The Latin phrase disce doce means learn and teach: it’s the motto of the University of Sheffield, where I studied philosophy for my first degree, and it’s a mantra that’s stayed with me.
I now teach religious studies, a vast topic that I’ve worked hard to mug up on my subject knowledge over the years. Now that it’s the holidays and teachers have a bit more energy, it seems a good time to put disce doce to practice and brush up on our subjects – revitalising a passion for learning. But it’s not always easy to know where to start. Here are some tips based on what I’ve found helpful:
Connect
With TeachMeets springing up everywhere and teachers all over social media, there’s never been a better time to connect with fellow professionals. There’s support aplenty to be found on Twitter, Facebook and staffrm.io, to name just a few.
Secondary teachers are confronting big changes right now. In my subject, GCSEs and A-levels are being radically overhauled for September 2016. The specifications are due out in early August and these will require a level of subject knowledge not seen before at GCSE. There are a heck of a lot of non-specialists out there who will be teaching it and many schools have only one RS subject specialist anyway, so it can be a bit lonely. But there are colleagues on social media who are more than happy to share their resources, advice and experience.
Colleagues who want to get into the Twitter teaching scene sometimes ask me how to go about it, because they find it daunting. The best way to get started is to stop worrying about it, and just create an account. And then use it. See what you like, follow things that interest you, and see what comes up. Once you get into it you’ll find it’s easy to search for people who are worth following.
Be a student
My university alumni association keeps sending me emails about interesting lectures. This year I finally got around to going to one – I went to listen to John Gray talking about freedom at the British Library. As a teacher, it was refreshing to simply sit and be taught (the post-mortem in the pub afterwards with old friends was pretty good too).
Students notice the difference when I’m teaching something fresh and current. They like it when I come to lessons still grappling with an idea from a lecture and asking for their opinion. I want to inspire them to read and think and go to interesting talks themselves. It’s important that I mirror to them how to do this.
Go back to school
Sign up for a summer school course or even a master’s degree. I took my philosophy and religion MA eight years into my teaching career. I became a learner again, immersing myself in my subject, and falling back in love with it. I was also subject to regular critiques, which made me reassess how I feed back to my students. It was a struggle to schedule it into my life – only a fool would attempt it with a one-year-old, while pregnant, and juggling two part-time jobs –but I did it and it has enriched my teaching.
Support from family and friends enabled me to manage. I am grateful for that. If you’re going to undertake serious study, it can’t be done in snatches of time. I needed uninterrupted four hour blocks as a minimum to get properly stuck into my work. It wasn’t easy, but I was determined. If you’re considering a master’s be realistic about how much of your time it will demand, and the sacrifices you’ll have to make. Be aware of course deadlines and whether these will clash with pressure points in your teaching, assessment marking and report writing in particular. The truth of it is though, if you really want to do it, you will organise your life to make it work.
Read
Isn’t this what we tell our students? I love a well-stocked work-based bookshelf and mine is maintained via a late-night Amazon addiction. But it’s tempting to buy books for work and read them superficially. Or not at all. A vast tome on metaphysics or the latest pedagogy isn’t so appealing when you’re on a sun lounger and there’s a trashy magazine calling your name.
If you’ve got a big department or you’re reading books on education in general, why not establish a staff book club when you get back after summer? It will force you to read, and more importantly, to read critically in order to share your opinions with your peers. And you’ll probably get plaudits from management for your continued professional development (CPD) initiative.
Try something new
I’m good at academic work. Teachers are; we liked school so much that we decided to stay on. My learning within my subject specialism is challenging, yet it is simultaneously comfortable. But what if I had to learn something I didn’t find easy? What if I was at the bottom of the class for a change?
One of the best things I’ve ever done as a teacher was to enrol on a beginners’ sugarcraft course at my local further education college. I’m not artistic. At school I came bottom of the year, every year, for art. Nonetheless, with a bit of quality instruction, I was OK at piping with icing and passable at modelling in marzipan. I’ve got the certificate and everything. I gained a new skill, but I also learned a lot about learning, and about how to overcome that sinking feeling that I couldn’t do it and should just give up. Taking on something new might be just the thing to rekindle your love of learning, and help you to connect with students who find it hard.
I know there will be teachers up and down the land working furiously on revamping schemes of work and suchlike this summer, but I urge you not just to think about your teaching, but your learning. Try something hard, something different. Learn to play the instrument you always wished you’d taken up. Learn a new language. Windsurfing maybe or even ceramics? Go and try something and struggle with it. Have fun, too. You might find it surprisingly useful for your teaching.
Disce Doce!
