally.
As educators, we’re always on the lookout for strategies that can enhance our students’ understanding and retention of information. One such strategy that has gained significant attention in recent years is dual coding. But what exactly is dual coding, and how can it be applied in our classrooms to make a tangible difference? Drawing from my own experiences since I started teaching Science and Maths in 2006, let’s dive into the concept and its practical application.
Dual coding in one sentence
Combine good visuals with good verbals, and combine good verbals with good visuals.
Dual coding fundamentals
Dual coding is the process of combining verbal and visual information to improve learning. The idea is simple: when students are presented with both words and images that complement each other, they are more likely to understand and remember the material. This approach taps into the brain’s ability to process visual and verbal information through separate channels, creating a more robust memory trace.
The main thing that educators misunderstand about dual coding is that it’s ‘something we do all the the time as teachers’. But is this really true? How often do we slow down and take the time to pair a good visual with a clear verbal description?
Why dual coding works
From my experience, dual coding works because it leverages the strengths of both visual and verbal memory. When I first started teaching, I noticed that some students struggled to grasp complex concepts through words alone. It wasn’t until I began incorporating diagrams, flowcharts, and other visual aids that I saw a noticeable improvement in their understanding. For instance, explaining the water cycle in a science lesson became much more effective when I paired my explanation with a simple, clear diagram that illustrated the process. In mathematics, verbally describing each stage of a long calculation slowly, as I wrote the steps or delineated schematics, tended to help students understand the operations they had to follow better than if I just wrote the method without commentary.
Dual coding also reduces the cognitive load on students. When information is presented in both visual and verbal formats (and is presented slowly), students don’t have to work as hard to understand the content. This allows them to focus more on processing and retaining the information rather than trying to decode what’s being said or shown. In my maths classes, using visual representations of problems (like number lines or geometric figures) has helped students better understand abstract concepts, leading to more successful problem-solving.
Practical Tips for Using Dual Coding in the Classroom
Combine Text with Images: Start by integrating simple visuals with your explanations. For example, when teaching trigonometry, pair each formula with a corresponding triangle diagram. This helps students see the connection between the abstract formula and its practical application.
Use Flowcharts and Diagrams: When covering processes or sequences, such as the steps in solving an algebraic equation, use flowcharts to visually represent each step. This not only helps students follow along but also allows them to see the logical progression of the solution.
Encourage Students to Create Their Own Visuals: Involve your students in the dual coding process by having them create their own diagrams or sketches. This could be as simple as drawing a quick sketch to represent a concept or creating a more detailed Mind Map® of a topic. I’ve found that when students take ownership of the visuals, their understanding deepens.
My Experience with Dual Coding
One of the most memorable successes I’ve had with dual coding was when teaching a particularly challenging topic in physics: electromagnetic induction. Despite my best efforts to explain it verbally, many students were still confused. I decided to create a step-by-step visual guide that illustrated the process of induction, from the movement of the conductor through the magnetic field to the generation of current. The combination of this visual guide with my verbal explanation transformed the lesson. Students who had previously been disengaged suddenly became more confident, asking questions and even helping their peers understand the concept.
In another instance, while teaching a maths class on probability, I used tree diagrams alongside verbal explanations. The visual representation of different outcomes made the concept much clearer, and students were better able to tackle complex problems involving multiple stages of probability.
Final thoughts
Dual coding is a powerful tool in the educator’s toolkit, one that can make a significant difference in how students process and retain information. By combining verbal explanations with visual aids, we can cater to different learning needs, reduce cognitive load, and make our lessons more engaging and effective.
As I reflect on my teaching journey since 2006, I can confidently say that dual coding has been a game-changer in my classroom. I encourage you to experiment with it in your own teaching practice. The results might just surprise you!
As teachers, we often form strong connections with our students as we guide them on their learning journeys. This can be incredibly rewarding for us – we gain much joy from helping our students to improve. However, it’s essential to maintain a professional distance to ensure that our relationships with students remain appropriate and conducive to learning. The following ten guidelines, adapted from research by Willing and Haney (1994), provide a framework for maintaining this balance. Please note that William and Haney’s research was aimed at ABE (Adult Basic Education) teachers, so I have attempted to back-extrapolate the guidance to cover high-school teaching.
Before we begin
An important note on context before we start – the guidelines described in today’s blog post are exactly that – general principles to consider. ALWAYS follow your school’s official guidance regarding professional distance – and if you’re not sure about what the expectations are for a particular scenario, then seek advice from a member of your school’s senior leadership team.
