Dear English teacher,
At the moment, I can’t predict how the exam results will go
for my class, my department, my school, my county or even the rest of the
country. I can guess, I know that, but it isn’t a secure guess. Some people
have given me the look of doom, usually associated with someone awaiting an
execution. Other people have given me a positive ‘thumbs up’. Yet, still I
don’t know what the outcome will be. Positive. Negative. In the middle. All I
know is that some action will take place based on the results.
Never before in my umpteen years of teaching have I faced
such uncertainty or such doubt. Even Twitter is torn. I have seen tweets
predicting low grade boundaries, whilst other tweets have highlighted the
letter from OFQUAL, suggesting wide variations nationwide. Some people predict
a positive outcome because of the General Election next year. Other people
predict that Gove’s raising the bar will mean that we are in for another frugal
year of high grades.
Whatever will happen, there will be something that always
occurs: the personalisation of the results. We, as teachers, will always see
that the results are a direct result of our work and our ability to teach. We
can’t help but see the results as our own child – our responsibility, our
lifeblood. The sad thing is that some teachers will see the results of
affirmation that they are the best teacher in the world. For others they will
see the results as confirmation that they are the worst teacher in the world.
The sad thing is that education isn’t so clear cut. The teacher facilitates the
learning, but there are other factors that inhibit success that suddenly are
forgotten about when results day arrives and we ponder and procrastinate on
what has happened.
Three years ago it was me when there was the furore over the
grading boundaries changing. I had a set that was predominately C/D grade
students. A slight change in the grade boundaries and a class like that suffers
incredibly. For the last two years, I have seen what it has done to a teacher’s
confidence and their faith in the system with other colleagues in different
schools. Therefore, I think it is handy to remember the following points:
[1] The GCSEs and
A-levels represent the teaching over the years and not just the last two years
I have seen people get endlessly stressed before the exams
over not fitting everything in to the course. There is a ‘do or die’ fear over
teaching. What we have sadly forgotten is that GCSE results reflect teaching
over time. The teaching they had in Year 7 is just as vital as the teaching
they had in Year 11. In fact, in some cases, I think the teaching in Year 7 is
more important than the teaching in Year 11.
From an English point of view, if they were taught something
well in Year 7, then I am only revising it in Years 10 and 11, and securing
that knowledge. Year 10 and Year 11 is not a blank slate. Students come to us knowing
some stuff and having some skills already for they step through the door. Think
about the journey they have been on to get to the exam. Has it been a consistent,
focused journey? Or, has it been a journey with many odd bits to it? Or, has it
been two years of damage control?
The GCSE result reflects on 5 different teachers and the
primary teachers too. Not one sole teacher that picked them up after Christmas
because a teacher went on maternity leave.
[2] There are far more things in the world than
are dreamt of in your philosophy!
This links in to the previous point, but it is one that
needs commenting on. What is the overview for the teaching of the subject? I
have witnessed many different models in many different schools of teaching
English. Some have been effective. Some sadly have not be as effective as others.
The problem is, and I mean this to not be patronising, the overview. There is
much more to the teaching of English than a classroom teacher might see. What is
the direction that students go on? Is there a clear direction?
Has the teaching prior to the GCSE exams been focused on
ticking boxes? Or has the teaching be focused on developing and refining skills?
The transition from one year group to another is so important. The differentiation
between year groups is vital. Get this wrong and you could be repeating things
for the sake of things. Classroom teachers might see bits of this, but is the Head
of Department that should have this overview. I recall one HOD stating (correctly
in my opinion) that the novel should have a different focus for each year –
character / setting / theme. The
overview is important.
[3] They are TEENAGERS!
Teachers are expected, at times, to work miracles. Teenagers
don’t always do what you tell them to do – FACT! We are expected to help them
to secure a high grade, yet they will not include quotes in every answer. I have
said that until I am blue in the face this year. The one time the student
listened; they did really well. Yet, times that by thirty and you are doing
quite a lot of nagging over the simplest of things.
And, a lot of parents struggle to get teenagers to tidy their room, so is it any wonder that we struggle, as teachers, to get them to read the question carefully before answering it. Reading a question carefully is a doodle compared to tidying their bedroom. Still they don’t do it.
[4] They are TEENAGERS
who think they know best
The joy of being a teenager – Oh I remember the days – is that
you feel invincible and strong. You also feel that you know best. Everything is
in the present. The future is something only adults think about - note: that doesn’t apply to everyone. The number
of teenagers that leave revision or preparation for the final exams to the week
before an exam is monumental. Why? Because, everything is about the here and
now.
One of the funniest things (or saddest things) I heard a
student say was:
‘I am not going to revise ‘cos I’ll see what result I get in
the mock exam. That will tell me how much work I’ve got to do’.
Of course, there is some logic in there. Whereas, most of us
are cautious and try to do our best and prepare and play the ‘long-game’, the
average teenager will prioritise in terms of time. The number of students I
have seen dramatically improve their effort because the exam is a month away! By
then, it is often too late.
