I know the role of teachers cannot be underestimated, as it is clearly one of the hardest roles in society. To have the responsibility to raise and educate the next generation cannot be easy, to prepare the next dentists, doctors, politicians, teachers, mothers and solicitors has it challenges.

However, with the change of society, technology, social etiquette and behavioural expectations the classroom is not as it used to be and will become more and more challenging. With young people being more receptive to relationship than authority figures this need to be acknowledged and accommodated (within reason and boundaries).

With more teachers leaving the profession, experiencing mental health issues, being physically and emotionally abused and taking time off from stress this is a hard time for teachers.

So from my experience of training and mentoring teachers, here are a few tips that I hope I would be beneficial for teacher and could be implemented straight away to yield rewards:

1. Try not to shout: I was with a head teacher the other day and he shared that in his school there is no shouting and communication must be calm to go with his schools ethos. And I totally agree. Teachers where possible should not shout but raise their voices to receive the appropriate attention and to command the circumstance when necessary.
   What is the difference? Well if you shout it is a sign of losing control and your voice is infused with emotions that can be perceived negatively such as frustration, anger, annoyance, fear and impatience etc. For this reason, shouting can create more boundaries plus make students know how to push your buttons, so when possible raise your voice instead of shouting.
2. Body language speaks: I was shocked to find out on average communication is: 7% verbal, 38% inflection, pace and the tone of what you say and 55% body language. This means you are communicating and giving off more expressions when you are not speaking.
   So posture, positioning, how you stand i.e. positively or slouching all gives off communication to those who you are teaching. So if you are intimidated it shows hence some taking advantage. So assert your authority by pure and positive posture that expresses you are leading the class.
3. Avoid using your phone during lessons: Children are big on respect and watch what you do more than listen to what you say, so you are a role model whether you want to be or not. Increasingly more and more students are saying that their teachers are on their phones during lesson times, which is very concerning and annoyed at the double standards.
   Students are told not to be on their phones during school time so if the teacher who is the authority and moral leader is contradicting this expectation, what do you feel this will communicate? I can tell you, it will affect your power to influence your class and your credibility.

   So be aware that they are watching and in some cases are even telling their parents as my daughter tells me of teachers that do this in her school. So be professional and use discretion.

4. Children are people first and students second: This may sound so obvious it is not even worth mentioning however, I know this is far from the truth. Time and time again, I share this with teachers via CPD, Inset or Initial Teacher Training and participants thank me for reminding them.
   Through mentoring my role is to understand and make sense of pupil voice to transform learning and school results. Children are your biggest stakeholders and can be seen as clients so what they think or say is important (if you want their best performance and cooperation).
   Just remember every child has a life that they are dealing with, some are carers, some are living with foster parents, some wish they were living with foster parents, some are self harming some have abusive homes and many have normal sedate lives (if there is such a thing). So remember that they are people and their lives may be why they hate school and not you.
5. Be you: In the quest of being professional sometimes we can leave our personality, quirkiness and uniqueness at the door as we don our professional persona. However this does not work as effectively as if we were to use our personalities as a filter to deliver our profession.

Many students don’t think that teachers are people and are extremely shocked to see their teacher dressed down and picking up groceries at their local food store. However, true this may be that means something is wrong because why is their perception so far from the truth?

Children are people first and students second just like teachers are “people” who teach. To conceptualise this I will share this fact during talks to year groups highlighting that teachers have lives and their kids could be playing up or their parents are unwell or they are going through a messy separation etc. This quickly helps children to engage in their empathy and become understanding instantly.

Be you, as you are enough, you are special and you have a lot to give and children will respond more authentically if they know some aspect of who you are as a person as well as a teacher.

Conclusion:
I hope that this help and that you do get some insights and tips that you can use straight away. I am increasingly becoming aware that when someone is a teacher it becomes their life and work life balance is a challenge because of lesson planning and marking work, the demands that prospective Ofsted observations have, the targets set by schools, Whitehall and Heads place on teachers to name a few, never mind biased parents. You can be overwhelmed.

However when possible, please reflect on your “why”, why you became a teacher in a hope to reconnect to your passion and purpose.

Happy Mentoring

Image: cumbriagridforlearning.org.uk