Simon Powell

Science Teacher. Formerly: IT consultant; trainer for Management & Leadership skills; School Governor; Martial arts instructor.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@Headteacherchat Give what certainty you can. ‘I will give you an update on XXXX date’ as a start. Not an answer but feeds a need.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@teacherhead Yes!!! Emperor’s new clothes EXACTLY!!

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@PepsMccrea Yes!! And the more people inside complex systems invest in learning and navigating these systems, the harder they find it to let go of that learning and embrace change.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@EvidenceInEdu Teachers need to feel a sense of belonging too!! Overwhelming accountability, a thousand little tasks, overbearing scrutiny, autocratic CPD, hostility from students and parents, never-diminishing workload. When relationships matter so much, it has to matter on both sides.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@adamboxer1 Adam, ‘in education’ is wider than just the classroom though isn’t it? I wonder why, after hundreds of years of ‘school’ this us still so much of a mystery - and yet….
I fear all our new knowledge makes the system evermore complicated.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@teacherhead How about ‘Juggling the room.’

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@BarkerLeadershp Yes. It applies in everyday life so absolutely. Self-discipline especially.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@FixingEducation Really these things don’t exist in isolation do they? It takes a village to raise a child! Putting up fences and lobbing responsibility elsewhere out of your own fenced area compounds the problem.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@ZombieTron @Miss_Snuffy @Lulabel06994981 Kids teach other kids and parents/teachers are out of the loop very quickly when it comes to phone use. If we were really in charge there wouldn’t be a problem would there?

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@RogersHistory Another straw for the overburdened camel.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@adamboxer1 Anytime you want the perspective of a 50 something with a couple of other careers under his belt who went through the first surge of the ECT framework, happy to chat. Like you, not shy of voicing a ‘spicy’ opinion or two.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@HAClare @ShakinthatChalk I agree with this. The ‘system’ has shown it will expand to its limits tho. The problem that needs to be solved is further upstream - the source of excessive demand on teacher time.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@Treelinius @RogersHistory Me too. Accurate representation of the behaviour presented to me each class currently.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@adamboxer1 I would challenge any leadership team to begin the journey of belonging by getting it right with their teacher and TA colleagues. Behaviour is contagious!

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@adamboxer1 I am curious about Carousel - any systems that enable and elevate teachers are good in my book. The day to day job unfortunately makes us slaves to the systems we work in. Education is highly prone to overcomplication.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@adamboxer1 Same argument for kid's use of mobile phones and sharing things in social media.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@RogersHistory @emmac_larke @TTRadioOfficial And to some extent they are self-selecting to not belong in the classroom setting which reasonably requires a degree of social compliance and minimal distraction.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@Mr_Raichura Agreed but difficult when some parents and social media have a different biew on what right and wrong mean.

[Simon Powell @SimonSensei]

@Chem2006 @Strickomaster Nature versus nurture. Both have an effect!