Rule #1: Know Your Own Vulnerabilities
Understanding your own personal “shadows”; unmet needs, motivations, and expectations; is crucial. As teachers, we often enjoy the appreciation we receive from students, but it’s important to avoid crossing the line into a co-dependent relationship. Recognizing this helps ensure that your role remains that of an educator, not a confidant. Whilst our students may wish to divulge sensitive information to us, it’s important that this information is passed on to the appointed safeguarding individuals in your organization in a professional manner (more on this later).
Rule #2: Understand the Temporary Nature of the Relationship
Teaching is a temporary relationship. While it’s easy to feel close to students, allowing them to perceive you as a friend can imply a level of commitment that neither party is prepared to uphold. This understanding helps in setting clear boundaries from the outset.In addition to this, the teaching role requires there to be a level of authority present within the classroom – and that authority belongs in the hands of the teacher. It is difficult to exercise a level of authority when students perceive you as a ‘friend’. We are not our students’ friends – we are their educators, and that means our focus must be on maximizing our students’ attainment and progress, and not on anything else.
Rule #3: Know Professional Standards for Behaviour
Familiarize yourself with your institution’s guidelines for out-of-class interactions with students. These rules are in place to protect both you and your students, ensuring that all interactions remain professional.
If you are someone who is designing a child safeguarding policy for your school, or if you’re seeking extra guidance, then you should definitely familiarize yourself with national and international guidelines. Some useful documents are linked below:
Please note that these resources may be updated at any time, so make sure you are accessing the latest versions of the guidance.
Rule #4: Be Mindful of Your Communication
The way we communicate, through touch, language, or self-disclosure, sends messages to students. What might seem like a harmless gesture, or a casual conversation, can be misinterpreted, potentially blurring professional boundaries.
In the context of a high school teaching scenario, self-disclosure on the part of the teacher can be damaging – not least because it leads to excessive familiarity, which we should aim to avoid. Some forms of disclosure, such as describing the study habits and techniques we successfully implemented when we were students, may potentially be helpful to our learners – so, of course, there are levels to this! Revealing a personal story of pain and tragedy, however, may be not an appropriate activity for a lesson.
Seek official school guidance on the matter. In addition, when describing useful scenarios that involve a level of storytelling to students, you may wish to precede the description with….
Some people experience/find that…………………………..
In my experience, students who perform well do these things……………………..
I once knew someone who…………………………
Keeping stories in a kind of ‘third person’ context can help to maintain professional distance.
In terms of touch, it is essential that you adhere to your school’s Code of Conduct and guidance. In the majority of high-school scenarios, touch should NEVER be initiated by the teacher unless:
There is an educational purpose to the physical contact, such as adjusting body posture in a physical activity (e.g. adjusting a student’s stance in a martial arts lesson), music lesson (e.g. holding a violin bow correctly), art activity (e.g. holding a paintbrush correctly) or other scenarios. ALWAYS ask the students’ permission before initiating the physical contact and double-check with your school’s senior leadership team before beginning the course.
There’s an essential Health and Safety purpose, such as rescuing a child from drowning, administering first aid, preventing an accident (e.g. in science class) or other scenarios.
Rule #5: Express Clear Expectations
Clearly outline the time boundaries, the learning process, and what is expected from both you and your students. This helps in establishing a professional relationship where everyone knows their roles and responsibilities.
You may to consider giving your students some time to create a class list of expectations that everyone will agree to follow. In my experience, students will often approach this with maturity and will come up with sensible suggestions, such as….
We will raise our hands if we have questions, and we will not shout out.
We will not play on our phones in class, and we will ask for permission to use our phones if we need to.
We will complete our homework on time.
We will be punctual to class.
It may be useful to bring out this list from time to time during the academic year to remind the students of the rules and expectations they have come up with.
Rule #6: Consider Students’ Perceptions of Interaction
Recognize that students may interpret personal information sharing or familiar language as signs of a personal relationship. Understanding this helps you maintain a professional distance.
Rule #7: Be Aware of Cultural Differences
Cultural expectations regarding interactions between teachers and students can vary widely. What may seem normal in one culture could be inappropriate in another. Being culturally sensitive helps in maintaining professional relationships.
Rule #8: Use Names Appropriately
The use of first names or nicknames can unintentionally create a sense of intimacy, especially when it comes to how students are expected to address their teachers. Be mindful of how you address students too, as this can affect the professional nature of your relationship.Only use the students’ official names as recorded in the school register and double-check with a senior teacher if a student requests to be addressed by a different name. Check your school’s guidance on how students should address teachers, too.
Rule #9: Dress Professionally
Your attire sends messages about how seriously you take your role. Dressing too casually can give the impression that the educational process is not important, while overly provocative clothing can cause discomfort in diverse cultural settings.
Unfortunately, whilst the issue of teacher dress codes was pretty much cut-and-dry in the twentieth century and earlier, it has become quite a controversial topic to discuss in recent years. I think it is useful to remind ourselves that, as teachers, we are representing the process of education (not just our own personal fashion preferences) through the way that we choose to dress.
