Teacher Training Lacks Presence
With education secretary Michael Gove explicitly announcing his intention to give headteachers the authority to ‘get rid’ of ‘failing’ staff of all levels within a single term, it is essential that teachers have access to the support and training they need to survive.
While teachers are experts in their subject matter they often lack experience of performing in front of a crowd, particularly when new to the job. In fact, many teachers don’t acknowledge that they are performers despite the obvious presence of an audience of thirty Year 9s.
Teacher training courses are woefully lacking when it comes to equipping their PGCE charges with the skills they need to perform in the classroom. In order to be the exciting, dynamic and brilliant teacher that students remember for a lifetime, a basic understanding of performance makes a huge difference.
Of course, having excellent classroom presence also makes behaviour management easier; one of the main reasons for pupil misbehaviour is boredom after all.
Skills such as improvisation, voice control, spatial awareness, building dramatic tension, changing dynamics, reading the crowd, taking the focus and storytelling are essential, and can set you apart from the rest.
So often these key teaching tools are given no time and attention either in teacher training or during CPD sessions; teachers are expected to hone them for themselves as they work in the classroom.
But as the pressure piles up to perform at your best from the outset, with no room for personal development, acquiring some Classroom Presence skills through coaching or training is no longer an optional extra.
After all, you wouldn’t learn to swim by leaping into the sea; you’d have some lessons first.
