February 15, 2025 • 14 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jocelyn (00:00):
Hi there, it's Jocelyn here with this week's episode of
the Structured Literacy podcast, recorded here in my hometown
of Pataway, Burnie in Tasmania.
It's the start of the schoolyear here in Australia and most
schools have new staff in place.
Some are experienced teachersfrom other schools, some are
early career teachers takingcharge of their own classroom
(00:20):
for the first time.
And many are existing teachersmoving to grades they've never
taught before.
For every one of these teachers, they are newbies in one way or
another.
It's tempting to assume thatjust because a teacher has
experience, we can simply pointthem in the direction of a
mentor and all will be well.
However, this approach is arecipe for angst, confusion and
(00:44):
mixed messaging.
In fact, not having a properonboarding and coaching process
in place could put your hard-wonliteracy gains in instruction
at risk.
So today I'd like to share someideas about supporting your new
staff and setting everyone upfor success.
Now, while the school year'salready begun, it's never too
(01:05):
late to implement good practices, so keep listening.
Let's start with how you cangive all staff, whether they're
teaching, assisting orsupporting, the best possible
start.
The first thing to understandis that you can't really catch
them up to where the rest of theteam is.
If your school has been on thestructured literacy bus for
(01:26):
three years, your new staff willalways be at least a step
behind, unless they're comingfrom another structured literacy
school.
When onboarding new staff, it'scrucial to prioritise their
cognitive load rather thantrying to bring them up to speed
with the rest of the team allat once.
Instead, focus on what's mostimportant for them to make a
(01:49):
solid start with your school'sexisting programs, routines and
engagement norms.
Once you give teachers theseessentials, you can plan to
build their knowledge throughouttheir first 12 months at the
school.
This doesn't mean that youwon't provide some short, sharp
professional learning to givethem the beginnings of an
understanding about why you dowhat you do.
(02:10):
That's actually reallyimportant.
It just means taking a measured, thoughtful approach to
building their knowledge overthe long term.
Remember, adults learn in thesame way as students.
We need manageable chunks oflearning and the opportunity to
practice with guidance.
That's why it's essential toprovide a mentor who can guide
(02:32):
them as they find their feet.
When new team members haveprior experience, they're
naturally going to draw on thatto manage their cognitive load.
If they've previously taught inalignment with your
instructional approach, that'ssuper helpful, but if they
haven't, they'll need to relearnwhat strong instruction looks
(02:53):
like, and we shouldn't leavethem to figure this out alone
just because they have classroomexperience.
If we're not careful, whatoften happens is that the person
does what they think is right,only to be told after months
that they've been doing it wrong.
This creates resentment andmakes it difficult to engage
(03:14):
them in future professionallearning because they no longer
feel safe learning within theschool environment.
For early career teachers, thejourney is different, but not
necessarily harder.
In some ways, being a graduateis easier than being an
experienced teacher in a newenvironment.
Experienced teachers often makeassumptions about their
(03:35):
capabilities when they might nothave the specific knowledge
needed for your context, but agraduate, they know, most of the
time, that they have things tolearn, so they're a lot more
open.
Remember that everyone isdifferent and don't be afraid to
provide high levels of support,adjusting the direction and
(03:58):
guidance to suit the individualneeds.
When we're first learning, weneed structured guidance to
achieve quick success, just likeour novice students.
After a while we start applyingwhat we've been learning and we
begin to achieve success, butwe don't yet have the experience
to handle unexpected situations.
(04:20):
Making assumptions that someoneis fine because they've taught
a few good lessons can leavethem feeling lost when they hit
their first challenge, whichwill inevitably happen.
And this is where coachingbecomes crucial.
Research, particularly frompeople like Joyce and Showers,
shows that coaching is almostthe missing link in transferring
(04:45):
professional learning intoclassroom action.
Coaching helps us navigate thechoppy waters of those early
days of learning.
When we're doing well, we feelterrific, but when we hit
something unfamiliar, we oftenfall into the learning pit of
despair.