Case in Point: An Anchorage District teacher was put on administrative leave after posting a clip of herself in the classroom, on X. The clip was shared by the hugely popular Libs of Tik Tok account, and the teacher in question received much criticism online due to the way she was dressed at school. You can read the full story, here.You may also wish to read my blog post which contains guidance on how teachers should behave on social media, here.
Rule #10: Know Referral Resources
Familiarize yourself with resources available for student referral and how to guide students to them. This helps in addressing students’ issues without becoming personally involved in their problems.For example, you may be lucky enough to have a school counselor employed on-site that you can refer students to. If not, then look into official partnerships the school has with local agencies and professionals.
Conclusion
By following these guidelines, we can maintain a healthy balance between being approachable and upholding the professional standards necessary for effective teaching. It’s about fostering a positive learning environment while protecting both yourself and your students from unwanted issues.
Bibliography
Willing, D.C., & Haney, H. (1994). Maintaining “Professional Distance”: A Dilemma for the ABE Teacher. Developments, 10(4), 6-7. Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED372265.pdf(Accessed: 18 August 2024).
One of the biggest factors that will determine your effectiveness in the classroom as a teacher will be your confidence in front of your students. Your students can only have faith in you if you have faith in yourself.
In today’s blog post, I will go through the top three actions you can take to immediately boost your classroom confidence as a teacher. These tips will prove to be equally useful for both trainee teachers and more experienced educators. Let’s get started!
#1: Know the topic you are teaching REALLY well
By far the best way to boost your confidence in the classroom, or even in any public presentation you will give (e.g. at a talk, seminar or assembly) is to have excellent subject knowledge.
This does NOT mean that you must have a master’s degree or a PhD to be an excellent teacher (on the contrary, some research even indicates that gaining an advanced degree has no effect on a teacher’s overall effectiveness). What it does mean, however, is you must read ahead, you must understand all of the content you are delivering to your students, and you must thoroughly understand how you will use the resources you have selected. Consider enacting the following action steps:
Read over the lesson material before you deliver the lesson. Do NOT assume that, just because you have a degree in this subject area or because you have taught the lesson a few times previously, that you will automatically understand all of the content. It can often be quite surprising just howmuch you may have forgotten when you read over the lesson materials again.
Never provide resources that involve questioning (e.g. worksheets and live quizzes), if the model answers are not available. Also, make sure you have read over the model answers to such questions and that you understand those answers really well.
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Subject knowledge is the ultimate confidence booster because it allows you to walk into a lesson knowing the ins and outs of what you will teach. Knowing the topic really well also prepares you for any questions the students may have on the content, and also provides you with the skills you need to provide your students with exam-style practice (never neglect that, too).
#2: Plan EVERY lesson thoroughly
Even if you have been teaching full time for twenty years (as I have), you must still go through the process of planning each and every lesson. This does not mean that you need to write a full A4 lesson plan for every class, like you did when you were a trainee. What it does mean, however, is that you should know the ‘running order’ of activities for every lesson you deliver. A good lesson should include the following:
A quick starter activity (see this link for ideas)
Between 1 and 3 activities that make up the body of the lesson
A quick plenary that summarizes what was covered (see this link for ideas)
I recommend using EdTech where possible for any part of your lesson. Live quiz apps are really good, as are shared collaborative whiteboards like Miro and G Suite tools.
Research tells us that lessons that are planned are almost always more effective than those that are not. For me personally, I simply use a teacher’s planner (see this link for the planner I created that you can purchase) and I include a few bullet points of notes for each lesson. I also do a weekly review, so that I know where I am at and where I need to go next. You can read about my top lesson planning tips at this very popular blog post.
#3: Utilize Professional Intelligence
What is ‘Professional Intelligence’ you might ask? Well, put simply, it is professional knowledge that you have gathered about your students. The kind of information you should acquire includes, at a minimum:
Student names – these can take a while to remember, even for the most seasoned educators among us. Consider utilizing live quiz apps in your first few lessons – these will help you to quickly identify the students’ preferred names.
Which students work well together and which students should be kept apart – this information can be gathered by simply talking with colleagues and line managers about the students before you meet them, or you can gather this information firsthand by trying out a few group games and activities.
Any students with Additional Learning Needs/Special Educational Needs in the class – make sure you have read their Individual Education Plans (if available), spoken with the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (or the equivalent person in your school) and check out this blog post for tips on helping such students.
You may also want to gather non-confidential information about your students, such as hobbies and interests, as this may help you to create lessons that are tailored to student preferences. Also, don’t forget to check on the running order of school events – some students may need to leave class early, for example, to attend some kind of school event (e.g., orchestra practice) – have you planned for that?
