Daniel Noonan

1. Tell us a little about your current job. What do you enjoy most? I have recently been appointed as Deputy Headteacher of a primary school in South London, leading on teaching and learning. Alongside this, I am a Specialist Leader of Education, supporting various schools with curriculum and behaviour. I also work as a tutor for a SCITT, supporting trainee teachers and their schools with teacher training. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is getting to work with teachers to develop their classroom practice and improve outcomes for children.

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? My initial teacher training was a school-based route, which although was rich in practical experience, did not offer me the academic rigor or reflectiveness that many of my peers had experienced. The MTeach allowed me to supplement what I had learned in schools with a broader look at the profession and a more in-depth understanding of pedagogy. Now that I am responsible for CPD and professional development, I have been able to use some of my academic work to supplement lesson study groups and teacher learning communities.

3. What did your dissertation/ practice based enquiry (RPBE or PBE) explore? What did you find out and how did it influence you? My dissertation explored attachment theory in the classroom and how I could support the most emotionally vulnerable pupils in the classroom. It was hugely influential on my own personal practice, allowing me to develop a pedagogy that worked for pupils who had previously been at risk of exclusion. It had influence beyond my own classroom, allowing me to support other teachers with vulnerable pupils and lead on whole school behaviour. I now lead training courses and in-school support on my area of study as a specialist leader of education.

4. How was the MTeach work different from School or other professional development courses (e.g. INSET)? A lot of school CPD focuses on an end goal set by the school’s development needs; the focus is on outcomes not discovery. The MTeach explores questions and focuses on developing knowledge, not results. Thankfully, along the way, much of this knowledge leads to great results, but it is not the end goal. Some modules can be studied over a term or a whole year, allowing you to truly embed yourself in practice-based research and generate the kind of knowledge that truly shapes your own pedagogy.

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? What I particularly enjoyed about the MTeach was how practical and relevant it was. Some courses can feel like an additional job in themselves and balancing the two can be difficult, but because the MTeach focuses on what you are doing daily, it supplements your practical work. I was able to write about what I was already doing, which was not only time-productive, but also made my work in the classroom easier due to the greater understanding I was gaining of it. Additionally, because the MTeach is so intrinsically rooted in classroom practice, the tutors understood the challenges facing teachers. The first few years can be challenging and when schools, leadership responsibilities or even personal circumstances made studies challenging, the MTeach offered the flexibility to defer modules for a year or spread them out over the five years.

6. What is your next career move? I have recently accepted a deputy headship, so that is my priority for the foreseeable future. One of the things I enjoy most about my job is the diversity of work I do, from training teachers to supporting other school leaders across the borough. The MTeach has inevitably played a part in this and will continue to allow me to progress into a range of roles, whether they are consultancy-based or a headship.