At that point we need someoneto provide emotional support, to
(05:07):
help us identify what'shappening and build a plan
forward, because when we're inthe learning pit, we are much
more likely to blame the programor the resource or the school's
approach than we are to say oh,I think I have more developing
to do here.
And it's at that point thatpeople go rogue.
For graduate teachers or earlycareer teachers taking on their
(05:31):
first classroom role, thesupport needed is broader.
Gone are the days, I hope, ofhere's your classroom, here's
your students,.
call Call me if you have anydifficulties.
I think we're more aware thanever that pre-service teacher
education is often inadequate inareas like just simply
(05:51):
understanding how learning works.
If your graduates come from oneof the universities with
up-to-date instruction ininitial teacher education,
that's really helpful, but atthis point in time it is
entirely probable that yourgraduate teachers simply don't
have a base level understandingof concepts like cognitive load
(06:11):
theory.
They'll also need support withparent communication, setting
healthy boundaries, managingclassroom behaviour behavior and
maintaining work-life balance.
It's crucial to partner earlycareer teachers with mentors who
are, and listen to this, ifyou're doing something else,
come back to me, who are fullyaligned with your school's
(06:32):
approach.
I've seen situations where theassigned mentor isn't fully on
the bus with the school'sstructured approach to teaching
and this leads to confusing andmixed messages for vulnerable
new teachers.
So everyone's going to themeeting, they're going to the
PL, nodding and smiling, andthen when they have a private
(06:53):
conversation together, thementor is saying oh well, this
is what we're doing for now, butI've been teaching for ages.
Don't worry, the pendulum willshift and we'll be doing what we
used to do in no time.
And that makes it really hardfor that new teacher to get on
board and to find success.
When it comes to experiencedteachers moving to new grade
(07:15):
levels, we have some advantagesif they've been with our school
for a while.
They'll understand the coreapproach, unless you're like
most schools where the earlyyears team may be further along
in the structured literacyjourney than the upper primary
team.
So remember that moving fromupper primary to early years
requires significant learning,and teachers might not feel that
(07:38):
comfortable admitting thisuncertainty.
They might think I've beenteaching for eight years, why
should I need help with a yearone class?
But they're essentially novicesin their new grade, even if
they've been masters of theirprevious one.
To support all staff effectively, having structured approaches
to planning time is essential.
(07:59):
Maintain a clear vision acrossthe team of what great teaching
looks like.
In schools where I've taughtdemonstration lessons, those
videos were saved by the schooland then became shared examples
of practice that teachers couldreference again and again.
You don't need to spendenormous amounts of money,
(08:21):
though, to achieve this, butit's dangerous to rely solely on
partner teaching, as in go andobserve the teacher next door,
as practices can get watereddown over time.
So you can create a library ofrelevant teaching examples for
your team.
This might include YouTubeplaylists, resources from your
(08:42):
phonics program and, even better, captured examples of excellent
practice from within your ownteam.
When you have teachersoperating at a mastery level in
your school's programs andapproaches, video their lessons
to show others what goodperformance looks like.
That means that when you'reonboarding new staff and you're
(09:04):
providing examples, you knowwhat they're looking at.
You know the sorts of messagesthat are being delivered through
that observation.
Remember that using pre-preparedresources doesn't mean losing
touch with your class.
In fact, well-designedresources with clear guidance
enable teachers to focus onwhat's most important
(09:25):
instructional delivery andresponding to students in the
moment.
And what this means for newteachers, new to our school, new
to the grade, new to teachingis that when they have those
structured resources, they'regetting an increased level of
guidance for those early dayswhen they're finding their feet.
They are much more likely to besuccessful when they have
(09:49):
something to follow.
However, and I cannot say thisenough, the best teaching is
based on the needs of students.
So we have to build in anexpectation that we will be
helping our teachers developwith an understanding of how and
when to adjust, tocontextualise to students or
(10:10):
meet their needs.