Conclusion
Every teacher must exhibit confidence in the classroom in order to deliver an effective lesson. Much of this will come from experience, but even the most seasoned educators must enact three main action items before any lesson begins:
Read ahead and understand the topic you will be teaching
Plan every lesson, even if that just involves writing a few bullet points that go through the running order of activities
Gathered (and thought about how to utilize) professional intelligence
Students who are quiet in class are often the ones who are most overlooked by educators. They tend to be compliant; they rarely (if ever) ask questions; they turn in their homework on time and generally just get on with things.
One could be forgiven for thinking of such learners as the ‘perfect’ students.
This is, however, quite a narrowly focused viewpoint and stance to take. Such students may be well behaved, but how can we be sure that they have understood the content we have delivered in a lesson (aside from formally assessing them)? Additionally, how are we, as educators, helping our quiet and withdrawn students to develop their self-confidence and key skills, such as public speaking, teamwork and problem-solving?
It is my conviction that such students can be reached, as I have successfully engaged hundreds of such learners over the past 17 years in my role as a secondary school mathematics and science teacher. The process requires patience and long-term planning, but the results one can achieve are well worth this investment in time and energy.
So, let’s explore some practical strategies to engage these quiet and withdrawn students.
Strategy #1:Use more spatial response tasks in class
The concept here is quite simple: a ‘spatial response’ task allows students to answer questions without verbalizing anything.
“How is that possible?” you might ask.
Well, instead of the traditional ‘hands up’ for answering a question, students use movement and their physical bodies to signal their responses. This is a good first step in any long-term ‘engagement development’ plan you may have for a shy student, as they can interact with the lesson content without having to say anything. That. at least, is better than no engagement at all.
Two of my favourite such spatial response tasks are….
A ‘Human Graph’ and ‘True or False’ Walls
Do you want to know the opinions of your students on a subject matter? Maybe you’re taking a survey (e.g. Which day is the best for canteen food?). Maybe you have a list of multiple-choice questions and you want a fun way to get the kids through them.
A human graph might be the right tool for you!
What if you just want to quickly check your students’ conceptual understandings (e.g. as a plenary)? You could ask some true/false questions and get the kids to raise their hands, or you could use a way cooler (and more fun) method!
Choose one wall to be the ‘True’ wall and one to be the ‘False’ wall. Once you’ve asked the question, get the kids to walk to the correct wall. It’s that simple! Just make sure that the kids walk back to the middle of the classroom before each question.
This great illustration from Pop shows you the steps to take for each of these activities:
I’ve written a separate blog post that covers spatial learning activities in more detail, here. Please do check it out – all of the activities I write about have been field tested by me in the classroom, and they work!
Strategy #2: Do more ‘live marking’
Live marking means that you have more one-to-one conversations with students about their work, in real time. Here’s another great thing about it too: Live marking is not only a highly efficient formative assessment tool, but it also provides a comfortable space in which most of your shy and quiet students will be willing to open up and talk. There are two main methods to implement live marking: ‘diffusively’ and ‘absorptively’. Let’s explore these in more detail.
Diffusive Live-Marking
This is really simple:
Set a task for your students to complete (it could be a Google Slides presentation, a worksheet to complete, some questions from their textbook to do, etc.).
When a few minutes have passed, ‘diffuse’ through the classroom by walking around with a marking pen in hand (I use a red pen).
Mark student work in real time, as they are doing it. Of course – reinforce your written comments with verbal feedback (and you can even write ‘verbal feedback give’ or ‘VF’ on the work).
Hey presto – you just saved yourself an hour or so of after-school marking time, and you’ve engaged some quiet students in some short conversations.
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Absorptive Live-Marking
In this scenario, one can imagine the teacher being like a ‘sponge’ that ‘absorbs’ the students: instead of walking around the classroom to mark work in ‘real-time’, you sit at your desk (or at a designated ‘consultation point’ in the room) and call the students to your desk one-at-a-time.
Which is better – absorptive or diffusive live-marking?
In my personal opinion, both forms of marking can have a role to play in engaging our shy learners.
I tend to use absorptive live-marking more than diffusive as I am lucky enough to work in a school where the overwhelming majority of the students are very well-behaved. This means that I can call them to my desk one-at-a-time and the class will still stay on-task. A big advantage of the absorptive method is that I can give more detailed and personal feedback to each student and I have my whole desk-space to neatly mark the work on.
Strategy 3: Utilise Live-Quiz Apps
These have been around for quite a while now. Most educators have heard about Kahoot!, but did you know that are a wide-range of live quiz apps, similar in style to Kahoot!, that utilise multiple-choice questioning?
