The difference dedication makes!
Today I attended another exemplar day with Edge Hill University. I was honoured to have the opportunity to spend the morning with children from a lovely little Church of England school in in a seaside resort in the North West. It wasn't always this way. The journey of improvement this school has been on over the past seven years sounds like an expedition rather than a journey! But the staff, parents and children have turned it around - as a community.
During this visit the assistant head teacher made a comment about teaching being a vocation. I agree with this. I believe that teaching is a vocation for me, but it was the first time I had heard a teaching professional speak of the 'job' in such a way. And it was refreshing, and reassuring.
The struggles that staff and wider school community have been through were illuminating but the children, teaching and the learning that was seen today was fabulous. It proved to me that dedicated staff, who truly care about the children as individuals can make an enormous difference to those children's lives.
The teacher standards don't really cover caring for 'your' children, other than stating your legal obligations. But government legislation cannot encapsulate what the exceptional teachers do, the teachers that sometimes play a more pivotal role in a child's life than their own mother. The teachers who provide care and dedicate their lives to 'their' children. These elements are only encompassed by the vocation or calling.
I do not dare propose that only those teachers that don't actually have a life, because it all revolves around teaching, school and all things education, are the only good teachers. Or even that all these teachers are good at actually imparting knowledge - otherwise known as teaching! But I do propose that these qualities of going the extra mile for the children in your care 'in loco parentis' are the ones that make up the memorable and inspirational teachers. And also the ones that fulfil the criteria that no government can write - the criteria of love.
I am a practising catholic and one of the things that struck me when I was reflecting on the day, was the overwhelming sense of christian values in the school. That sense of 'love one another as I have loved you' (John 13:34). I have to admit, I generally don't proclaim my faith via professional means - though I'm not quite sure why... However, when a school is so clearly working with the christian ethos and so successfully, it is hard not to be touched by the successes.