About Me

Psychology Pedagogy

About Me

They say in relationships that people get a seven-year itch; well it turns out that this is true of my teaching career too. I knew I wanted to teach mid-way through my degree, so I went straight from university into a PGCE. Whilst I'm trained to teach Secondary Science and Psychology, my passion (and degree) is for Psychology. So I was a full-time Psychology NQT at 22, and I've been a full-time Psychology teacher for 6 years (Head of Department for 4), and a consistently outstanding teacher for 3 years.

It's taken me a long time to feel comfortable admitting that I'm an outstanding teacher; it's always felt arrogant somehow...dirty almost. Like I'm too proud of what I've achieved so far and what I'm doing in the classroom. I'm very lucky to work in an outstanding state school where there is a constant drive to improve the quality of your teaching and learning, and being a great teacher is something to shout about rather than know internally but never mention (even though as an introvert, I'd be much more comfortable staying in the 'internal knowledge but never mention' camp). So I know I continue to develop at a rapid pace in the classroom.

Then comes the rub; outside the classroom, I don't really know where I'm going with my career. I'd achieved my ambition of becoming a Head of Psychology at 24. I've grown my department from being a solo act to requiring three members of staff, Psychology is one of the most popular A-Levels in the school, and we're now getting three classes in each year group for GCSE. But outside of the department, I don't really know what I want. I've always loved helping teachers to develop their teaching and learning, and have been fortunate enough to be able to do this with the experienced members of my team. I've had opportunities to have a wider impact on teaching and learning in the school - I've been a Lead Practitioner, led two cycles of whole school CPD and led numerous NQT induction, PDP, CPD and INSET sessions on teaching and learning. Yet I still don't really know where it's all going. Everyone else seems to know what they want, and they're not afraid to shout it out and allow the school to help them to get it. And then there's me, still trying to find myself. All I know is that my passion is teaching and learning. Finding those strategies that help students grasp complex concepts, improve their written skills and ultimately help them succeed at levels they never thought possible. And lately, I've started to think that it's ok that I don't have a concrete plan; it means that I can explore lots of opportunities and pursue whatever takes my fancy, which whilst terrifying, is also pretty exciting. So while I'm figuring it all out, I thought I'd start by sharing what I'm passionate about - the teaching and learning of Psychology. Even if my only reader is my Mum (who isn't a teacher...), I feel like this is a positive first step. I hope the strategies and activities give you some ideas for your lessons; I'd love to hear how they turn out!

So here's to the first step in me 'working it out.'

Psychology Pedagogy

PS I've never written a blog before, so have no idea how it's meant to go - I'll guess I'll work on working that out too!

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