Troops to teachers

Do troops make good teachers and should the DfE be helping ex-soldiers to teach without a degree? Joe Carter seeks the opinion of two former servicemen who have already made a successful transition...

“When you’re going through hell, keep going.” George Hutharth, headteacher at Norbridge Academy in Worksop, likes to quote Churchill to children and staff when times are tough. It’s a long time now since he left the army, but the experience has proved indelible. Five times George has marched staff across the Yorkshire Moors in aid of charity, covering the 42-mile Lyke Wake walk in under 24 hours. Even the school’s motto, ‘Be the best you can be’, echoes the old US army slogan ‘Be all you can be’, or perhaps the mantra of the British forces – ‘Be the best’.

But despite these selective anecdotes, Mr Hutharth is far from a caricature – he is not Full Metal Jacket’s gunnery sergeant Hartman screaming unspeakable threats to wide eyed pupils. Yet this is the image that often comes to mind when the government’s new initial teacher training programme for ex-service personnel is mentioned.

Troops to Teachers was launched by the DfE in June last year, inspired by a similar programme in the US, known as T3, that has been running since 1994. It’s designed to make it easier for former members of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force to become teachers, the idea being that ex service men and women will be able to transfer skills such as leadership, discipline, motivation and teamwork to a career in schools. Military personnel with degrees started training at the start of this school year. But the most controversial strand of the programme will commence in September 2014 when the first cohort of ex-troops who do not have degrees embark on a two-year course that will lead to qualified teacher status. It’s a scheme that has drawn both measured and knee-jerk criticism.

“I’ve sat in meetings where I’ve heard people talking about the idea of service personnel training to become teachers and on occasions they’ve been quite scornful,” says George Hutharth. “It frustrates me. Obviously they are different professions, but some of the key skills and values that I was taught while in the army do cross over. The values in particular are critical and it’s a point people often miss. If you have a colleague you operate with and you rely on them implicitly, it’s very easy to do your job, and to do it well.”

“We do a big remembrance service in school, so it’s useful to be able to explain how it all started and speak from a position of authority. I’ve played at 18 funerals and the kids can see that’s real. The share experience is important to them”

The similarities between education and the military are also easy to spot for Richard Tuddenham, a year 6 teacher at St Michael’s CE Academy in Wakefield – though perhaps not every link he makes is what the DfE had in mind. “I learnt a lot about teamwork in the army,” he says. “The job may not always be pretty, but you find a way of getting through – and that’s always useful in education, isn’t it? When the latest government initiative comes in, staff have to regroup. It’s certainly something people in the military can relate to; things are always cancelled and changed at a moment’s notice!”

The draft

Both Richard and George came to teaching via a circuitous route. For George, the army was always his first choice. He went to join the junior regiment aged 16, but weighing just seven stone he wasn’t heavy enough. When he was 18 he tried again, was successful and joined the Royal Corps of Transport, where he trained as a morse code radio operator.

Three years later, George left the forces, but not by choice. He was found to be asthmatic – a shock to him – and medically discharged. “It was a blow and it took me a long time to get over the fact I’d need to do something else,” says George. “I started to work in service industries, such as catering, and eventually became an assistant restaurant manager.”

Just as in the army, George’s time in the food business helped prepare him for the classroom, as he picked up new communication and people skills. When a friend suggested he’d make a good teacher, he wrote to 10 schools offering to help out in any way he could, which led to a job as a classroom assistant. “I was absolutely hooked,” says George.

From here it was a challenging journey to become a teacher. First George had to return to college and gain an access certificate to higher education. After this he went to Derby University and did a four year Bachelor of Education degree, not an easy task when you’re nearing 30 and have financial commitments; he had to hold down a job while he studied. “Being in the services taught me self-discipline,” George reflects. “I had that drive to see the job through.”

Had Troops to Teachers existed, George’s transition might have been less arduous and in his view, such programmes have a role to play: “One of the issues for people who leave the army is resettlement, but if there’s a journey people can take that signposts where they need to go, it’s a way to identify key personnel who will be able to do a job very well, under pressure, in schools in this country.”

Richard Tuddenham’s journey from military man to primary school teacher was perhaps simpler, though no less direct. He was 27 when he joined the Grenadier Guards as a musician, having previously studied for a music degree and spent seven years as a freelance trombonist, during which time he ran workshops in schools.

Though playing in the band, Richard’s time as a Grenadier Guard was not exclusively pomp and circumstance. “Whatever your trade when you join, first and foremost you’re a soldier. Everyone does the same 12-weeks of basic army training,” he says. But this is only the foundation for a career of ongoing development, and it’s for this reason Richard believes former service personnel have much to offer other sectors, including education. “People think of the army as infantry soldiers, but it takes a huge amount of logistics for that one soldier to be on the front line,” he says. “There’s a whole core to ensure that everything he needs to do his job is in place – and this means a hell of a lot of specialist training goes on.”

