As I sat down to have a cup of tea with John Halliwell, head-teacher of
Thomas Arnold Primary School recently; we were discussing how important it is to have teachers of the right culture fit for a school, beyond teachers who can simply deliver 'outstanding lessons'.
In this short article I've outlined 3 key common personality traits among Phenomenal Teachers! Which of the brilliant traits below are most important in your school & why? I would love to hear your thoughts!
Charisma:
As outlined in my recent blog on
school leadership, excellent schools seemingly
employ teachers who possess a shared sense of values and often a shared style of working. A confident smile, accompanied by a divine sense of dress and positive mannerisms are common traits among phenomenal teachers.
These are the type of people who can walk into any classroom in any school and command,
(not demand) attention, with the subtle raise of an eyebrow or a huge smile and a raised hand.
An example is during my first week at a primary school teaching PE, I walked into a dining room of supervisor staff trying to get their voices heard over 200 children. I walked in calmly, began clapping a rhythm and within seconds they were all following me with engaged smiles. Then I placed my finger on my lips.
Subject Knowledge:
Whilst observing Spanish teacher Nora Ferguenis at the same school; Thomas Arnold, she reminded me of the deepened value in shared discussion. It was brilliant to assess not only how much words and phrases the children could 'remember' but how confident they were in debating how they themselves could further develop sports terms. They were able to confidently communicate through dramatic expression and role play so others could guess the sport in the target language.
Excellent teachers have a plethora of knowledge but what fantastic teachers like Nora do is to
impart snippets of that knowledge; and then get the children to expand upon it, so that knowledge sharing becomes a reciprocal process as opposed to a directed one.
Leadership Style Communication:
From children to adults, communication is key to success in any walk of life. I remember when our head of services, Sam was teaching PE and he remarked;
"No, not 'kind of like'; with confidence tell me what peripheral vision means?", before receiving a more clear and astute response from the pupil.
Brilliant teachers communicate like leaders; with assertion and clarity.
They often report more frequently and more thoroughly than what is outlined in their role requirements and their assessments are usually more thorough than their counterparts. They are distinctly aware of how to communicate with the right person, at the right time, so that they get what they need. By proxy their seniors get more time to focus on other areas of development for the school.
In an era of growing cultural diversity in schools it's essential for companies who supply teachers to schools to employ teachers who are chameleon like and are able to deliver phenomenal teaching in almost any environment. Phenomenal teachers such as these are a rare breed. However
employing teachers with the appropriate personality and culture fit for your school ensures that with an effective CPD programme, schools, children, parents and the community will benefit in all manner of ways!
To find out more about sourcing teachers with the right culture fit for your school or organisation, look out for my next blog post:
An interview with a phenomenal head-teacher: Mr John Haliwell.
Feel free to share this blog post & comment your thoughts below. I'd love to hear from you!
J and C Values: Passion. Positivity. Productivity. Performance. Progress.
Best regards,
Jazz Rose
Director of Education
J and C Academy
www.jandcacademy.com
admin@jandcacademy.com
