Great FE Teaching

By Sammy White

Those eyes peering inside the safety pane of glass in your classroom door, are they of positive intent or is winter coming? That fear of someone watching us teach is often what holds teachers back from going and observing others teach. We don't want anyone else to feel like we do with that knot in our stomachs when we see a face appear in the pane at our door.

I've always had an open door policy, literally, until I was asked to shut it as the English class didn't like hearing that the maths class were having fun. I didn't argue but I never understood. We weren't having fun, we were learning. My cohort of adults were from the same area as the English cohort. Both studying GCSEs and both in class on an early evening. What struck me was that my opinion of what learning should be was clearly different to my colleagues. I was desperate to have a professional discussion and to learn from my colleague but we were both teaching at the same time. Time was holding us back.

I also noted that no one had taken me up on my open door offer and nobody had been to watch me teach. I decided to personally invite some more experienced colleagues in. I was desperate to watch them teach and I'm a firm believer in being vulnerable first in letting someone see you teach before you invite yourself into see your colleague teach. My invitation worked and soon I had regular drop ins. A few minutes here, a lesson there, a workshop here. After each visit we had a quick corridor chat about what my colleagues saw and I ceased every invitation to visit my colleagues. I loved watching my more experienced colleagues teach. I have learnt so much from my colleagues. Small things that they were unaware of the impact I felt they had on their students. We had brilliant corridor conversations and no one had that feeling! But this process took time, trust and more time which we often don't have as busy practitioners.

When I was asked to share from my classroom in Sam Jones's Great FE Teaching I leapt at the chance. Not because I believed I had a special way to teach but that this book could serve as a way for teachers to observe others practice without the need to arrange cover or time. No one would be worried they had or were making their colleagues have that nervous feeling in their stomach. We can all learn so much from seeing each other teach and I am so pleased that this book sheds light on a variety of classrooms and experiences.

Book Details
Great FE Teaching
Samantha Jones
November 2022
ISBN: 9781529792850

About the Author