SBT 1: Blog 1 (serial week)

The first two days of the serial week were INSET days at my school. The head was introducing the idea of the 'creative curriculum', where learning events are set around two of the school's academic values. The first job was to choose these values, done by snowballing group work. Each group then had to present one of the values, breaking down what it meant and making a poster on the computer. Two things struck me about this day: Firstly, the enthusiasm that this new initiative was met with, especially considering that many of these teachers would have seen many such ideas come and go; secondly the lack of familiarity with Microsoft Office programmes added some tension to the exercise and a few teachers expressed some frustration with computers, feeling that it would be easier, and more creative, to use paper. I think that, if teachers are expected to teach and use ICT, there needs to be some training, support, or even simply encouragement in place. An atmosphere of lifelong learning may help here, where all knowledge and expertise is shared, and where those less confident feel easy about asking for help.