Cassie Greaves

1. Tell us a little about your current job? What do you enjoy most?

I currently work as a Curriculum Manager for Ark Teacher Training. This role involves writing modules, designing online e-learning and facilitating training sessions. The part I most enjoy is working with external experts and subject-leads as I learn so much from them. I spend the majority of my time reading and researching. Because I write modules for the primary programme, the training covers all primary subjects, the practical elements of teaching e.g. behaviour management, planning and special educational needs. It is varied to say the least. I decided to apply for this role after five years of teaching in primary schools as I felt that I wanted a change but wished to stay very much within education. I feel that this was a great move as I have learnt so many new skills since starting this job a year ago.

2. I see you have come some way from doing the MTeach. What would you say are the key things about the MTeach that have stayed with you ?

For me, the main benefit of the MTeach was definitely having the space to reflect away from the classroom/ school I worked in. It was also fantastic to spend time with teachers from secondary schools as I had never had the opportunity to do this before, and I think we can learn so much from each other. One particularly memorable part of the course was during a session when a group of us shared photos of our classrooms. The secondary teachers in the conversation were really surprised to see how inviting our primary classrooms were and how much the learning environments enabled pupils to be independent learners. One said. ‘I now feel really bad for my year sevens – coming into secondary school must be so daunting for them. Our classrooms are so uninviting’ This is just one example but I think it illustrates the fact that teachers often operate in a bit of a vacuum. In my case I was working as a new teacher at a really small church school in South Londonl. Doing the MTeach helped me to gain a clearer perspective and stopped me becoming institutionalised. It also provided me with a network of teachers from a wide range of different schools to share ideas with away from school politics.

3. What did your dissertation/ practice based enquiry (PBE) explore? What did you find out and how did it influence you?

For my PBE I focussed on how to engage boys in writing, through developing their motor skills. I wanted to focus on this area after teaching so many boys who were reluctant writers, put off by difficulties with handwriting. I was working in a Reception class at the time and a large part of my research involved looking closely at the work the boys produced, and videoing interviews with them. The video interviews revealed so much and this really stayed with me. I think children are so willing to tell you what they think if you give them the opportunity to do this, through asking open, non-leading questions. I also learned to be really analytical in looking at the work they produced, and this has helped me to formatively assess throughout my practice. In general, taking the time to research an area in some depth really helped me with my role as Literacy Leader and it led me to create a more child-friendly school approach to early writing.

4. How was the MTeach work different from School or other professional development courses (e.g. INSET)?

The MTeach was much more of an open space to learn. When you go to school or borough CPD sessions they usually tell you ‘the right way’ to do something e.g. how you need to teach phonics. To me this is ineffective as there is always debate in the field of education and I like to know the contrasting ideas in order to make up my own mind about how best to teach. Within schools and even boroughs, you are usually with teachers who teach a similar cohort of pupils. The MTeach enables you to work with teachers from varied schools and areas which is really interesting.

5. The MTeach is for teachers only. It often uses the sharing of participants classroom experiences/practice as a starting point. How did this work for you?

I found this approach really helpful. Everyone enjoys talking about their experiences and being able to apply learning to the classroom as soon as possible gave the sessions and online discussions a real sense of energy. It also helped to put theory into relevant context which many university programmes do not.

6. What is your next career move?

I am really enjoying working in teacher training so I think my next career move would be to specialise more in primary English training, as this is where my passion lies.