When it comes to engaging shy, withdrawn and quiet students, Quizlet Live and Blooket are my two most favourite apps as they encourage peer-to-peer communication. Let’s find out a little more about them.
Blooket
Blooket distinguishes itself from other quiz-based apps in that there are actually multiple types of games that you can play with the students, all based on the much-loved multiple-choice quiz format. My personal favorites are:
Crypto Hack: With a dark theme and Bitcoin-centric atmosphere, Crypto Hack is one of the students’ favorites. After answering a series of questions correctly the students are then able to guess fellow students’ passwords (passwords are chosen from a pre-determined list that the game provides). A correct guess allows the player to hack the other player and steal imaginary crypto currency from them.
Fishing Frenzy: This one’s a bit crazy – hilariously so! Students, again, answer multiple choice questions but this time they cast a virtual fishing line into the water after answering correctly. What they pull out are usually different types of fish, but they can pull out junk and other crazy objects too. Players are ranked by the weight of fish they pull out of the water. Players can also ‘plunder’ other players’ fish and steal their poundage. It gets very competitive and you can expect to hear a lot of laughter in the classroom as this gets going!
Tower Defense:According to Blooket themselves, this is their most popular game. In this mode, the students answer multiple choice questions and are then presented with a map. On this map, the students must place towers in strategic positions to shoot enemies that appear on-screen. In this sense, Tower Defense is more similar to the kind of computer games that children are playing in their free time than all of the other game modes provided.
Quizlet Live
Hidden within Quizlet‘s excellent flash card system is a little-known activity called Quizlet Live. When the teacher selects this, the students in your classroom join the game (by entering a code on their devices) and are then placed into random teams. Once the game begins, all of the players in each team are given different questions to answer, so they MUST help each other if they want to win. The first team to pass twelve rounds of questions is the winner, and the teacher’s screen shows the real-time position of each team (1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place and so on).
Quizlet Live has two features which I believe make it a very unique learning tool:
Students can read through the flash cards for the game as they’re waiting for other students to join. This, I believe, gives Quizlet Live a big advantage over many other quiz-based systems as students are not sitting around doing nothing as they’re waiting.
Quizlet Live provides each team member with a different question, making the game more thorough/rigorous than some other quiz-based systems. Every member of the team has to answer their question correctly before the team can move to the next round.
Quizlet has an immense database of flash cards created by other educators from all over the world, so it’s highly likely that you’ll find a question set that is suitable for your topic. If not, then you can make a set yourself.
Strategy 4: Try ‘Flipped Learning’
Flipped Learning allows students the opportunity to research a topic before it is explored in class. This may provide your quieter students with more confidence to speak up as they will have had a chance to acquire some knowledge before the lesson begins.
The following extract comes from a great guest blog post on Flipped Learning that Kiara Miller from The Speakingnerd wrote for me back in March 2023:
“A flipped classroom is a form of blended learning model where students learn about new concepts at home. They then discuss their findings with their teachers and the rest of the students in a classroom. With this teaching approach, students interact with the course material beforehand and while inside the classroom, they engage in interactive group learning activities.
Students aren’t bombarded with new material, but rather, they come with their own understanding of the concepts. That is through online videos and any other supporting content that can be text-based. It can also be provided by a teacher or students can do their own research.“
Strategy 5: Seek professional help for the student if no improvement is observed
All students who exhibit shy and withdrawn behaviors have underlying reasons for their lack of confidence, or lack of engagement. In some cases, it’s worth referring such students to trusted professionals, such as school counselors, who will be able to work with them on a one-to-one basis.
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The safety of students MUST be the number one priority for every school, regardless of location. If schools are not safe places for children, then anything and everything we do in terms of teaching and learning, practical pedagogy and all other strategies aimed at educating our learners will be negatively affected.
It is, therefore, most unfortunate that a simple Google search yields so many devastating news stories on the subject matter of bullying incidents in schools. Today, for example, these were the top three results that came up for me after typing in ‘high school bullying incident’ and performing a Google ‘News’ search:
Jakarta: ‘Education watchdogs condemn viral bullying at international high school’. The first paragraph of the news report reads as follows: “Education observers have condemned a bullying incident against a student of BINUS International School in South Tangerang, Banten, that went viral on social media following reports from netizens on Monday.” – Asia News Network. Available at https://asianews.network/education-watchdogs-condemn-viral-bullying-at-international-high-school/ [Accessed on 24th March 2024]
Minneapolis: ‘Another disturbing bullying incident sees at least two boys beat up smaller student in corridor of Minneapolis school’. The first paragraph of the news report reads as follows: “Disturbing video of a group of boys shoving a smaller student against lockers before beating him up at a Minneapolis school has surfaced online.” – Daily Mail. Available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13205263/middle-school-boys-beat-smaller-student-fight-eagle-ridge.html [Accessed on 24th March 2024]
Los Angeles: ‘Bullying, on-campus fight at South LA high school led to teen girl’s death, mother says’. The first paragraph of the news report reads as follows: “A Southern California mother claims her 16-year-old daughter died due to injuries she suffered during a school fight, but law enforcement says the teen died after falling down stairs. Now, the mother is demanding accountability.” – ABC 7. Available at https://abc7.com/shaylee-mejia-death-16-year-old-girl-who-was-allegedly-bullied-at-school-died-after-fight-on-campus-mother-says/14555873/ [Accessed on 24th March 2024]
The accompanying podcast episode, which is linked at the top of this blog post, was recorded about a week before writing this blog post. I performed the same Google News search on that day, and a different list of equally disturbing articles were retrieved by the search engine.
