Creating a Culture of Curiosity

Formal and Informal Ways to Spark Curious Thinking in Schools.

I am working through the analysis stage of my EdD exploring teachers’ perceptions of educational research. Here are some reflections on how we can spark curiosity and creative thinking in schools...

Talking to teachers as part of my EdD has me thinking the idea sparking creative thinking and curiosity in schools. PD is the focus of so many interesting books, blogs and podcasts, but they are written from the perspective of the people running the sessions. This is not a bad thing (I am this guy in my day job sometimes too), but as much as we need to hear about PD from those who specialise in this area, we really need to raise the profile of the voice of professionals in school as central to the conversation. How do schools take resources like edubooks and apply the ideas? When it happens, in what environment do teachers ask curious questions?

Whilst I can’t share too much linked directly to my thesis at this stage, the following are things that I've been reflecting on as I go. I’ve summarised these as some quick-fire things to consider if you’re working in a school and want to suggest or implement ways to spark creative, professional dialogue.

It isn’t just about time

It is firmly established in the wider literature that time is a barrier to teachers' engagement with educational research, but even when time is set out within 1265, in the worse cases there is an unspoken rule that coaching will be undertaken quickly or not at all. The boxes will be ticked and everyone will move on to doing other stuff. You could do down the strict accountability of staff route with this and it would work in the short term, but ultimately it seems as though there needs to be a value and appreciation of professional dialogue over busy work in order for make this a reality.

But it is also about time…

Engaging with new ideas requires time. Whilst I am a self-proclaimed nerd, I feel strongly that this doesn’t need to be your teacher identity (Shane Leaning has some really cool ideas about this here). If we want teachers to learn, critique and discuss, it needs to be part of the plan. Ten minutes at the start of a training session to read something interesting and talk about it on tables is enough to spark those ideas and demonstrate that the opinions being shared are valued. If you want to create a space where middle leaders can evaluate their curriculum/behaviour strategy then providing (SHORT) pre-reading makes the meeting a discussion of ideas. Nothing kills creative thinking like a meeting that is just a list of things to do - put it in an email.

Let go of formality

I’ve written about this in more detail here, but the idea that PD is actually undertaken solely within formal settings is false. Instead, its about creating informal opportunities for teachers to talk about their practice in unstructured ways. Ten minutes to talk after information has been shared in a training session so teachers can tease out how this will work for them/in their subjects. Lunchtime in the staffroom. This is where the magic happens. Whilst it wouldn’t be possible (if not a little weird) to enforce these passing conversations, it is possible to ask questions linked to this in line management. Chris Brown’s (2019) research shows that when teachers in a school have multiple colleagues they feel they can talk to about their work everyone benefits. This element of school culture is linked to a number of things: staff retention is higher; pupil performance is better; staff wellbeing is a strength. I’d suggest that this doesn’t need a radical overhaul but just simply asking “who would you go to if you weren’t sure about x?” or linking teachers based on your knowledge of your teams. “You’re working on y, so is Joel, why not ask him about it if you see him about?”.

Keep it simple

The debate about the accessibility of resources for teachers is a blog for another time. There are so many useful and interesting resources out there, however, shorter and more focused pieces of information are preferable. This makes sense as teachers are time poor and until there are some pretty substantial changes to how schools operate, engaging with research etc. is not part of our core work. As such, using resources such as Impact from the Chartered College of Teaching, with its two page summaries, means that teachers feel they are engaging with quality ideas in a way that doesn’t add to what is already a heavy mental load.

Authentic Staff Voice

Staff voice is an under-utilised resource in so many ways. No one knows classrooms and pupils better. The problem is that it means things move a lot slower and so sometimes it isn’t possible or isn’t always desired by school leaders. Whilst whole school (or even wider) surveys are very useful sources of quantitative data, triangulating that information with qualitative conversations means that the subsequent actions taken will be much more impactful. If we want to create a culture of curiosity and creativity, the process of asking staff what they think of a new initiative needs to happen alongside the creation of the plan, not after it. I know this seems obvious, but it’s so empowering (but apparently not necessarily commonplace) to be asked to think about things that will impact our day-to-day experiences in the workplace.

Reflective Questions

1. What does the culture of curiosity look like in your school?

2. How often do you create space to revisit the 'why' of what we do? Who is part of those conversations?

3. When was the last time a colleague's idea changed how you think about your own practice?

4. Who would you ask if you had a question about classroom practice?

5. How confident do you feel critiquing or challenging ideas in your school? Does everyone feel the same way?

Reference

Brown, C. (2019). Exploring the current context for Professional Learning Networks, the conditions for their success, and research needs moving fowards. Emerald Open Research 1, 1-18. HTTPS://DOI.ORG./10.12688/EMERALDOPENRES.12904.1