My new school is different
My new school is different to my old school. I had expected this, as every school is unique, every school has its own culture and every school is a community of individuals with their own quirks, manners, methods and ideas. However I think I probably wasn't prepared for the massive scale of the difference. I've only been teaching there two weeks so obviously there's a long way to go in terms of my own acclimatisation to the Anglican School, but I thought it might be good at this stage to note down the differences before I get so used to AISJ that I can't remember what it's like to teach at other schools. For your convenience (and mine) I shall do this under several headings.
1. The students
So, my last school was in one of the most deprived areas of Bristol, indeed of the UK, which meant that we had our fair share (and then some) of challenging students. Kids from broken homes several times over; issues surrounding neglect, poverty and abuse of all forms; third-generation unemployment and a concomitant reluctance to learn and unwillingness to see the value of learning. Compare this to my new school, which is fee-paying and which takes in students with very mixed nationalities: Russian, Italian, Spanish, Indian, Belgian, French, Chinese, Korean, Norwegian, Israeli, Palestinian, Greek, Swiss, British, American, Canadian, Dutch, South African, Zimbabwean, Swedish... These are the children of diplomats, of NGO workers, of UN staff and most of them are what are referred to as 'third culture kids', used to a very transient lifestyle, fluent in several languages, having to make new friends every time they move. They are, on the whole, charming: keen to learn, always asking questions, prepared to work hard in class (well, as much as any teenager is or can be), polite and friendly, inquisitive, funny and (here's the biggest difference) very well-behaved.
To make the comparison starker, let me illustrate. In my old school the following forms of behaviour were common: swearing (at each other and at staff) and other forms of verbal abuse; regular lateness to lessons (oh, the hours I spent walking up and down corridors hunting down fleeing children); reluctance to work either at school or at home (homework? Hah!); smoking; defiance (as in, "No, I won't give you my mobile phone"); and fights, my personal favourite being the one I broke up wearing 3 inch heels, thank you very much. I don't want to paint a bad picture as not all the children at my old school were like this and I loved working at Henbury, but it was not in any way an easy ride. In my new school in two weeks of teaching the worst behaviour I have had to deal with was two giggly girls (who I sent out of the room until they shut up) and a boy who was playing on his phone and eating in assembly, whose defiance consisted of saying "Who are you?" when I asked him to put the phone away. I restrained myself from saying "Your nemesis, sunshine" as it seemed like a disproportionate response. Having days that are so conflict-free is an absolute joy.
2. The curriculum
Not only does my new school not follow the British national curriculum at A-Level - some international schools do, but not mine - but it doesn't do the IGCSE or any form of National Curriculum. So now I am teaching the International Baccalaureate to post-16 (the IB Diploma Programme) and something called the Middle Years Programme which is for ages 11-16. I like the IB: it's interesting, it's varied, it's an holistic approach to learning that focusses on the development of the individual's character as much as their intellect. There are a few hitches though. Firstly, the MYP curriculum is not defined beyond the delivery of key skills. I can teach whatever I want. This is fun for me but at the same time requires a huge amount of work in planning. The IB has a more prescriptive curriculum outline but so much of it is new content to me and teaching post-16 is something I've not done for a while. All-in-all, it's a massive challenge and I have a lot of work to do, but that's OK because, as per point 1, I'm not spending any time dealing with behaviour issues.
3. The school
So, my last school was a big new-build with shiny new classrooms, long corridors painted a variety of revolting colours, a big canteen serving food that had been Jamie Oliver-ed so it was 'healthy' and therefore tasteless, a staff-room that was far too small for the number of staff there (which is probably why people didn't use it much), walls covered with art that the kids had produced, all of it wonderful because the school is a specialist arts school (that's a shout-out to my Art department buddies John, Charlotte, Jen, Soph and Vicki). My new schoool is in a building that is over a hundred years old, made of beautiful golden Jerusalem stone (slippery as hell though, can't be wearing namby-pamby shoes with no grip on them), set in a semi-circle in gardens full of pomegranate trees and bougainvillea where the kids go out in the sunshine at breaktime and throw frisbees or play football.
4. The work itself
I think the biggest difference is in the sort of work I'm doing. I spent a lot of time at my old school dealing with management stuff: resourcing, running the good ship Humanities, dealing with behavioural stuff and contacting parents. I'm not in management now, so I have a lot more free time, though a lot of that is spent dealing with the curriculum stuff I mentioned in point 2. I may get bored eventually (I like management, I just wanted a break for a while) but at the moment it's really rather nice to have so little responsibility. The other big difference is around data, the curse of the British education system. At my last school my life was ruled by data: target data, attendance data, projected grades, estimated grades, levels, CAT scores and SAT scores, levels of progress and on and on and on. At my new school, no one has handed me a data sheet. No one asks me how the kids are progressing with regard to their targeted grades. No one wants to know what my tutor group (or 'homeroom') attendance is. This is due, partly I think, to the MYP which doesn't function on a GCSE grading scale; it's also due to the size of the school and so much of the communication being verbal. Whatever the reason, it is wonderful to not have my teaching life dictated by a set of numbers on a sheet.
My new school is different. Change, they say, is as good as a rest. I'm not sure I agree with whoever said that but I'm certainly enjoying the differences very much thus far. Stay tuned, campers...