I believe that all of these bullying incidents could have been prevented if some simple, yet high-impact strategies were put in-place by the schools affected. This conviction I hold is reinforced by some of the best quality research available, too. A 2017 study by the British Psychological Society, for example, found that…..
Results show a substantial school- and classroom-level effect on prevalence of bullying. Effective school policies were found to be related to levels of bullying.
Muijs, D. (2017). Can schools reduce bullying? The relationship between school characteristics and the prevalence of bullying behaviours. British Journal of Educational Psychology. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28220471/
It is my aim today to bring such “effective school policies” and strategies to the proverbial ‘table’ for school leaders and teachers to consider. I’ve garnered such strategies from my personal experiences over the past seventeen years as a high school teacher of Science and Mathematics, as well as from the official guidance of agencies, governmental panels and research findings. Let’s get started!
#1: Teachers need to be ‘on duty’ and visible around campus at key times
I must admit, after reading the last story in the above list (the alleged bullying-related death of the 16-year-old girl in Los Angeles) I felt incredibly sad, and also somewhat angry, despite not knowing the family or the child who died. Fights on school campuses simply should NOT BE HAPPENING and should be ENDED QUICKLY if they do happen. Where were the supervising teachers or staff members who should have been on duty, monitoring the communal areas?
To my American readers I must apologise up-front: I don’t know what you call this concept. As a British teacher I can tell you that we call staff who supervise areas of the school campus at break times, lunch times, before school and after school (and, ideally, between lessons) as being ‘on duty’.
It’s a simple concept – station your trusted adults in communal areas around the school campus at key times – particularly during lesson changeovers (which, I have to say, is a time period that is often overlooked by many schools). With more ‘eyes’ on the students at these times, and by teachers being visible around the school site, fights and other bullying incidents are much less likely to happen in the first place.
British schools have been doing this for decades, and it’s pretty simple to set up. Typically, teachers are placed ‘on duty’ on their lightest teaching days, in order to make the workload as proportionate and manageable as possible.
Problem areas of the campus to consider include:
Toilet areas: Station teachers directly outside toilet areas at key times. Ideally, doors to communal toileting areas should be kept open (if possible). In terms of allowing teachers to go into student toilet areas to check on what’s happening, this can be problematic and can put teachers at undue risk, unless very clear guidelines are in-place. This is an issue that you and your colleagues at school should carefully consider – especially in terms of legal compliance.
Empty rooms: Are they locked when not in use? They should be.
‘Out of sight’ areas: These vary from school to school but can include spaces behind buildings and walls, foliage (e.g., bushes, trees and woodland), storage rooms and other locations.
Entry and exit points: Who can access the school site, and how? What security protocols are in-place to ensure that only authorized personnel are allowed on-campus?
Consider doing an audit of all such ‘hard to see’ places in your school, perhaps with a small team of teachers who are particularly passionate about tackling bullying and who are willing to dedicate time to such discussions.
But……..is increasing supervision enough?
According to several researchers, the simple answer that question is no. An excellent qualitative study by Horton et al (2020) summarizes this conundrum perfectly:
While improved playground supervision is perceived to be an effective component of anti-bullying programmes, it is not sufficient on its own (Flygare et al., 2011). A number of researchers have highlighted the importance of not only improving supervision of school spaces but also of addressing the ways in which school spaces are designed (e.g. Carney & Merrell, 2001; Fram & Dickmann, 2012; Gordon & Lahelma, 1996; Lambert, 1999; Malone & Tranter, 2003; Mulryan-Kyne, 2014)
Horton, P., Forsberg, C., & Thornberg, R. (2020). “It’s hard to be everywhere”: Teachers’ perspectives on spatiality, school design and school bullying. International Journal of Emotional Education, Volume 12, Number 2, pp 41 – 55. Retrieved from https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/65096/3/v12i2tm3.pdf
This brings me on to my next strategy to consider…..
