Consistency, autonomy, and when to ‘Let it go!’

I’m walking around my department during a free period. Two classes are learning about electrolysis. They’re learning the same content, but the lessons look quite different. Does this matter?*

I’m walking around my department during a free period. I see students throwing glue sticks in two classrooms. One teacher doesn’t appear to notice them and carries on teaching. The other teacher notices, follows the behaviour policy, and the lesson continues. Does this matter?*

I’m in a Heads of Subject meeting. We’ve been asked to ensure that our departments are implementing the whole school marking policy. Does this matter?*

* Please note, these are all imaginary scenarios, not based on experiences in my school.

Tension

As a middle leader, I’ve been thinking about the tension between consistency and autonomy which crops up everywhere in schools. I like autonomy. I like to be able to teach how I want in my classroom, and am lucky to work in a school where this has always been possible. But, as Head of Department, I want to ensure that every student is getting the best possible experience in science lessons. There is potential tension here between what I want as a teacher, and as a leader.

As a Head of Department, I want to be able to organise my department as I see fit, prioritising the things which matter most for our students in science. This may not always align with the priorities and focus of the school in terms of where time is allocated for CDP and collaborative department time. There is potential tension here between what I want as a middle leader, and what is best for the school more widely.

In the complex school environment, there will always be tension between the need for consistency, to tame an otherwise untamable beast, and the desire for autonomy at all levels. Particularly as a middle leader, I have felt this in variety of ways:

• Tension between what I would want as a teacher in my classroom, and what I want to see in the classrooms of those in my department.
• Tension between what I feel is best for students in science, and what others see as best for them in other areas.
• Tension between wanting to lead change, and being worried about what others will think.
• Tension between wanting to lead change, and being worried about increasing staff workload through doing so.
• Tension between what I want to devote department time to, and whole school priorities which require some of this time.
• Tension between things which I care deeply about, and things which others care equally deeply about.
• Tension between what I want for my department, and the reality of what it is possible to provide or facilitate.
• Tension between what students want and what teachers want.
• Tension between what students want and what parents want.
• Tension between what parents want and what teachers want.

I’m sure you can add other tensions to this list. Tensions like these have caused me much frustration because I haven’t always recognised them as such, and as an inevitable part of life in a complex school. At this point I want to thank Matthew Evans for writing this blog which was what started me on this train of thought and helped me to make sense of it. I have been “wishing impossible things”!

So where has this thinking led me? It has made me reflect on the fact that these tensions are everywhere and are felt by those working at all levels within a school – something I easily forget. It has made me think about a few areas in my role where I think autonomy or consistency are particularly important and given me a framework to make decisions about when I might need to challenge things, and when to let them go.

Autonomy

As a teacher, the biggest area in which I value autonomy is in my classroom – I want to be free to teach my lessons in the way I feel is most effective for my students. I want to be able to use resources which work with my teaching and for my students.

As a Head of Department I want to be able to set the agenda for department priorities and decide on department policies. I know my department best and want to be able to focus on the areas we need to develop. I want to be able to set policies (marking, assessment etc) which work for my subject, my teachers, and our students.

Linked to this, I want to be able to make decisions about how department CPD and collaborative planning time is used so that we can focus on ensuring the priorities we’ve identified are being given the attention they deserve.

Consistency

As a teacher and Head of Department, I want consistency in teachers’ expectations of student behaviour, and consistency in following the behaviour policy at all levels in the school. I believe excellent student behaviour is the number one factor in ensuring students learn, so consistency in this area is vital.

As a Head of Department, I want all students studying my subject to have an excellent education. This requires consistency in curriculum and, to some extent, in resources. Having said this, I want all staff to feel that the curriculum and resources are theirs, thus the importance of significant autonomy in the use of department time.

As a Head of Department, I want consistency in some aspects of pedagogy. I definitely don’t want teachers teaching from a script, but I do want teachers giving students opportunities for retrieval practice, asking high quality questions and challenging tasks, and ensuring that they’re checking for students’ understanding and using strategies to increase participation and thinking ratio. Again, autonomy in department time makes this possible.

Challenge or let it go?

I’ve set out some of the areas in which I value autonomy and consistency. So, if something crops up which I don’t immediately like, which threatens what I value (whether something I see happening in a classroom, or something I’m asked to do) I will try asking questions like the following (in no particular order, and necessarily vague):

• Is this important enough to challenge? 
• Will this affect the well-being of staff or students?
• Is this something I can easily do? 
• Is this something I’m going to struggle to do?
• Is this something I need to be given time or resources to do?
• This isn’t a priority for me, but can I see why it’s important for others or for the school as a whole?
• Is there reasonable evidence that this is a good bet for students/staff in some way?
• Do I understand why I’m being asked to do this?

Asking such questions will help me to clarify what it is that I don’t like about something and to assess whether it’s really a big enough deal to challenge. If it is, taking a moment to think this through will probably help me to find a constructive way to go about the challenge. If it isn’t, I can let it go!

We’re all walking a tightrope between the tensions of autonomy and consistency, what we value and prioritise in our roles, and what those around us do in theirs. I hope that having a better awareness of this will help me to be more compassionate with myself, and with others, and to make wiser decisions about what to challenge, and what to let go.

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So, would I challenge, or let it go?

A quick return to the beginning, in case you were wondering what I would do. As I said, these are imaginary scenarios, and there would proabably be much greater nuance in real life situations.

Scenario 1: I would let it go, unless one teacher was doing something completely bonkers (I’ll leave you to imagine what this might be!) with their class which left me concerned that they would not really be learning.

Scenario 2: I would challenge (supportively), behaviour is vital for learning, so the teacher not intervening with the students misbehaving may need some support in behaviour management.

Scenario 3: I would challenge (constructively, and after taking time to think through my arguments). I might ask for an explanation of why the whole school policy is required and for clarification regarding why this is best for students and teachers. I might ask whether there is any scope for departments to have slightly different policies if there was something in the whole school one which really didn’t make sense in my subject context.

Image: Tightrope by Alec Dhuse from NounProject.com