IOE Insights

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You're listening to IOE insights. The UCL Institute of Education podcast at University College London.

Elaine Long
We are programme leaders on the UCL Early Career Teacher programme. Why are we in the Staffroom? We are here because this is where the best professional learning conversations always take place. This is where problems faced by teachers and leaders today can be explored critically, and where meaningful connections between research and practice can be made.

Mark Quinn
Over the course of this series, we will hear the voices of different colleagues as they come into The Staffroom – from ECTs to academics and executive leaders. We will talk about all things education – the challenges and the joys. So why don’t you enjoy a coffee with us, perhaps even grab a biscuit, and sit down for an hour of Staffroom chat.

Mark Quinn
Welcome to The Staffroom, Teddy Morgan. Teddy, we are really thrilled to have you join us in the staff room this afternoon. For the benefit of our listeners, we are right at the beginning of January. This is just the start of the spring term for everybody out there. So, Teddy, I'm going to ask you, just actually, did you get any nice drinks and nice biscuits over the Christmas holiday, and have you had enough or do you want some more?

Teddy Morgan
I definitely had enough. My mum bought me a tea Advent calendar, so a different cup of tea every day.

Mark Quinn
For example.

Teddy Morgan
I think my favourite one was. I think it was Peach and hibiscus, which I'd never had before.

Mark Quinn
I'm sure. I'm sure we've got Peach and hibiscus somewhere in our cupboard in the staff room. Would you like another cup of that?

Teddy Morgan
Oh, definitely, yeah, that was really nice.

Mark Quinn
OK. And is there a biscuit I can bring for you?

Teddy Morgan
Probably a chocolate bourbon. I got to say.

Mark Quinn
It's one of our favourites, it's one of our favourites. We've always got some of those. I'll get those and I think Elaine's going to start talking proper grown up stuff to you now.

Teddy Morgan
Yeah.

Elaine Long
You're setting the bar high for us, Teddy, as I know you do in in your teaching as well, which is why we're so excited to have you on the podcast and start up term, you definitely deserve that comfy seat in the staffroom because going back to any job in January is very hard but not least teaching.

So, I hope you can put your feet up a little bit. Can you start by telling our listeners a bit about yourself? We think they'll be interested in what attracted you to teaching and what brings you the most joy in your work?

Teddy Morgan
OK, so I grew up in Manchester and then when I was 12, I moved to Gibraltar, which is a British overseas territory at the South of Spain. And it was interesting growing up there. They only had one school, so they had a boy’s school, and they had a girls school, and looking back on it, the quality of education and safeguarding was not what you'd expect in the UK and I think, it kind of opened my eyes to the power of teaching.

Because I'd always been very interested in learning, I did it on my own time. I loved learning, but I could see that those around me didn't, and I found that really confusing until I went to the school and realised hang on, the teachers are not inspiring this in them.

And so, I kind of shelved that for a bit, went to university and got to 3rd year of university, I thought I have no idea what I want to do and then someone recommended to me, oh, train to be a teacher, you know, you don't have to do it forever. I think you'll like it. I think you'll be good at it. And I said, oh, I won't be very good at it.

So, I applied and I went to the interview and I was sat in UK school for the first time since I was 11 and I thought, whoa, this is this is different than what I remember school being like, I think I could do this actually, I think I might really enjoy this and thankfully I got a place in Sheffield and yeah, I think I just fell in love and to my greatest hope, I was actually quite good at it. I could do it, which,
made me quite happy. So yeah.

Elaine Long
What do you like about it the most? What is it that brings you that joy?

Teddy Morgan
It's. I think and this sounds a bit corny, it's like it's seeing the joy that geography can bring to kids, because I always knew it made me really happy, but it never seemed to make anybody else very happy, like in school. And then I got to teaching and I saw that if I did it right and I did it well, they were engaged and they were listening and they were really pleased to be learning about this. It's amazing. I see kids eyes light up when you tell them a cool fact. It's just brilliant. And then seeing them connect,
Oh, hang on a minute, hang on, we learned this last lesson. This links to this, miss. I'm like, that is on to the best feeling in the world.

Mark Quinn
And you said doing it right and doing it well, Teddy, that sounds like that's a really easy thing to do, right? Being a, teaching geography well and teaching it right. I mean, can you say one or two things about what it means to teach it right and teach it well.