2: Remodel current spaces if possible. If you’re building a new school, or new parts of a school, then design the campus with anti-bullying architecture in mind.
An excellent study by Dickmann and Fram (2012) analyzed different aspects of school architecture to determine their effect on encouraging, or inhibiting, bullying incidents. One key part of the study that really stood out to me is quoted below:
The hallways, as closed spaces, were repeatedly mentioned in the surveys when answering questions about commonly used spaces regarding safety and surveillance. All of the themes from the data appeared as interrelated problems feeding off each other in hallway spaces. Comments about isolation (e.g., “the weird design of the building isolates rooms”) how the hallway spaces isolated the classrooms, discipline (“running in the hallways”), movement (“passing in the hallways”), security (lack of supervision in the hallways), and the lack of lighting highlighted the dimensions of the hallway spaces that potentially intensified bullying tendencies.
The study goes into great detail to describe problematic areas of school campuses from a bullying standpoint and offers great insights into where supervising teachers should be focusing their attention.
I suggest school leaders to invite their staff to join a ‘Building Design’ working group, or similar, and allow them input into the design of new spaces that your school wishes to build, as well as re-design of current areas of the campus. Consider space, visibility and ease of access. Are there ways in which current building spaces can be improved? Perhaps consider how students move through the school (e.g. going up and down staircases – do students keep to one side, or are there no rules in place?), lighting and any obstructions that may be hindering visibility or student movement.
#3: Consider installing CCTV systems
Good CCTV systems can provide the deterrent needed to prevent a bullying incident from happening in the first place. They should, however, NEVER be used as a replacement for staff being on duty as they only record data and cannot intervene (obviously). Camera footage can also provide suitable evidence that can be passed on to school administrators and law enforcement later on, if the need arises.
Some research into the effectiveness of CCTV systems on tackling bullying in schools has been completed in the past decade, with some promising conclusions being made. A study by Timothy Gitonga at the University of Nairobi, for example, found that…
CCTV surveillance cameras were perceived positively by a large number of students and the cameras were linked with keeping the school safe.
Gitonga, T. (2020). Effect Of Closed Circuit Television (Cctv) Surveillance Technology On School Safety In Public Boarding Secondary Schools In Igembe South Sub-County, Meru County, Kenya. University of Nairobi. Retrieved from http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/153086
Of course, there are challenges with installing and maintaining CCTV systems, which include:
Cost
Management of data and legal compliance
Quality of footage and sound
Despite these disadvantages, however, CCTV systems are worth installing – not least because of the positive psychological impact and feeling of safety that they imbue.
#4: Law enforcement need to set the right example, and schools need to defer to law enforcement at all appropriate times
The message needs to be clear – if you are violent towards another person, you will be punished to the fullest extent of the law, even if you are a high school student. This, surely, is the ultimate deterrent?
In addition to this, schools need to be unafraid of contacting law enforcement when a violent incident or other potential crime has happened. Keeping everything in-house does not send the right message to the school community. Again, the message must be clear – if you are violent towards another student then law enforcement will be contacted, and they will be cooperated with fully.
#5: Reinforce a collaborative school ethos through assemblies, PSHE, events and tutor time/homeroom periods
When schools have clear Visions, Missions and Core Values, and when these are fully embedded, a collaborative community is created. This isn’t an idealistic view of the world that I have naively taken – it’s backed-up by legitimate research. Take this conclusion from a massive study that compared teacher-rated school ethos and reported incidents in bullying at Stockholm schools, for example:
Five teacher-rated sub-dimensions of school ethos (staff stability, teacher morale, structure-order, student focus, and academic atmosphere) were examined in relation to student-reported perpetration of and exposure to traditional school bullying and cyberbullying. The data material combines student and teacher information from two separate data collections performed in 2016, comprising teachers and students in 58 upper secondary schools in Stockholm. Analyses showed that bullying was associated with all but one of the five sub-dimensions of school ethos, namely structure and order for dealing with bullying behaviors at the school. Results are discussed in light of this counter-intuitive finding. Our findings nevertheless lend support to the idea that the social organization of schools, as reflected in their teacher-rated ethos, can affect individual students’ attitudes in a way that prevents the emergence of bullying behavior among students.
Modin, B., Låftman, S. B., & Östberg, V. (2017). Teacher Rated School Ethos and Student Reported Bullying—A Multilevel Study of Upper Secondary Schools in Stockholm, Sweden. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(12), 1565. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14121565
There are a number of ways in which a positive school ethos (which emphasizes collaboration and a zero-tolerance approach to bullying) can be created and reinforced:
Student Conduct Agreements – This is great idea that my current school implements. At the start of every academic year, students and parents sign a conduct agreement that outlines the expectations of the learner. These expectations include a statement along the lines of “I will not bully other people.” The signed agreement is kept on file at school and can be retrieved if needed for the purpose of discussions later on, should an incident happen.
