Showing posts with label Dr. Emma Kell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr. Emma Kell. Show all posts

Friday, 9 February 2018

Book Review: 'How To Survive In Teaching Without Imploding, Exploding Or Walking Away' by Dr. Emma Kell

For a book based around the responses to a survey of around 4000 teachers which revealed that 57% wouldn't recommend teaching to a family member or friend, this is a brilliantly positive and optimistic book. In reporting on her findings Dr. Kell might have focused heavily on the negative outcomes of her research (42% are not happy at work, 82% have experienced work-related anxiety) but what she has produced is actually a rousing, reassuring manifesto for how we as a profession move forwards in tackling the issues revealed.

Dr. Kell skilfully presents her findings alongside advice aimed at all strata of education right from where system-wide change is needed down to what teachers can do on a day-to-day basis to not only survive, but to flourish. There are messages here for policy makers, school leaders, teachers and other school staff members; there are even implications for family members of the above.

'How To Survive In Teaching...' is packed full of little nuggets: little gems of advice and acknowledgement. Some of them provide comforting reassurance that the reader is not alone in the difficulties they are experiencing. Others gently encourage the reader that they aren't powerless in the situation they have found themselves in and give practical advice about what to do.

A constant thread that runs through the book provides a reminder that, in amongst the difficulties and the hardships, teaching is actually a brilliant job (even if it is just a job). It manages to remind the reader every so often why they came into the job in the first place, and what is so special about it. If none of the other advice in the book has an impact, chances are this seam of hope will be what encourages teachers on to find a way to tackle the issues they are facing.

The input from Dr. Kell's interviewees brings the advice fairly and squarely into the realities of everyday school life meaning that this book is not divorced from what is actually going on in staff rooms and classrooms across the country. At no point does the author come across as an idealistic opiner who is out of touch with what's really happening in education - she is as realistic and pragmatic as it gets and the whole tone of the book flows out of this.

If you're looking for some advice for how improving your experience as a teacher, then this is the perfect starting place. If you want to be reminded of what the job should be about then this easy and quick read is also for you. Published by Bloomsbury, it's available to buy now: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/how-to-survive-in-teaching-9781472941688/