Assuming Excellence [Journal Think Piece]

[written for Collegiate, NLCS International Teaching, Learning and CPD Journal, Issue 2, July 2022]

My favourite pedagogical reads are those uncomplicated papers or books that give words to simple thoughts. On reading Richard Gervers’s Education- A Manifesto for Change, it was the phrases ‘assumed excellence’ and ‘assumed incompetence,’ that created a linear model in my mind on which I immediately started to plot my own practice. In the classroom, when we offer support or frameworks to all students as opposed to those identified as needing them, we are assuming an incompetence. When challenging all students to complete the task without the frameworks, then target the support as students need it, we are assuming excellence. As a school that has a guiding statement to offer our students ‘floors, not ceilings’, this reflection is not only relevant but crucial in our awareness of stretch and challenge in the classroom. So, what about the implied assumptions made in our Professional Development provision? Surely our teachers not only deserve this differentiated approach but also the assumed belief that they are highly capable educators and subject specialists.​

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