Reinforce school expectations through the homeroom teachers/tutor time: Regular sessions that focus on school expectations, and why they are in-place, can form the basis of PSHE lessons and tutor time. Children, like adults, need to be reminded of key messageson a regular basis, and that includes whole-school practices, policies, goals and ethos.
Celebrate achievement as a whole school community: A phrase I coined years ago has garnered much attention in educational circles, which is an encouraging sign. That phrase is “Praise must be collective in order to be effective”. Encourage other teachers to praise your students when they do good work and celebrate achievement through assemblies and events. When schools become positive spaces where achievements are celebrated, bullying has difficulty taking root.
Tied in with all of the above ideas are rapport-building strategies – a aspect of classroom management that’s so important, that I dedicated an entire chapter of my first book, The Quick Guide to Classroom Management: 45 Secrets That All High School Teachers Need to Know, to it. I highly recommend this book to any trainee teacher who is struggling with behaviour management and/or classroom management.
Other strategies to consider
Employ a school counselor
School counselors can work with victims and bullies to resolve conflict and work through personal issues they may have. They may, in some cases, also have extensive knowledge of evidence-based anti-bullying strategies, yet some research shows that they are rarely consulted when school policies are created regarding bullying prevention:
A sample of 560 school psychologists and school counselors completed a Web-based survey regarding bullying in their schools, related training, and interventions used. Few school-based mental health professionals used evidence-based bullying interventions or were involved in the selection of interventions for their school, and administrators were often cited being in charge of selecting the antibullying program(s) to be used by a school or district.
Lund, E. M., Blake, J. J., Ewing, H. K., & Banks, C. S. (2012). School Counselors’ and School Psychologists’ Bullying Prevention and Intervention Strategies: A Look Into Real-World Practices. School Psychology Review, 41(2), 246-265. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2012.682005
In light of such research I would advise school administrators to employ school counselors who are trained in, and have experience of, anti-bullying strategies. Invite school counselors to discussions on whole school policies and encourage them to help formulate the school’s anti-bullying system/strategy.
Consult trusted sources for specific advice
I’m not going to pretend that this one blog post contains the solutions to all of your school’s bullying issues. I do hope, however, that it has been a good starting point and a useful prompt for further discussions to take place at your institution. You’ll notice, for example, that I’ve not touched upon cyberbullying, race-related discrimination or other specific issues that often require specific solutions. I have, however, included some useful PDF open-source guides on a range of issues below that you are welcome to download:
Bullying in schools continues to be a global issue. A 2018 study by UNESCO, for example, showed that one in three children globally are bullied at school. Strategies to tackle bullying must be proactive and collaborative, and could include (but are not limited to):
Assigning duties to teachers and school staff so that they are present and visible at key communal areas of the school, particularly during break times and lesson changeover periods
Remodeling and designing school architecture so that ‘problem areas’ of campuses are reduced in frequency. This involves ensuring that lighting, visibility and accessibility are carefully considered. Empty rooms should be locked and staff should be made aware of where potential problems could flare up on-site.
Installing high-quality CCTV systems that are legally compliant, highly visible and supported by good software and technical personnel. Such systems should be strategically placed around campus to focus on communal areas that have been identified as ‘problem locations’ in the first instance.
Defer to local enforcement for every instance that a suspected crime, such as an assault, has taken place. It’s important that high school children realise that there are consequences for their actions.
Develop a collaborative and communal school ethos through clear school values, tutor period time, assemblies, events and tools like Conduct Agreements. Celebrate achievements openly and remember that “Praise must be collective in order to be effective”.
Bibliography and references (in order of appearance)
Muijs, D. (2017). Can schools reduce bullying? The relationship between school characteristics and the prevalence of bullying behaviours. British Journal of Educational Psychology. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28220471/
Horton, P., Forsberg, C., & Thornberg, R. (2020). “It’s hard to be everywhere”: Teachers’ perspectives on spatiality, school design and school bullying. International Journal of Emotional Education, Volume 12, Number 2, pp 41 – 55. Retrieved from https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/65096/3/v12i2tm3.pdf
Gitonga, T. (2020). Effect Of Closed Circuit Television (Cctv) Surveillance Technology On School Safety In Public Boarding Secondary Schools In Igembe South Sub-County, Meru County, Kenya. University of Nairobi. Retrieved from http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/153086
Modin, B., Låftman, S. B., & Östberg, V. (2017). Teacher Rated School Ethos and Student Reported Bullying—A Multilevel Study of Upper Secondary Schools in Stockholm, Sweden. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(12), 1565. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14121565
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