But hear this everyone, it isso important to be clear about
the boundaries you need to be inplace around adjusting these
provided resources and when tostay the course, and having a
plan about this helps you tohead off any potential rogue
(10:31):
actions that might happen, notbecause someone doesn't want to
do the right thing, but themessages were not clear.
It's less common for someone todeliberately ignore the school's
approach than it is for them tohave an incomplete
understanding of what it is theyneed to do.
Now while us personallyengaging with professional
(10:51):
development is a must, it's alsothe job of our leadership and
our coaches to help staff seewhat they need to do.
I'll say that bit again.
It is each professional'sresponsibility to engage fully
with the professionaldevelopment process, including
reflecting on their practice,being genuinely interested in
(11:12):
growing in their role.
And my take on this is, if wehave people in our schools who
are not interested in doingthat, well, perhaps they should
go and find a different career,because we absolutely want to
keep all of the people with uswho are committed to excellence
in practice for our students.
We also need to provide themwith the guidance and support to
(11:33):
make that happen.
But, leaders, you don't need a400-page manual of how your
school does every little thing.
Just break down the key areasof instruction with some example
videos and core readings.
From there you can build overtime.
And I'm saying this from theperspective of a leader who was
(11:55):
always uber ambitious for what Iwould be able to achieve in
this space and never, ever gotit to the space where I wanted
it to be.
Because when you're a schoolleader, or you simply just work
in a school, the number ofthings you have to manage is,
frankly, ridiculous.
So aiming for perfection in thecreation of your professional
(12:17):
development work, in aiming forthe creation of these resources
and the manual of how you dothings at school, only sets you
up to fail.
So what can be a one pager?
How can you simplify theprocess?
And in simplifying you willactually gain more clarity
around what you want your teamto do, and when they have
(12:40):
clarity, then they're going tobe much more successful.
That's it from me for thisepisode of the Structured
Literacy Podcast.
Remember, our job is not to beperfect.
It is to work with what we havein the ways that we can to get
the best outcomes possible, andwhen we focus on that, amazing
(13:02):
things are able to happen.
So until I see you again in thenext episode.
Happy teaching, bye.
Hi there, it's Jocelyn here with this week's episode of
the Structured Literacy podcast, recorded here in my hometown
of Pataway, Burnie in Tasmania.
It's the start of the schoolyear here in Australia and most
schools have new staff in place.
Some are experienced teachersfrom other schools, some are
early career teachers takingcharge of their own classroom
(00:20):
for the first time.
And many are existing teachersmoving to grades they've never
taught before.
For every one of these teachers, they are newbies in one way or
another.
It's tempting to assume thatjust because a teacher has
experience, we can simply pointthem in the direction of a
mentor and all will be well.
However, this approach is arecipe for angst, confusion and
(00:44):
mixed messaging.
In fact, not having a properonboarding and coaching process
in place could put your hard-wonliteracy gains in instruction
at risk.
So today I'd like to share someideas about supporting your new
staff and setting everyone upfor success.
Now, while the school year'salready begun, it's never too
(01:05):
late to implement good practices, so keep listening.
Let's start with how you cangive all staff, whether they're
teaching, assisting orsupporting, the best possible
start.
The first thing to understandis that you can't really catch
them up to where the rest of theteam is.
If your school has been on thestructured literacy bus for
(01:26):
three years, your new staff willalways be at least a step
behind, unless they're comingfrom another structured literacy
school.
When onboarding new staff, it'scrucial to prioritise their
cognitive load rather thantrying to bring them up to speed
with the rest of the team allat once.
Instead, focus on what's mostimportant for them to make a
(01:49):
solid start with your school'sexisting programs, routines and
engagement norms.
Once you give teachers theseessentials, you can plan to
build their knowledge throughouttheir first 12 months at the
school.
This doesn't mean that youwon't provide some short, sharp
professional learning to givethem the beginnings of an
understanding about why you dowhat you do.
(02:10):
That's actually reallyimportant.
It just means taking a measured, thoughtful approach to
building their knowledge overthe long term.
Remember, adults learn in thesame way as students.