Teddy Morgan
Sometimes it feels easy, and then sometimes I get to the end of the day and I think, wow, I didn't do any of that correctly. And then I think the main way is that I have found is that I have to make it relevant to them, I have to explain to them why I care First off and why they should care, and the reasons vary. Like for year 11 they should care because it will help them get a good job and because I think it will help them be good people.

For lower years, it matters because it's the world around them. It's the world they will be living in for the rest of their lives. And I tell them if you don't understand the world you live in, you can't do anything to change it, if you don't understand what's happening around you, you can't change it, and then you'll be stuck like this, which, yeah, that kind of works. I hope it does.

Elaine Long
I'm already hot, Teddy, my geography teacher definitely wasn't that interesting. I think I need to come to some of your lessons and then revisit it.

Mark Quinn
Yeah. So, so obviously you're doing some things right and you said you found that almost straight away, you realise that you could do this, that when you started training, you thought, OK, there's something about you which was connecting I guess with the students, the young people you were working with in the placement schools and obviously where you are now in Moor End Academy, which is great

We do know of course that it's not equally great for all teachers and one of the reasons why some teachers listen in to our podcast is because you know that we will address some issues that are faced by teachers and by leaders in schools today and one of the issues that does come up for us quite frequently is about teacher well-being. I don't know if you saw it, Teddy, but there's the education support charity recently reported on some pretty awful statistics, which they found from teachers in their survey, where 77% of them said they'd experienced poor mental health because of their job, you know, due to the work. So, my question is a big one. So it's about how does that kind of statistic, how do you react to that kind of statistic I suppose What would your experience have been as an early career teacher with well-being?

Teddy Morgan
Well, I think hearing it, it makes me like, sad and angry because people should be doing more and then like leaders and the government should be doing more to be helping this. And then I think as far as like it matching my experience the thing I found the hardest was when I was in the classroom it was great, everything was great.

If I had the lesson planned, which I always tried to make sure I did and I had everything I needed, it was wonderful and it was really fun, and then, but then you'd have all this time outside the classroom, and you'd have this long list of things to do. And I found it quite difficult to prioritise them because some of them I'd look at and think no one cares about this, it's a tick box exercise. No one cares and then so that'd be my bottom priority list and then someone would come in and go where is it?

Mark Quinn
I'm sorry, Teddy. Can I just interrupt there? Is that because you are being, so you really asked for something from the leadership of the school and you didn't understand, maybe you didn't really understand the point of it. Maybe it was a higher priority for them than it was for you. Is that what you’re getting at? Yeah.

Teddy Morgan
Yeah, pretty much, yeah. And like, once I had, then looking back, I should just from the start, but it was like kind of first job awkwardness of I can't ask for too much help, but I realised that I could. Once I understood the kind of the need for this and the usefulness of it, it then became easier to prioritise. But yeah, not because you kind of arrive at a new job, it's a 2 days of inset and you get everything. Here is everything you need to do and teach starting tomorrow. And yeah, it was extremely overwhelming. But The thing is, it's like, I don't know what else I could have asked him to do. That's the problem. Yeah. So, when I started my second year. I kind of I thought back to last September. I thought, I don't know. Oh, what if it's the same again? And then thankfully it wasn't.

Mark Quinn
What it changed for you in that in the 12 months?

Teddy Morgan
I just became more confident, I feel because I knew what the priorities were. I also knew who to ask if I didn't understand, and I knew that they would answer my questions and I feel very lucky because I'm pretty sure that is not the case in every school, where I know that if I go to leadership they will listen and they will answer my question. And yeah, there's something productive will come out of that conversation. See, I feel very fortunate with that.

Mark Quinn
OK, because you've got a leadership that is approachable and does listen and responds when you need them to. Yeah. So, I'm going to hand over to Elaine in a second, but I'm interested in where you think that 77% comes from, right, because if leadership in the school, all they need to do is really listen and kind of explain the priorities for the teachers who don't understand why something's important that they don't think it's important that that's all it can. If that's, you know, largely what it comes down to.

What do you think accounts for so many teachers experiencing mental health due to teaching? What is it about the job, do you think?