1. The students
So, my last school was in one of the most deprived areas of Bristol, indeed of the UK, which meant that we had our fair share (and then some) of challenging students. Kids from broken homes several times over; issues surrounding neglect, poverty and abuse of all forms; third-generation unemployment and a concomitant reluctance to learn and unwillingness to see the value of learning. Compare this to my new school, which is fee-paying and which takes in students with very mixed nationalities: Russian, Italian, Spanish, Indian, Belgian, French, Chinese, Korean, Norwegian, Israeli, Palestinian, Greek, Swiss, British, American, Canadian, Dutch, South African, Zimbabwean, Swedish... These are the children of diplomats, of NGO workers, of UN staff and most of them are what are referred to as 'third culture kids', used to a very transient lifestyle, fluent in several languages, having to make new friends every time they move. They are, on the whole, charming: keen to learn, always asking questions, prepared to work hard in class (well, as much as any teenager is or can be), polite and friendly, inquisitive, funny and (here's the biggest difference) very well-behaved.
To make the comparison starker, let me illustrate. In my old school the following forms of behaviour were common: swearing (at each other and at staff) and other forms of verbal abuse; regular lateness to lessons (oh, the hours I spent walking up and down corridors hunting down fleeing children); reluctance to work either at school or at home (homework? Hah!); smoking; defiance (as in, "No, I won't give you my mobile phone"); and fights, my personal favourite being the one I broke up wearing 3 inch heels, thank you very much. I don't want to paint a bad picture as not all the children at my old school were like this and I loved working at Henbury, but it was not in any way an easy ride. In my new school in two weeks of teaching the worst behaviour I have had to deal with was two giggly girls (who I sent out of the room until they shut up) and a boy who was playing on his phone and eating in assembly, whose defiance consisted of saying "Who are you?" when I asked him to put the phone away. I restrained myself from saying "Your nemesis, sunshine" as it seemed like a disproportionate response. Having days that are so conflict-free is an absolute joy.
2. The curriculum
Not only does my new school not follow the British national curriculum at A-Level - some international schools do, but not mine - but it doesn't do the IGCSE or any form of National Curriculum. So now I am teaching the International Baccalaureate to post-16 (the IB Diploma Programme) and something called the Middle Years Programme which is for ages 11-16. I like the IB: it's interesting, it's varied, it's an holistic approach to learning that focusses on the development of the individual's character as much as their intellect. There are a few hitches though. Firstly, the MYP curriculum is not defined beyond the delivery of key skills. I can teach whatever I want. This is fun for me but at the same time requires a huge amount of work in planning. The IB has a more prescriptive curriculum outline but so much of it is new content to me and teaching post-16 is something I've not done for a while. All-in-all, it's a massive challenge and I have a lot of work to do, but that's OK because, as per point 1, I'm not spending any time dealing with behaviour issues.
3. The school
So, my last school was a big new-build with shiny new classrooms, long corridors painted a variety of revolting colours, a big canteen serving food that had been Jamie Oliver-ed so it was 'healthy' and therefore tasteless, a staff-room that was far too small for the number of staff there (which is probably why people didn't use it much), walls covered with art that the kids had produced, all of it wonderful because the school is a specialist arts school (that's a shout-out to my Art department buddies John, Charlotte, Jen, Soph and Vicki). My new schoool is in a building that is over a hundred years old, made of beautiful golden Jerusalem stone (slippery as hell though, can't be wearing namby-pamby shoes with no grip on them), set in a semi-circle in gardens full of pomegranate trees and bougainvillea where the kids go out in the sunshine at breaktime and throw frisbees or play football.
The central building of the Anglican School
My classroom is small, which makes sense as the school is small, and I have virtually no up-to-date resources so the photocopier is my best friend. The photocopier is, in fact, the cog which keeps the school going and it's a very impressive beast with so many whizzy functions I'm surprised it doesn't double as a space ship. The other cog around which the school revolves is Pauline, the head's PA, but then that's nothing new - whenever Sylvia, my old head's PA, was not in school everything seemed to work less well. The staffroom is bigger but again no one hangs out there much, for some unfathomable reason, though given that it's airconditioned and in a basement when my room is not (bar one small fan which squeaks a lot) I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time there when the weather heats up again. There's even a staff garden where I can while away my lunchtime whilst eating tabbouleh and aubergine salad from the nearby Mahane Yehuda market. It feels so idyllic, I'm not really sure it counts as work.
4. The work itself
I think the biggest difference is in the sort of work I'm doing. I spent a lot of time at my old school dealing with management stuff: resourcing, running the good ship Humanities, dealing with behavioural stuff and contacting parents. I'm not in management now, so I have a lot more free time, though a lot of that is spent dealing with the curriculum stuff I mentioned in point 2. I may get bored eventually (I like management, I just wanted a break for a while) but at the moment it's really rather nice to have so little responsibility. The other big difference is around data, the curse of the British education system. At my last school my life was ruled by data: target data, attendance data, projected grades, estimated grades, levels, CAT scores and SAT scores, levels of progress and on and on and on. At my new school, no one has handed me a data sheet. No one asks me how the kids are progressing with regard to their targeted grades. No one wants to know what my tutor group (or 'homeroom') attendance is. This is due, partly I think, to the MYP which doesn't function on a GCSE grading scale; it's also due to the size of the school and so much of the communication being verbal. Whatever the reason, it is wonderful to not have my teaching life dictated by a set of numbers on a sheet.
My new school is different. Change, they say, is as good as a rest. I'm not sure I agree with whoever said that but I'm certainly enjoying the differences very much thus far. Stay tuned, campers...
wow Anna, this is a very very interesting post. I'm fascinated by your new adventures and job in Jerusalem. I think of you often, especially when I drive past henbury school.
ReplyDeleteYou write so well, keep blogging!
Much love and prayers, Hannah xxx