Heather McAvan (Mrs Mactivity and Former Marketing Expert at Twinkl): Resources and their impact on LIFE/work balance

In this episode, Claire meets with Heather McAvan, a former teacher and now founder and director of Mrs Mactivity, a website full of creative, original and uniquely designed learning resources. Heather talks about her journey to becoming a teacher and, beyond that, the events in her life which led her to enter the field of business culminating in her building her own educational resource company. Having worked in schools both in England and abroad, Heather discusses how attitudes and approaches to education in the UK compare to those internationally, and shares her thoughts on what could be done to improve both the perceptions of education by the wider public and the work/life balance for teachers. As qualified educators who have both successfully started their own businesses, Heather and Claire consider the similarities and common themes in their experiences, along with their shared desire to help and support hard-working teachers and educators as much as they can. KEY TAKEAWAYS Don’t write-off educational trade shows. Although some of the wares on offer at educational business shows can be much less useful than they might initially appear, there are also a lot of companies out there who are creating really useful and well thought out products. Spending that little bit of extra time searching can uncover some ‘hidden gems’. A lack of respect for schools, press negativity and disproportionate scrutiny are still causing problems. There are some stark differences between England and other countries whose educational systems are seen as more successful. The level of respect afforded to teachers in other countries by parents is usually significantly higher. This can be influenced by, amongst other things, the negativity of press reports which involve education. This can sometimes go hand-in-hand with the excessive scrutiny and monitoring of education: something which is rarely as involved (or sometimes even existent) in other countries who trust their teachers and schools. Although it has received some criticism, the National Curriculum has a lot in its favour. Many international schools deliberately follow the English National Curriculum because of its scope, breadth and its considered design. It is highly regarded abroad and, while it might still have its flaws in some areas, it provides a well-thought-out basis for schools to design their own bespoke curriculum relevant to their school and children. Teachers can be their own worst critics. It is not unusual for teachers to go through a crisis of confidence in their own abilities. At some point, either short-lived or for a longer period of time, almost all teachers will feel as though they are ‘imposters’ and are just ‘pretending’ to be a teacher. At times like these, relationships with colleagues can be key and having close links with others in school is vital to be reminded that you’re there for a reason, and that you wouldn’t be there if you didn’t deserve it. Feeling confident enough to say ‘no’ is as important as saying ‘yes’. Teachers, by nature, are generally some of the most helpful and considerate workers. Many teachers, especially early on in their careers will take on more and more work – either willingly to be helpful, or because they are wary of saying ‘no’ to senior staff. However, teachers must always be mindful of the amount of work they take on, and the benefits of the tasks they do. There are ways to say ‘no’ to either preserve mental health or to challenge approaches and initiatives which might not serve an obvious purpose. Marking is still one of the most time-consuming tasks for teachers. Although there are movements in the right direction in this regard – in particular with OfSTED’s clarifications in their expectations – the time teachers spend marking is still, in many cases, disproportionate to the gains made from the use of that time. Teacher well-being and work/life balance problems won’t be solved with token gestures. The approaches some schools are taking to improve teachers’ well-being and the work/life balance – namely those that are not actually reducing the workload for teachers – are failing to tackle the issue. The root cause of stress for teachers is, more often than not, their workload – in particular with marking. Initiatives such as yoga or staffroom treats, while welcome and meant with a genuine desire to lift morale and improve well-being, do not reduce the time teachers spend working or remove unnecessary tasks.  BEST MOMENTS “I just want to do everything I possibly can. Use all my knowledge and experience of this sector and as a teacher to help as many people as possible. That's what drives me. That's why I get up in the morning. That's why I come to work. That's why I work X number of hours a week. I'm just absolutely tenacious and really passionate about this industry.” “I think the teachers I worked with were amazing. They didn't need watching over. They didn't need to be checked up on, and they would have been appalled if they had have been. Because they just thought, they just assumed that they would be trusted and they were professional, and that was just how it was.” “Do your own research, think outside the box… that's something that I've always done.” “There's no other job where you can make such a difference and have a genuine laugh every day and work with amazing people and make a difference. And it sounds really cheesy, but it's true. And that's why so many people go into teaching. They don't all stay in teaching but it attracts nice people.” “I think that teachers, more than anybody, they need that that break from the classroom and from the job because it is all encompassing.” “It's frustrating, when you're doing things that you know are just pointless. And sometimes you think you don't want to do something, it takes four times longer… It makes you angry as well and then you're less effective as a teacher. And I just wished I'd had that confidence to say, ‘you know what, let's try something different.’” “In teaching, when you say 'work smarter', it just means 'just stop complaining about it'. I'm not going to take any work away. Just work faster.” “The issue is workload… you can have as many birthday cards and chocolates, hot chocolates and whatever, and a bunch of flowers on your birthday as you like, but it won't make a difference to teachers' lives. And that's what needs tackling, and tackling properly, not just token.” “People complain about the 2014 curriculum, I think it's all right. I think it has got some interesting aspects to it. And even the SPaG stuff, I must admit… if you learn French or something, it's really useful to know all those terms. And maybe we didn't focus on that enough before.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Mrs Mactivity: https://www.mrsmactivity.co.uk/ Kapow Primary: https://www.kapowprimary.com/ Fit2teach app: - Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fit2teach&hl=en_GB - Apple App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/fit2teach/id1272072750 The Teachers’ Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheTeachersPodcast Classroom Secrets Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClassroomSecretsLimited/ Classroom Secrets website: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/ LIFE/work balance campaign: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/lifeworkbalance-and-wellbeing-in-education-campaign-2019 ABOUT THE HOST Claire Riley Claire, alongside her husband Ed, is one of the directors of Classroom Secrets, a company she founded in 2013 and which provides outstanding differentiated resources for teachers, schools, parents and tutors worldwide. Having worked for a number of years as a teacher in both Primary and Secondary education, and experiencing first-hand the difficulties teachers were facing finding appropriate high-quality resources for their lessons, Claire created Classroom Secrets with the aim of helping reduce the workload for all school staff. Claire is a passionate believer in a LIFE/work balance for those who work in education citing the high percentage of teachers who leave or plan to leave their jobs each year. Since February 2019, Classroom Secrets has been running their LIFE/work balance campaign to highlight this concerning trend. The Teachers’ Podcast is a series of interviews where Claire meets with a wide range of guests involved in the field of education. These podcasts provide exciting discussions and different perspectives and thoughts on a variety of themes which are both engaging and informative for anyone involved in education. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.