A child’s mind, as many acknowledge, is uninhibited by the social conventions and restrictions that make it capable of fantastic creative expression without consideration for what it produces. Children have the amazing capacity to create words, sounds, music, song, stories, and most importantly to modern design, ideas and solutions. As a father of three wonderfully creative young girls, I am witness to this each and every day, with their seemingly limitless imagination demonstrated in their drawing, the stories they carry out with their toys, and the games they create. Unrestrained it seems from the limitations of adulthood and the modern world of “that is a silly idea”, children are true creatives and problem solvers, responsive through instinct and without fear of failure.
So as a subject leader for design and technology moving into my fourteenth year of teaching, and tenth year of middle management, I have recently begun to become self reflective on my practice as I consider the next step up to senior management. The concept of a 360 degree feedback activity is daunting, but in conducting it myself upon myself, it has sprung up some interesting realisations. I feel like a good subject leader (the department results are always excellent) but I attribute it to acting like a 3 year old.
Now before your imagination spirals into a grown man running around a department drawing on the walls with pen and getting everything out of the cupboard (favourite activities of my own three), the act of being like a child is purely in the associated positive traits they possess.
Fearless
Firstly being fearless. As a subject lead you need to set out an agenda for moving forward. To do so is to mark a pathway into the unknown in many respects, and to commit this to paper in your department development plan or into a scheme of work is largely a risk, so fear will inevitably result in a reduction or retraction of either of these acts. The risk of looking foolish in front of your peers, some of whom will have more experience than you is high, they will possibly criticise your actions as “not what I would do” at the first word uttered from your mouth. But in being fearless you are not throwing caution to the wind. I enjoy watching Don Norman speaking at TED about behaviour and emotion, a talk my Year 12 Product Designers watch every year, and one core message he conveys so well is that if you are happy, you solve problems better. He talks fondly about a fake “intelligence task” in which those under pressure fail to solve the task, whilst those enjoying some candy and without pressure solve the task easily. I like the notion that when you come across a problem you say, “no problem, i’ll figure it out” instead of fearing even getting into that position in the first place.
Change is no problem
The second trait is that nothing is a problem. A former colleague who was an assistant head at a school in Sutton where I worked had this ability to exude that nothing was a problem to her. You could ask her for any form of help and it was no problem, without hesitation, booked into the diary and something she was committed to. Normally in my case as an NQT it was help with a really difficult pupil I simply couldn’t win with. But all the same the exterior persona was “no problem”. I hoped to aspire to her demeanour as a senior leader, and recognise that problem solving is part and parcel of middle leadership too. And it is surprising to think just how many people I have worked with who hit brick walls when problems arise. Immediate thoughts of “oh god we shouldn’t have done this”, or “I have no idea what to do now, this is a real problem” are not uncommon. This is surprising considering I work with colleagues who teach children the skills needed to solve problems through creative response. But when the problem is that we are changing something, then the resistance is even more confusing. Change is good. I know this from 14 years of teaching in 8 different schools. Change keeps things fresh. You are always learning when things change. The brain likes change, we are not looking to make our work environment a habituary space which lacks that spark of newness. So a good subject lead encourages change, and does so with the view that it is no problem whatsoever, no matter the work load.
Tireless
Watching a 3 year old play from morning until night (and longer if they had their way) during half term is exhausting. But it is only exhausting to me because the role of teacher is so intense that I personally feel the drain come half term, and I like to feel that I give my all when I am at school. So tireless enthusiasm is essential, as this ensures the things you action are seen through to the last. I remember introducing new assessment cards in department meeting number 2 of a new job. It was a hard push, and harder with each week that went by, trying to get my department to take them up, and use them. But in being tirelessly enthusiastic about them, showing my own filled in cards like cub scout badges, was all part of the merry dance that it sometimes takes to get change to happen. Children can draw and play for hours, even the same game can last for what feels like days, but this is the steadfast attitude that instills acknowledgement from your peers that this means something, you believe in it, and by joe you aren’t going to drop it if staff moan every time you talk about it. Just stick to your guns and appear tireless in your pursuit, and you will win the day.
Say thank you
My children have nailed this. It was something my wife and I both agreed to before the children had even arrived into the world. We wanted them to say thank you at other people’s houses. So if they were handed a gift bag at the end of the birthday party, they would (without prompt) say “thank you for having me”, and we as parents would feel proud (even if they had turned the house upside down in the process of the “party”). As a subject lead, being grateful is essential to my day to day. I don’t give it out freely, but I do make sure it is there, and make sure I show real honest gratitude. Why? Well it’s sometimes all we need to feel that we have been appreciated for our efforts. Even if the quality of what has been done could have been better, forget this notion straight away. The task has been done, by staff doing it for you, and they have presented it to you, when probably they’d rather not be doing any of this. Forgetting any possible political agenda, or any other negative thought, the key is to say thank you. Grateful students soften your heart and manage to avoid getting those detentions you happily dish out to the naughty children, so apply the same rule to yourself. In doing so, you stand as good a chance as any that the person will feel appreciated, and will continue to deliver on those things you need from them, and who knows, might even do so without any supporting or coaching from you. And if a 3 year old can be thankful, so can you.
Celebrate everything
This might seem harsh, but my middle daughter brings home on a regular basis a stuffed animal for doing something good, and often it’s actually not that big a deal. Sammy the sharing snail is currently in her bed, and the listening lion and caring cat have been resident only too recently. My daughter is a wonderful little girl, but she is celebrated and rewarded for (it feels like) everything. Positive reinforcement through reward is powerful, it changes the mindset, and it can even change behaviour, and subsequently be a way to make people more effective at doing positive things. It clearly works for my daughter, she can’t share enough! So in celebrating your students work, often, in a grand or even small way, and recognising the positive actions you want the children to take, you instill that positive feeling. You also build behaviours that lead to changes in approach. If you celebrate the student who drew her designs in perfect 2 point perspective, fine lined and rendered the sketches, and annotated the designs beautifully with respect to the specification, it would only naturally lead to repetition of this approach in her next attempt. Discerning students would naturally follow suit. In short, you are making a real impact and achieving your teaching aims. Apply the approach to your staff, and you might well achieve similar success. I have been on the receiving end of such praise (for my bookmarking on the occasion I remember) and it feels great. Making the celebration genuine, considered and conducted in a respectful way is important, so try to avoid marginalising staff by missing them out. In short, celebrate everyone, and everything.
Don’t take yourself too seriously
The last and final trait I feel is the most important. Don’t take yourself seriously. The seriousness in our world today, the struggles, the difficulties, the challenges we face, mean you can afford to avoid such seriousness in your own demeanour. My children are quite happy to take the world in their stride. They don’t mind colouring outside the lines. They don’t mind spilling paint on the table. They don’t mind jumping up and down on the bed naked whilst I try in vain to get their pyjamas on. Life is too short for being serious. I also personally try to remember some of the traits mentioned earlier. If something doesn’t work out, it doesn’t make me a failure, or a bad manager, or incapable of leading, it just means that it didn’t work out. I’ll solve it another way. I won’t fear failure, nor will I change my goals. I’ll certainly remain tireless until the job is done, and celebrate it all when we get there. But if I am honest, I don’t think a good or even great subject leader will ever put their feet up and say “I’ve done it”. The job, the subject, the curriculum, the budget, the challenges, the children, the staff, they will always be changing, so the best thing you can remember to do is do the job with that ability to stay relaxed, enjoy it, and see the world through the eyes of a 3 years old.
Phil Holton 