Monday 31 March 2014


Been thinking a lot about the battle of the sexes after my latest interview.

In fact for the last 6 interviews the male candidate has always got the job.

In primary teaching, I understand the need to get more men into schools. Boys and girls are growing up without positive male role models. But unfortunately they aren't staying in the classroom and at grass root level they are being promoted into leadership positions. I'm not saying this is wrong- I just feel the foot print of the men as they clamber over the top of me into the leadership positions.

It's caused me to think about how men and women are perceived. What I mean is how men are instantly thought out as being strong and having leadership skills, whereas women are expected to be nurturing and empathetic.  But we're not all the same! So think about a strong woman, a woman with good leadership skills..... do we use those adjectives? Or do we use something else?

This got me thinking about how we nurture and develop children. As a primary school teacher I have first hand experience of children who are developing their personality. When I think of certain girls in my class they are good at organising themselves and others, good leadership skills one might say but often they are described by others, adults and children a like as 'bossy'.
You never hear of a boy being described of as bossy- why not?


We do expect, and attribute, certain behaviours to girls and boys and men and women. We condition children right from the word go!

 
 
 
 
So how do I get that job and not have those negative connotations attributed to me.
How do I become the BEST person for the job and outshine the men?
Not sure........yet!

Saturday 29 March 2014

"On the day, he just had something you didn't have!"

Hi, the title of this post sums up the conversation I had with the headteacher on the phone after my interview on Thursday!
 


 

 
The day had started well I had slept well the night before and hadn't woken to far ahead of my alarm which was set for 5.40am. I had got up eaten breakfast and was on the road by 6.40am. I'd driven my second routes choice as the A14 was choc-o-block even at that time in the morning. I arrived in good time and sat outside before going in. When I got in I was eventually shown to the 'holding room' where there was a man and a women already seated at the table.  A few minutes later a second man arrived. We did the necessary small talk and found out from where we had each travelled. Shortly afterwards the headteacher and two Governors appeared. We were introduced and the day started. My first task was in two parts:The first to look at some foundation stage data and analyse it and answer a list of questions related to it. (At first it was just a sea of numbers and I felt a panic rise in side me but I gulped it down and took my time to read the data and begin to process it.) The second part was to write down all the things I would do after a whole of incidents occurred. These are quite typical for these types of interviews. The types of incidents are along the line of:  the headteacher is in a meeting with ofsted, at 8:45am the Y6 says she's had a phone call from her husband and needs to see the headteacher, 8:46am a parent says that they have heard a child boasting in the playground that they are going to truant and has since left the school grounds, 8:47am a TA arrives late for 4th time that week etc. Basically it's the morning from hell and you have to write down what you would do, showing your ability to prioritise and delegate etc. We had a hour in which to complete both tasks and I manged to complete them within the time.

My next task was to 'have coffee in the staffroom' always an interesting one. Again though, having been on a few of these, I knew that talking to staff was the bit that if anyone was watching was the important bit. So I duly struck up a conversation with some TAs who were in there. In fact it was mostly TAs as the teachers were conspicuous by their absences. Straight after that I had to teach.

Usually for deputy post you need to demonstrate that you are an outstanding teacher by teaching a whole class. But this only required me to teach a group of 5 children. However, when I was setting up in the classroom a few children came flying into the classroom and laid on the floor, jumped on each other it was really bizarre. At first I wasn't sure whether this was part of the task, so I duly asked the children to sit up and attempted to engage them. However after a few minutes it was clear that I had a whole class descending on me not my little group of 5 children. Fortunately the headteacher appeared ( as the Governors just looked away as if to leave me to it!) and took out the 20 children who were not meant to be with me and I was left with 5. The lesson was okay. The children were fairly enthusiastic but not very well focused and found it extremely hard to stay on task. I had to work very hard to keep them with me. However we achieved what I had set out and I had stuck to my time and then it was over. All the way through the 3 observers didn't smile at all- it was most bizarre!

After this I had a bit of free time so I wandered a round the classrooms and it seemed like no one really wanted to have me in. Not a happy staff would be how I described the atmosphere.

Fortunately I got the first interview spot at 12:30 so before that we were treated to 'lunch' which was sandwiches and quiche.

At 12.30 the head teacher came into the room and told us that the afternoon was about to start and that after our interviews we were free to leave but they would let us know the result by 4pm.

