Why should we share our ideas?
Years ago when I first started teaching, I proposed in a staff meeting that all teachers in the school should share their resources online in shared folders for other less experienced teachers to use as a model for their own planning. In front of me were a mix of faces, some filled with enthusiasm, others displaying reluctance. As anyone who works in education will understand, as a profession we are somewhat unwilling to share our hard work with others. This makes sense in a corporate environment where companies are competing, however it makes no sense when all teachers are (or should be) devoted to improving the standard of provision for all pupils – not just the ones in their class.
I now understand why my colleagues were reluctant to share their work – sharing their planning and resources online would open them up to scrutiny from our SLT. Nobody likes the idea of letting their SLT access their work as it exposes them to inspection. Quite frankly, the idea of the SLT sifting through their work made people nervous enough to ignore the fact that sharing ideas will help pupils. This is why sharing your resources online is perfect! You can make a positive contribution to teaching as a whole without feeling vulnerable. When registering for this website, you get to choose your username, meaning that nobody from your school needs to know that the resources they’re looking at are yours!
What impact can your resources make?
Now that your fear of being criticised for making the odd typo in your powerpoint has been removed, let’s consider what registering for this website could do. Across England, there are currently just shy of 420,000 qualified teachers working in infant, junior and secondary schools. Amongst these teachers there are hundreds of thousands of experienced practitioners which have spent years learning how to create engaging lessons for pupils. Equally, there are thousands of newcomers into the profession who would benefit significantly from their experience. It was unfathomable to me in my first year of teaching that there wasn’t a general consensus that teachers should openly share their ideas and resources; that is why I have created this website.
If you wish to contribute to teaching in other schools, even if it is just sharing one lesson that you are proud of, I implore you to register today and start helping other teachers find resources which will improve the learning of their pupils.