I didn’t know any better

Twelve years teaching with little to no support led to stagnation and depression for NAHT president Gail Larkin. But with the right mentoring, things can quickly turn around, as she discovered...

I cannot ever remember a time when I did not know I would become a teacher. As a young child, I would sit my dolls in rows whilst I read books to them, took the register and told them off when they misbehaved.

I was sporty, creative, practical and musical – qualities not much admired or appreciated at the girls’ grammar school I attended. I was bored. The teaching certainly did not match my style of learning and I became quite a rebellious student. As a result, I remember spending most of my days standing under the clock outside the headmistress’ office, but this made me even more determined to become a teacher to show them ‘how it should be done’.

The aforementioned headmistress almost passed out with shock when, on my last day at school, I informed her I was going to become a teacher and had been offered a place at the renowned Froebel Institute – though why I chose to go there remains a mystery to this day as there was a 10pm curfew, no bar and (worst of all) no boys. It was though, a very forward-thinking training college. I had found my true vocation and was at my happiest when I was in the classroom on various teaching practices.

I applied for a post in the Inner London Education Authority in 1974 where my interview at County Hall was conducted in French, which had been my main subject. I must have excelled at this interview because I was then allocated a teaching post at a school in Wandsworth where not a word of French was ever uttered!

Thus began a very lonely and isolating experience for me and many a night I made my way home on the top deck of the 93 bus in floods of tears believing that I was a useless classroom practitioner. Imitation was certainly not seen as the sincerest form of flattery. Experienced teachers worked hard to keep their best ideas to themselves. No sharing of skills, knowledge or experience here. I was told that I would learn by my mistakes and I certainly made plenty of those. But I persevered as I just loved being in the classroom and bonding with the lovely children in my class.

And here I remained for 12 long years – churning out the same old lessons week in and week out. I often ask myself why I stayed that long and the answer lies in the fact that I didn’t know any better and that, with a young family to look after, I was too worn out to seek another post. There was no career development, no advice and no performance management. Indeed, I only found out that I had passed my ‘probation year’ when an inspector strolled past and told me that my classroom looked very orderly and the headmaster had informed him that I should pass. And that was that. I was a fully-fledged classroom teacher.

The children in my class lived in an area of severe social deprivation. I gave them everything I could but juggling the classroom and motherhood eventually proved too much. I was hospitalised for a stress-related illness. Fortunately for me I was eventually ‘rescued’ by the headteacher of a local school who, as she told me later, recognised my potential and took me under her wing. For the first time, I was offered support and training and my performance was regularly appraised. And I loved it! I flourished and within three years was appointed as a deputy headteacher at a nearby school and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Sadly, it seems to me that although we now live in a society with broader horizons and better prospects, young teachers still struggle for support as I did. I wonder where the next generation of leaders is going to come from. How I wish that a service like NAHT Edge, had existed when I was starting out. NAHT Edge works for teachers in the position in which I found myself after a few years in the profession – asking myself “what’s next?”. Mentoring, support, a space to share and learn what works and doesn’t work in the classroom and the staffroom are all things that up and coming school leaders need, want and deserve.

It’s a privilege to be this year’s President of NAHT, an association I first joined in 1989. I’m proud that our association is leading the way in supporting colleagues who want to get on, to become great teachers and to do it their way, as I have always tried to do.

About the author

Gail Larkin is president of the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) and a former headteacher.