I was shown into the headteacher's office and invited to sit down. There seemed to be loads of questions which I did my very best to answer to the best of my ability using the structure that I had worked out at the weekend. I felt confident and I answered in a non waffly way !!

So having jumped all the hurdles I got in my car and drove home. I got home at 2:45pm and waited for the telephone call. And waited and waited. 4 o'clock came and went. 5 o'clock came and went and went. 6pm came and went at 5 past 6 the phone rang "on this occasion you weren't  successful. You were a very strong candidate and we've been deliberating from just after 3pm and have only just made our decision. I know you will get a deputy position. Your interview was very good, your lesson was lovely, you did extremely well on the data task and gained a lot of information in such a short period of time and your references were very very good. There's nothing I can say that you need to do there is no reason why you can't get a deputy head position but on this occasion the candidate who got the job just had something extra on the day."

I asked who had got the job - one of the men! The one who came of the data task and said well I had no idea what that was about! Who also said that he didn't complete his lesson plan. I'm guessing he really did have something that I didn't have on the day, or any other day for that matter!

To feel that I must have caused a bit of a discussion is a positive! I must have done a bloody good job and for that I am pleased as that it what I set out to do!
I've just got to find a job where they don't need a man!!

Sunday 23 March 2014

My confidence is finally growing...

Hi all,
I've been out taming a few tigers. Working hard on doing those things which scare me and I can honesty say that my confidence is being to grow, finally.

One of my goals was to get a new job. (Don't get excited- I haven't manged it -YET!) I used the tools around me and spoke to a local headteacher. I've constantly challenged my rule book and I'm making progress.

 I went to visit a school, it was a larger school than I'm used to but it sounded like a good opportunity to see how I coped going and visiting and talking the the head. I was much more confident than I realised that I could be. I asked intelligent questions and pushed the headteacher on his vision and his theories. It turns out that it wasn't going to somewhere that I could really make a difference and he wasn't really the kind of head that I could have worked with. But I could see this for myself. Previously, I wouldn't even have visited the school because I wouldn't have deemed myself not good enough!! - where as it turned out that the school experience on offer, wouldn't have been good enough for me! Now that's progress!!

However, I have been and seen another school who have been through a bit of a rough patch. They have a new head and are looking for a new deputy. When I went to see the school, I could see the things that I could offer. I could see that I could make a positive contribution. The head seemed enthusiastic and switched on. So I have applied and have been asked to attend an interview.This week!

Yesterday as I was preparing for interview questions and answers, I had an Epiphany. Last summer my husband, who is a systems analyst by trade, explained the principles of systems and how systems can be applied to any walk of life; by thinking in this way you can devise a solution to any problem. At first it was just a jumble of words but then I began to understand it. I was able to see how 'input-process-output' could be applied to a range of situations. He also explained how to create a system and a process by starting at the output- what or where did we want to achieve or end up? By starting here you can then work back and devise a process for getting there.

 



 

Having read Jim's amazing tigers book and a another amazing book by Andrew Cope called 'Being Brilliant'.
Things have just fallen into place. I seem more sure of myself and more sure of what is important to me. Therefore when I was preparing for answer to interview questions I could use what my hubby had taught me. Previously I've told the interviewing panel EVERYTHING I know or have done- WAFFLE, WAFFLE, WAFFLE!! And to try and combat this I have tried to talk less and the feedback I received was- answers weren't full enough!! I thought that I could never win! But I get it now!! The penny has dropped!! This is very like when I was a teacher training college, all those years ago! When I answered questions on essays I told them everything I knew. In comparison to my friends I read a lot more and seemed to work much harder but they always got a much better result- I could never understand why. Until my final essay, when I got the best grade. It was a penny drop moment then too! I didn't have to tell them everything I had to structure it in such a way the communicated my point. Doh!! 
Structure! 
So what I'm saying is that I'm feeling confident because I now have a clear structure to structure my answers so I don't have to learn and remember everything verbatim.

Looking at the information I've been sent regarding the interview they just seem to be going through the process. They don't seem to be trying very hard to find the best person by putting us thorough our paces for example there is no presentation and only a small group teaching task. This might mean that they've already got someone ear marked for the job, again! However, I'm using this as an opportunity to test out my theory that I can answer questions using the structure and feel confident. I can only try my best and if this is the case it will be a warm up for the next interview. 

We'll just have to wait and see! Watch this space!