Teddy Morgan
I think they pride themselves on having exceptionally strong behaviour with the kids. They were part of the first behaviour hubs thing with the government.

Mark Quinn
Yeah.

Teddy Morgan
You know, they would lead that and so the behaviour is, it's the best out of any school I've ever been to or worked at and I think if it wasn't, then the prioritising of other tasks, I don't think would even register sometimes, because if you've got five hours of constant overstimulation abuse, really, you know, upsetting behaviour from kids then leadership can be fantastic, but if the behaviour isn't there. You know, that's five hours of your day spent in a terrible environment. And yeah, of course people are struggling because anyone would be.

Elaine Long
Tell us a bit more about that. What is it that that's so good about the behaviour that's in place?

Teddy Morgan
I think it's the centre of everything. Everything comes back to behaviour, everything they do comes back to behaviour. They are really, really clear with staff and with students, exactly the process and you everyone uses the same language and the kids, they are fantastic at knowing the behaviour policy inside and out. They all have the planners, they have comments in, they get a certain amount of comments, they get a day in seclusion. And it's really clear what you get a comment for and what you don't.

And there are different types of comments and it sounds complicated and I've explained it to people who work at different schools, like how do you remember? And it took me a while at first, but the second you start implementing it and you become, watch one of the other teachers implementing it. The kids realise that, OK, right, we're going to behave because they're really clear on what the consequences are. And I think the most importantly is that the parents are backing them up. Parents back this all up almost every single time.

Elaine Long
That's really interesting because one of the biggest stresses I've noted and people talk about in recent years is actually working with parents sometimes who don't share the same ideas or values about the behaviour policies staff in the school. So, what's gone on there to make it the parents are on side, there must have been a lot of work that's taken place with the community to ensure that.

Teddy Morgan
Oh yeah, mass amounts of work, I think. As well we have. We have members of staff who are just pastoral as in that's their entire job. They are not teachers. They do not teach. And so it's quite separate in a in like a job role kind of way, if that makes sense. So, the head of years I've got a senior head of year as well. They only do pastoral and behaviour and I think that makes it easier for parents because they come to parents evening and if there's a behaviour problem, well, go talk to head of year, they'll know more about it than I will. And they know that teachers are just focused on teaching the best lesson and what they try and say, they say a lot is it's not, it's not miss versus kids. It's not me versus you. As a student, it's you versus the behaviour policy, not me versus you. I'm not attacking you when having an argument. You are not following behaviour policy here as a sanction.

I think parents really support, and also like the pastoral team are amazing because they're really experienced in this and they don't have other priorities, just student well-being and parental contact. And so, you know, parents understand that this is the person to go to and they understand that they're there. They're on the kids side, they want what's best for them. And yeah, I think that helps a lot.

Elaine Long
So, sounds like there's a big investment in pastoral care in the school as well, quite proactively, to care for students as well. So positive behaviour is one enabler of well-being in in a school. What do you see as some of the other enablers of well-being in a school?

Teddy Morgan
I think clarity, there have been times when they change the behaviour policy and you're not quite clear on why or how and that causes massive amounts of chaos, and thankfully they've done that once. And then they've, like, done it more gradually since, which has really helped, but I think clarity is the main thing because it kind of just feels like emails are flying at you and you don't know what's going on, you don't know why they're doing all this. Everything's changing year on year. It's very hard to build consistency. I think that's one part of it. I think also the part of is culture in the school, like other people, happy to be there, you know? Do they enjoy working there? If you're surrounded, if everyone else is upset, obviously you're going to be as well and it makes things harder, I feel.

Elaine Long
One of the things I hear you talk about a lot. Teddy, is you're conscious that you play a role in your well-being as well because you say when I'm doing it right or when I get this right or when I do this, I said you're a geography teacher, so I can use a geography metaphor, but there seems to be a sense you're conscious that you also make the weather in in your own classroom and I, I just wonder if we're thinking about ECTs listening to this, of course culture matters and behaviour policy matters. But what also are the active things ECTs can do to enable their own well-being as well.