We need manageable chunks oflearning and the opportunity to
practice with guidance.
That's why it's essential toprovide a mentor who can guide
(02:32):
them as they find their feet.
When new team members haveprior experience, they're
naturally going to draw on thatto manage their cognitive load.
If they've previously taught inalignment with your
instructional approach, that'ssuper helpful, but if they
haven't, they'll need to relearnwhat strong instruction looks
(02:53):
like, and we shouldn't leavethem to figure this out alone
just because they have classroomexperience.
If we're not careful, whatoften happens is that the person
does what they think is right,only to be told after months
that they've been doing it wrong.
This creates resentment andmakes it difficult to engage
(03:14):
them in future professionallearning because they no longer
feel safe learning within theschool environment.
For early career teachers, thejourney is different, but not
necessarily harder.
In some ways, being a graduateis easier than being an
experienced teacher in a newenvironment.
Experienced teachers often makeassumptions about their
(03:35):
capabilities when they might nothave the specific knowledge
needed for your context, but agraduate, they know, most of the
time, that they have things tolearn, so they're a lot more
open.
Remember that everyone isdifferent and don't be afraid to
provide high levels of support,adjusting the direction and
(03:58):
guidance to suit the individualneeds.
When we're first learning, weneed structured guidance to
achieve quick success, just likeour novice students.
After a while we start applyingwhat we've been learning and we
begin to achieve success, butwe don't yet have the experience
to handle unexpected situations.
(04:20):
Making assumptions that someoneis fine because they've taught
a few good lessons can leavethem feeling lost when they hit
their first challenge, whichwill inevitably happen.
And this is where coachingbecomes crucial.
Research, particularly frompeople like Joyce and Showers,
shows that coaching is almostthe missing link in transferring
(04:45):
professional learning intoclassroom action.
Coaching helps us navigate thechoppy waters of those early
days of learning.
When we're doing well, we feelterrific, but when we hit
something unfamiliar, we oftenfall into the learning pit of
despair.
At that point we need someoneto provide emotional support, to
(05:07):
help us identify what'shappening and build a plan
forward, because when we're inthe learning pit, we are much
more likely to blame the programor the resource or the school's
approach than we are to say oh,I think I have more developing
to do here.
And it's at that point thatpeople go rogue.
For graduate teachers or earlycareer teachers taking on their
(05:31):
first classroom role, thesupport needed is broader.
Gone are the days, I hope, ofhere's your classroom, here's
your students,.
call Call me if you have anydifficulties.
I think we're more aware thanever that pre-service teacher
education is often inadequate inareas like just simply
(05:51):
understanding how learning works.
If your graduates come from oneof the universities with
up-to-date instruction ininitial teacher education,
that's really helpful, but atthis point in time it is
entirely probable that yourgraduate teachers simply don't
have a base level understandingof concepts like cognitive load
(06:11):
theory.
They'll also need support withparent communication, setting
healthy boundaries, managingclassroom behaviour behavior and
maintaining work-life balance.
It's crucial to partner earlycareer teachers with mentors who
are, and listen to this, ifyou're doing something else,
come back to me, who are fullyaligned with your school's
(06:32):
approach.
I've seen situations where theassigned mentor isn't fully on
the bus with the school'sstructured approach to teaching
and this leads to confusing andmixed messages for vulnerable
new teachers.
So everyone's going to themeeting, they're going to the
PL, nodding and smiling, andthen when they have a private
(06:53):
conversation together, thementor is saying oh well, this
is what we're doing for now, butI've been teaching for ages.
Don't worry, the pendulum willshift and we'll be doing what we
used to do in no time.
And that makes it really hardfor that new teacher to get on
board and to find success.
When it comes to experiencedteachers moving to new grade
(07:15):
levels, we have some advantagesif they've been with our school
for a while.
They'll understand the coreapproach, unless you're like
most schools where the earlyyears team may be further along
in the structured literacyjourney than the upper primary
team.
So remember that moving fromupper primary to early years
requires significant learning,and teachers might not feel that
(07:38):
comfortable admitting thisuncertainty.
