There’s a fallacy in education where people believe that everybody should be working towards Headship, and that being a Headteacher is the pinnacle of progression in a teacher’s career. I hear so many educators speaking about themselves as if they are a failure for not reaching Headship or senior leadership.
I keep coming across the assumption that all teachers aspire to be Headteachers, and that this is the yardstick of success by which we measure career success.
I don’t think that’s a healthy way of looking at ourselves and our careers.
Progression should be seen as something more intricate and personalised than a person just climbing the pay scale ladder and moving on to higher pay bands.
Assuming that everyone wants Headship devalues the various positions and trajectories that we all explore during our careers, and it can blinker us and make us miss amazing opportunities along the way.
In my opinion, it is both admirable and respectable when somebody wants to be a career-long teacher, where they teach for 30 years and they enjoy what they do. Their idea of progression might be thriving in the classroom whilst exploring and refining their pedagogical practice. They’ll build a repertoire of strategies, ideas and resources over a rich career spent in classrooms inspiring future generations. That is an incredible desire to have, and we should all respect that person and their choices without asking the age old question “So when are you going for Headship?”
A person might want to be a Teaching Assistant, working frontline with some of the most vulnerable children and families in society. Over their careers, they’ll deliver a broad and innovative range of specialist interventions and strategies to support learning. They’ll build relationships with families rooted deeply in mutual respect and genuine care and compassion. Great TAs are the glue that holds schools together. Again, this is such a respectable choice.
I don’t like this idea that we come into these conversations where people call themselves ‘just’ a teacher, or ‘just’ a TA because, as I said before, it devalues those important and impactful roles.
I think we need to rethink our ideas about what progression looks like.
In my opinion, progression isn’t just climbing the ladder, moving from pay scale to pay scale and gaining bigger pieces of the responsibility pie. Progression is the journey towards being a better you, by whatever measures you are most excited by at that time. I believe that if we start to think about progression in that way, then so many amazing educators might see themselves in a more positive, healthier light as they move through their own unique career as a valued and respected professional.
Redefine progression, and enjoy the ride to whatever destination life takes you to.
Mr H the Teacher 