Teddy Morgan
I think. I try and maintain a really clear and I'm quite strict with myself with work life balance. Like I try really, really hard not to bring marking home, probably because I'm scared I'll lose it, but also that when I'm here, when I'm at home, I'm not at work, I'm not teaching, I'm trying to switch off from it as much as possible and the school again, it’s a cultural thing, they don't send emails on weekends, they don't send emails during holidays.

The only time they will contact you outside of working hours is for an emergency, they're closing the school or whatever. And they are really, really strict about that, which I think helps. But I think as well and what I'd tell like other teachers and like other ECTs is that you've got to find the joy in it and that is something that as a person, I actively have to do because it can be quite easy to kind of get like frustrated and overwhelmed. But I have to kind of remind myself that no, I'm the adult in the room. You're in my classroom. I'm taking a step back. Taking a deep breath. And I'm going to try and find the joy. Focus on the good these kids are doing because it's always something. There's thirty of them. One of them is doing something good at any point, even if 29 or not one of them is doing something well. And sometimes I have to kind of, not ignore it, but focus on that person….

Mark Quinn
Hopefully more than one.

Teddy Morgan
….doing well, thank them, praise them and then deal with whatever this is. I found that quite helps as well. And also like kids are funny. They're funny, weird little creatures, and I'd simply take a moment to kind of think back on all the funny stuff during the day.

Mark Quinn
I think we've got the tagline for the podcast. The line kids are funny little creatures.
Quote Teddy Morgan. I think it's really, I mean I think this is worth pressing even harder, Teddy, because I think it's really important. I mean for a start that's that, that I quoted a while ago about the 77% of teachers. If 3/4 of the teaching profession are feeling mentally strained by the job? Then there is definitely a conversation that we need to have about why this is. And obviously you cannot, you know, any individual can only talk about from their own individual experience, which is what you're doing, and you don't stand for the 77%. But I do. I think we do know that some of the reasons, certainly some of the research about well-being talks about it being about a sense of connectedness to the place that you're working.

A sense of feeling, feeling valued for the work that you do. I think it's also connected to your competence as a teacher. You know, actually, if you're teaching well, you're likely to also feel better about your teaching. It's certainly from the perspective of leaders, and I want you to think about leaders now.

Leaders we know, that if leaders can help you understand that the work is meaningful, that the work you do is meaningful. Even the admin tasks that they want you to do, that seems like a tick box, but which maybe actually do have meaning.
And that your work is manageable so that you know you don't have to take marking home every day or you're not burdened over the weekend, always. Those things really do add to well-being. You've already talked a bit about culture and about and we, I think we agree that you know culture doesn't sit by itself. Leaders can help create culture in a school. So, what would you say that leaders do, either in your own school or from the experience that you know from talking to other friends in teaching, what is it the leaders do that builds a culture that does support well-being?
Teddy Morgan
I think they communicate and something I think the school has especially improved on. I don't think it was always this good is that whenever they do change something instead of it being right, here is the new way, we're doing X. We have a whole like staff meeting about it. Sometimes only 10 minutes long. The new behaviour stuff is only over 10 minutes long. Really it's we've looked at it. We're going to try this. Here's why. But like, if we change, we change recently how we do assessments like throughout the year for data drops and they explained why they had thought of doing this.

And they had already gotten like staff feedback, and they trialled it in core subjects first, then took feedback from that and then fed, basically implemented in the rest of the school and kind of hearing that helped because yes, it was now pretty decent amount of work of changing the order of lessons and making all these new assessments and like figuring out when you're going to mark them and moderate them. That was quite a bit of work, but it helped to kind of think back of right at least someone has planned this.

I have confidence that somebody has sat down, quite a few somebody's and planned it out and they've explained to me why I think it will help and they're also willing to listen to feedback about it, and that's nice, when you sat there like, this is going to take me several hours. But I know why I'm doing it at least.

Mark Quinn
Yeah, so you understand the rationale behind a major change?

Teddy Morgan
Yeah, that's the main thing.

Mark Quinn
So, Teddy some of the people listening to this podcast today might think they recognise your voice and they might be able to picture you because they've seen clips of you on UCL Extend, so if the if the listener happens to be a mentor or an early career teacher on our programme, they may well have seen images and clips of you talking and giving advice about what it is to be an early career teacher and how to be a successful one because we recorded short interviews with you a few months a few months ago. In fact, it was last summer. I think it was, which was at the end of your first year of the programme. And so, you are the perfect person to ask this this question.

