Teach Like Nobody's Watching

Teach Like Nobody's Watching by Mark Enser is a call for teachers to take control of their teaching, rather than pandering to outside entities (be it Ofsted, SLT, parents). It is based on two underlying principles: that we should do what is effective (do things that work) and what is efficient (don't do things the long way if there is a shorter way). It is the antidote to the fads of education: things that either don't work (teaching to learning styles), or have been morphed from what does work in such a way to make them useless (plan lessons in three parts), or they do (partially) work but are not worth the time investment in most cases (discovery models of learning).

Efficiency, as the author points out, is a term that is often viewed with disdain in education. "There is no place for efficiency in schools" is something I have had said to me, implying that efficiency is about stripping back and reducing the level of education. But that is not what efficiency is about. It is about reaching the same level with the least possible resources wasted. Those resources are not paper or electrical devices. Enser is talking about time costs of certain tasks. Every minute of teachers time spent doing something that could have been achieved in less time is time not used to prepare lessons, feedback to students, improve their own practice. Being efficient is about using our time wisely to achieve the best results, in the shortest time.

And Enser argues that an efficient and effective teacher follows four stages. He compares these to "real world teachers", such as driving instructors, who follow these stages naturally.

There are a lot of benefits to having a simple structure around which to base your teaching: it is easy to remember, meaning you are more likely to do it; it cuts out unnecessary stuff that has little impact on student learning; it reduces teacher stress and workload, and so makes them better at their job.

In Part 1 of the book, Enser goes into detail on each of these four aspects of effective and efficient teaching, linking to research and classroom practice. There are some suggestions for activities, but mostly it focuses on why these are important and the guiding principles of each.

Part 1, which is about half the book, is, in my opinion, an essential read for all teachers. It overviews what simple, effective and efficient teaching should be based upon, and gives teachers the springboard to take control of their own practice. It celebrates the classroom teacher.

Part 2 moves on to look at the curriculum and assessment. It looks at the taught curriculum and how we sequence it, the "super-curriculum" of things we want our students to know/experience/learn outside of structured lesson time, and how we can go about assessing if we have been successful at this. Again, all these are addressed from a viewpoint of being effective and efficient, and not wasting time on tasks that do not improve the learning of the students. 

The final chapter in part 2 is all about running department meetings and how to use them to develop one of the most important parts of great teachers: their subject knowledge. This chapter in itself is a must read for any head of department (or line manager to a head of department) as it is a treasure trove of simple ideas to help make departmental CPD time more effective, and less based on administrative tasks.

Part 3 looks at the wider school, and what role school leadership has to play in allowing teachers to do their job without interference. The thorny issues of behaviour, data tracking, non-negotiables, CPD and feedback policies are tackled, with Enser again arguing to cut these back to what is actually useful for teachers. Each of these is accompanied by a short case study from somebody in a leadership position from schools across the UK.

The whole premise of the book is to allow teachers to Teach Like Nobody's Watching, and at every turn Enser brings our attention to things we do which are not essential, and the things we could be doing that would make us more time efficient in doing our jobs. 

Making the time to read this book (and reflect on it) would be an effective and efficient way for all teachers to keep improving what they do, and help our students do the best they can.

My Takeaways
The simplicity of the recap, input, application, feedback model of teaching is great. I have been guilty of over-complicating things in the past, both as a teacher and T+L leader, and this call to simplify what we do has struck a nerve with me.

My teaching does (now) largely follow this approach, though reading this has made me more aware of the importance of each stage. It can be easy to skip recap, for example, when pushed for time. But building in the stereotypical "Last lesson we..." has been something I have implemented immediately, even in live online teaching.

But here are a few highlights from each chapter:
Recap - importance of connecting new learning to old material explicitly; Cornwell notes; show students the puzzle box to help them fit new knowledge in the right place.
Input - requires attention and good behaviour; the importance of good subject knowledge; limits on working memory; dual coding; interactive through questioning; don't rush!
Application - get students thinking hard; break it down and bring it together; ensure understanding before application; make the task focus on what you want them to learn; importance of modelling; is the purpose of application to perform or to practice.
Feedback - feedback is not the same as marking; reduce the need for feedback (careful input, give success criteria); reduce time (verbal, whole class); make it count (have a purpose, action points, make it specific).
Programme of Study - the curriculum is the journey you wish to take your pupils on, so make it a conscious choice; build upon previous knowledge; identify and keep coming back to threshold concepts.
Super-curriculum - avoid a scattergun approach and link to the main curriculum; increase cultural capital with general knowledge within classes; better than a reading list is to set reading homework and link to curriculum.
Assessment - designed to make learning visible; be careful about what you are assessing (does language cause the issues); consider the types of validity (does it cover everything, would two tests on same topic produce same results, would a test on something different produce different results); benefits of rank assessments.
Department meetings - develop subject knowledge (audit, address gaps, adapt practice); develop curriculum (question, map, evaluate); common culture (expectations of student work, collaborate).
Leaders supporting teaching - it is impossible to teach well when there is poor behaviour; there needs to be an understanding of principles to avoid cargo cults; separate CPD from meetings and focus on why before handing to departments. 

In terms of leading T+L, the model has given me an idea for developing our new coaching programme, which I will write about soon. It has also made me reflect on the overly complicated nature of our own Principles of Great Teaching (...) which contain 16 different aspects. I wonder if collecting them under bigger terms would be useful? Again, building this in to the Coaching programme is on my to do list. This year was meant to be about departments going away and looking at how the Principles fit in their subjects, and what they look like, but the lockdown has pushed that back. I still need to ensure these conversations are happening when we get back.