[5] We are
teaching human beings
Predicted grades are hilarious. They are based on probability
a student achieved a level in KS2 is likely to produce this grade. One school I
worked in decided to go for aspirational grades, which basically meant everyone
was down for getting an A. Interestingly, they didn’t all get A grades.
A prediction for a student is generally based on a student
working consistently well or consistently improving over the years. There’s
something big and fat that gets in the way of this: Life! What predicted grades
do not consider is that life changes things for people. The things in an
average teenager's life can affect how they work. Something bad happens at home and
this has a direct impact on learning. This doesn’t really equate to predicted
grades. Maybe we need to have predicted grades based on different scenarios:
predicted grades based on a divorce in the family; predicted grades based on
parents being made redundant; predicted grades based on everything in their
lives being hunky dory.
The majority might get their target grades, but there is a
hefty number that will not get their predicted grades and that is through no
fault of our own as teachers. Unless it is your own child. We never know what is
going on in a child’s life and it does have serious repercussions for teaching
and learning.
[6] Life can be
pants
Thanks to the death of the modular system this thing will
occur more often. A student could work really hard and do really well all year
and then when it gets to the final exam they fail – and they fail badly. It
happens. They might have misread the question. They may have missed a question.
Life does that. You prepare for everything and then something
goes wrong. Sadly, this doesn’t always factor in with discussions in schools, but
students can have a bad day.
[7] English is
more than the subject you teach in the lessons
The growing concern I have is that English has been made,
thanks to APP and other aspects, to be a clear, neat subject. In fact, it is a
messy and complex blob of great stuff. The things we teach in lessons only
touch the surface of what students need to succeed or become great in the
subject.
I always say to students that they need to read and write at
home on a regular basis to become better writers. Yet, how many do that? The A*
students generally will do that and… ummm that is usually what makes them an A*
student.
Students often see the subject as the cramming of knowledge.
The mad panic to remember silly acronyms or names of key themes in a text are
always the things student panic about close to the exam. What they rarely do is
think, and ponder things. Instead, it is cram, cram and cram knowledge. That
knowledge is good, but it is what you do with that makes it so important. Did
the student think outside your lesson?
I teach English, but I get students to think.
[8] The demands of
other subjects
I love all the subjects that are taught in schools – yes, I
am buttering things up. But, students prioritise subjects. Their revision
timetable can be governed by their future options, but it is often governed
instead by the subjects they favour, or they perceive as an easy win. English,
sadly, for some lads can be neglected, because they see it as a done deal. They
can read. They can write. So, what have they got to learn or revise?
[9] The position
of English in the school
Let’s be honest about things. English can and does get a rough
deal in schools. I was sat at a meeting and we all agreed that usually Year 11
or Year 10 English lessons often occur last thing in day. It was unanimous that
this happened in several schools. The thing I would raise is what is the school
doing to raise the importance of Maths, English and Science. The Core subjects
are the ones that reflect most in a school’s performance. So, what is the
school doing to support this? Too many times things are directed to lessons and
to teachers, but there needs to be a whole school culture towards these subject areas.
Do well in English and you are more likely to do well in
other subject areas.
[10] The drive of
the students
English matters to schools as it could affect Ofsted’s
decision to come in and harass a school, but what does English matter to a particular
student?
What does it matter to the student that has been offered a
place in college without a grade C in English?
What does it matter to the student that will work for his
uncle’s firm when he leaves school?
What does it matter to the student that know he will redo GCSE
English in college next year as it is offered as part of the incentive to join
the course?
What does it matter to the student whose parents will be happy
with whatever they get as long as they behave?
In our hearts, we want the student to fulfil their potential,
but that can fall on deaf ears if the student isn’t driven. Consequences and
action form part of this drive. No drive and we are struggling.
[11] The Exam
System
I have more faith in the existence aliens on other planets
than the current, and future, exam systems. I have had to tell students
half-way through the course the weighting of an exam had increased by 20%. Every
school that teaches AQA will be in the same boat. Just when we are getting our
head around the new regime, we are dealt this blow. As with most things in the
exam system, you look at the past and try to build on what has happened before.
This year we don’t have a Scooby Doo what the grading criteria will look like,
as there never has been a weighting like this. Yes, we can predict and we can
guess.
This year we can’t securely say what students might achieve,
because we don’t know because things were changed half-way through the GCSE
course.
If students did everything you asked them to, then I’d be
happy about performance related pay. But, they don’t. They are individuals with
their own minds, dreams, issues and anxieties. Like spaghetti, you can’t separate
things, you can only be the sauce on top that hopeful infuses everything
together.
This blog could be seen as a teacher’s way of getting out of
a bad set of results; it isn’t. It is an exploration of how one set of results
doesn’t show the true picture of what is really going. Students are just
numbers to some people and this blog, hopefully, shows you that there is much more
to that number. Before anybody judges you or you teaching based on results, give
them the full picture.
I didn’t spend the last year with my feet up showing video after
video. I taught my students the best I could. But, do you know what? Whatever
the results next week, there will be one thing I will be thinking of, and it is
something every good teacher will be thinking of: what do I need to do to make
things better next year?
Thanks for reading,
Xris