Which is advice. What advice would you like to give to an early career teacher who is starting their first post this year or next year?

Teddy Morgan
I think the biggest piece of advice that I learnt was always ask questions, like my mentor told me and I feel very fortunate for this that there was no silly questions. Any question I had come and ask her. She'd rather me ask a slightly annoying question and know versus not knowing Yeah, ask questions. And if they don't know the answer, hopefully they'll point to someone who does. And I guess if people don't want to answer your questions, maybe the culture is not quite right for you and I always try and tell especially, like starting trainee teachers to just laugh occasionally. Just sit back and laugh. OK? Like you know, maybe not like at the children, maybe with the kids.

Elaine Long 36:20
That's where I went wrong. Now I know.

Teddy Morgan
I think a bit touchy about that, but yeah. I always try and someone else told me to do this. Yeah, I try and share that with other teachers as well because, like, I feel like it's sometimes it is nice to have, like, a bit of a kind of a goss and like a moan, but I always try and say oh, well, so and so said this and it was like really funny and share the positives of, oh, yeah, they understood this today or so and so didn't storm up the classroom today or. Yeah, try and just spread, because that encourages other people to tell you their funny stories, which I think helped.

Elaine Long
You're never sure of an anecdote. Are you in teaching? It's one of the best things about teaching, really.

Teddy Morgan
Basically.

Mark Quinn
You can also always appoint yourself as teacher in charge of fun as well, couldn't you? You know, it's my informal teaching role or responsibility. I'm going to be in charge of bringing a funny story into the staffroom at breaktime.

Elaine Long
I think that's the TLR, isn't it?

Teddy Morgan
I always try to. Yeah, I might mention that. Yeah.

Elaine Long
I'd go for that, Teddy. We're sadly coming to the end of the podcast. I can hear that the bell about to ring. But before we go, it's tradition that we handle all our guests. The post it note. So here is yours and you get to write anything you want on your post it note and you get to decide where you will stick your post. It notes it could be on an early career teacher’s planner, it could be in the staffroom, toilets. It could be on a head teachers dance. It could be in the DfE offices. It's up to you. So, what would you write on your post it note and where would you stick it?

Teddy Morgan
I think I would write on my post it note, find the joy. I think that's the big thing that I've learned over the last year, and a bit is you've got to find the joy in it. If you can't find any joy, get out. Run. Yeah. Find the joy and I think I see that everywhere. I think the DfE could do with a bit of joy. They might, you know, do something then.

Mark Quinn
Well, just as you mentioned the DfE, the bell rings, Teddy reminding us that we've got to let you go home and reclaim your well-being and your work life balance, not us keeping you too late in the office after school.

Mark Quinn
Talking with joy, did you enjoy your tea? Did you? Was that a nice cup of tea?

Teddy Morgan
I did, that was really nice. Yeah. Thank you.

Mark Quinn 38
What was it? What was it again? I can't remember.
Teddy Morgan
Peach and hibiscus.

Mark Quinn
Oh, peach and hibiscus. Yes, that I don't know why I forgot that. And look, it's been a joy for us having you with us. I remember watching those little clips of your videos that you made for us last summer, thinking this is the person we need to get on our podcast.

So, you've indicated our decision to invite you on. Really delighted. I'm glad that you're finding the joy, Teddy, that you're obviously doing great stuff in those geography lessons up in Huddersfield. Good luck with the rest of this year.

Teddy Morgan
Yeah. Thank you.

Mark Quinn
We should have happy, happy New Year, but certainly good luck with the rest of the year and thank you again.

Teddy Morgan
Of course, thanks for having me.

Mark Quinn
Our thanks go to Teddy Morgan for sharing her peach and hibiscus tea and chocolate bourbon with us this week in the staffroom. Teddy is a second year ECT geography teacher at the Moor End Academy in Huddersfield.

Elaine Long
Please do get in touch if you would like to be part of the conversation, click on the link at the bottom of The Staffroom web page.

Mark Quinn
And if you've enjoyed this episode, there's more where that came from, search IOE podcast from wherever you get your podcasts to find episodes of The Staffroom, as well as more podcasts from the IOE.

Elaine Long
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