NQTs bring enthusiasm, optimism and new ideas but sometimes struggle to manage the behaviour of some challenging classes. The reasons are not always obvious, and I’ve been trying to work out why.
Good NQTs arrive with strong subject knowledge, well clued up on educational research and equipped with comprehensive ‘toolkits’ of imaginative and engaging learning activities. On the face of it they and all their classes should thrive, but too often, they struggle to apply the full extent of what they know. It’s a little like seeing a car in first gear screaming at twenty miles an hour but seemingly unable to shift up; the result is slow progress with too much noise and stress for everyone.
I’ve been thinking about what it is that experienced teachers do those inexperienced ones don’t, in the hope that the whole adjustment process can be quicker and less painful for all involved.