Richard decided to leave the army when it looked as though he might be stationed outside of London and he enrolled on a GTP course. Like George, he wrote to local schools asking for help and – perhaps unsurprisingly for a male music teacher – received an enthusiastic response. However, Richard feels that his military experience also had a part to play. “Troops to Teachers is based on the notion of discipline and I think schools were interested in what I had to offer in this respect,” he says.

Stand by your beds

When it comes to military style behaviour management, it’s hard not to imagine rows of children doing one-handed press ups or polishing the headteacher’s shoes, but both Richard and George are very clear about what the army has taught them regarding discipline and how this has transferred to the classroom.

“In the military I learnt a lot about self-discipline,” says George, “and I use some of those principles when I ask the children about who is responsible for their behaviour. When I first came to the school and asked this question, the children would say, ‘Well, you are, Mr Hutharth.’ To which I’d reply, ‘I’m not. You are responsible for yourself.’ We’ve had no exclusions in five years.”

The language used by Richard to describe his approach to behaviour is uncannily similar. “The military is perceived as a disciplined profession, but I think there’s an entirely different style of discipline that you need to bring to schools. The one thing that’s relevant is self-discipline; it’s absolutely paramount,” he insists. “Having been in the army I am aware of my own self-discipline and I see how that reflects in other people – particularly children of a primary age. They look up to you as a positive role model.”

Teaching without a degree

The fact that George and Richard have both made a successful transition from the forces into education does not mean Troops to Teachers will be a guaranteed success. Two main criticisms have been levelled at the programme: why troops, not accountants, or nurses, or actors - all of whom have useful transferrable skills; and why should a single profession be given an accelerated, two-year route into the classroom that waves the requirement for a degree?

Back when Troops to Teachers was announced in June, ASCL general secretary Brain Lightman was unequivocal about the importance of qualifications for teachers: “Teaching is a highly specialised profession and anyone transferring into it, from whatever profession, should have a university degree.”

As a headteacher responsible for bringing new teachers to his school, George Hutharth is inclined to agree. “I don’t think it’s suitable to shorten the rigorous training process. You can tailor training so that it caters to the needs of service personnel, but it should still be as lengthy and exacting as for anyone doing that qualification.”

Richard Tuddenham has a different perspective that reflects the changing structures of UK schools. “The way things are going, I don’t see the two-year course being a huge problem – as long as service personnel get that training and it’s secure before they join the profession,” he posits. “Don’t forget, we’re now in a situation where Free Schools can employ someone without any qualifications whatsoever. In order to be a fantastic teacher you’ve got to be able to inspire kids. My degree was quite practical, and of course it helps, but I don’t think it’s essential.

“But why the military?” Richard concludes. “People in other careers will have a high level of specialist skills and will bring different things to schools.” It’s a difficult question to answer. Richard and George both use talents they acquired in the army in their roles as teachers, but the experiences they gained as a freelance musician and restaurant manager respectively are equally applicable. “One of the things that’s pedalled is that all soldiers are suitable for teaching and that’s what creates a media frenzy,” says George. “But then not all lawyers would be suitable, or people who work for blue chip companies. Those people are there, but it’s a matter of the correct process to bring them to the fore.”

It’s good that more troops who have the skills to make a difference in schools are being directed into the profession, but perhaps the military should not be a special case and the strategy should be more inclusive, directing talented people from all professions to the existing routes into teaching.

Military projects resupplied

In November, the DfE announced it would be granting £4.8 million to six projects led by ex-armed forces personnel to tackle underachievement by disengaged pupils, thus extending its campaign to introduce a ‘military ethos’ into schools.

The government pointed to studies it had commissioned of the initiatives that show the positive impact they have had on improving attainment. Statistics from the report include:

70%
A study by Swansea University of Commando Joe’s, a Manchester-based project which provides trained mentors and activities for schools in some of the most deprived areas in the UK, found 70 per cent of pupils taking part showed improvement in writing.

90%
Research by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) into Knowsley Skills Academy (KSA) found that 90 per cent of the 30 NEETs on the company’s programme gained employment.

77%
Teacher assessment of the direct impact on 32 pupils involved in Challenger Troop programmes found 77 per cent showed improvement in self-control and behaviour after six months.

84%
SkillForce worked with 3,291 young people on year-long courses in 2011 to 2012. Their survey found that 84 per cent of year 11 pupils who completed the course went on to some form of employment, education or training.