They might think I've beenteaching for eight years, why
should I need help with a yearone class?
But they're essentially novicesin their new grade, even if
they've been masters of theirprevious one.
To support all staff effectively, having structured approaches
to planning time is essential.
(07:59):
Maintain a clear vision acrossthe team of what great teaching
looks like.
In schools where I've taughtdemonstration lessons, those
videos were saved by the schooland then became shared examples
of practice that teachers couldreference again and again.
You don't need to spendenormous amounts of money,
(08:21):
though, to achieve this, butit's dangerous to rely solely on
partner teaching, as in go andobserve the teacher next door,
as practices can get watereddown over time.
So you can create a library ofrelevant teaching examples for
your team.
This might include YouTubeplaylists, resources from your
(08:42):
phonics program and, even better, captured examples of excellent
practice from within your ownteam.
When you have teachersoperating at a mastery level in
your school's programs andapproaches, video their lessons
to show others what goodperformance looks like.
That means that when you'reonboarding new staff and you're
(09:04):
providing examples, you knowwhat they're looking at.
You know the sorts of messagesthat are being delivered through
that observation.
Remember that using pre-preparedresources doesn't mean losing
touch with your class.
In fact, well-designedresources with clear guidance
enable teachers to focus onwhat's most important
(09:25):
instructional delivery andresponding to students in the
moment.
And what this means for newteachers, new to our school, new
to the grade, new to teachingis that when they have those
structured resources, they'regetting an increased level of
guidance for those early dayswhen they're finding their feet.
They are much more likely to besuccessful when they have
(09:49):
something to follow.
However, and I cannot say thisenough, the best teaching is
based on the needs of students.
So we have to build in anexpectation that we will be
helping our teachers developwith an understanding of how and
when to adjust, tocontextualise to students or
(10:10):
meet their needs.
But hear this everyone, it isso important to be clear about
the boundaries you need to be inplace around adjusting these
provided resources and when tostay the course, and having a
plan about this helps you tohead off any potential rogue
(10:31):
actions that might happen, notbecause someone doesn't want to
do the right thing, but themessages were not clear.
It's less common for someone todeliberately ignore the school's
approach than it is for them tohave an incomplete
understanding of what it is theyneed to do.
Now while us personallyengaging with professional
(10:51):
development is a must, it's alsothe job of our leadership and
our coaches to help staff seewhat they need to do.
I'll say that bit again.
It is each professional'sresponsibility to engage fully
with the professionaldevelopment process, including
reflecting on their practice,being genuinely interested in
(11:12):
growing in their role.
And my take on this is, if wehave people in our schools who
are not interested in doingthat, well, perhaps they should
go and find a different career,because we absolutely want to
keep all of the people with uswho are committed to excellence
in practice for our students.
We also need to provide themwith the guidance and support to
(11:33):
make that happen.
But, leaders, you don't need a400-page manual of how your
school does every little thing.
Just break down the key areasof instruction with some example
videos and core readings.
From there you can build overtime.
And I'm saying this from theperspective of a leader who was
(11:55):
always uber ambitious for what Iwould be able to achieve in
this space and never, ever gotit to the space where I wanted
it to be.
Because when you're a schoolleader, or you simply just work
in a school, the number ofthings you have to manage is,
frankly, ridiculous.
So aiming for perfection in thecreation of your professional
(12:17):
development work, in aiming forthe creation of these resources
and the manual of how you dothings at school, only sets you
up to fail.
So what can be a one pager?
How can you simplify theprocess?
And in simplifying you willactually gain more clarity
around what you want your teamto do, and when they have
(12:40):
clarity, then they're going tobe much more successful.
That's it from me for thisepisode of the Structured
Literacy Podcast.
Remember, our job is not to beperfect.
It is to work with what we havein the ways that we can to get
the best outcomes possible, andwhen we focus on that, amazing
(13:02):
things are able to happen.
So until I see you again in thenext episode.
Happy teaching, bye.
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