November is the Worst Month of the School Year. Discuss.
Over the course of my working week I have been fortunate enough to spend time having 1:1 discussions with teachers and leaders from the Scottish Borders to Aberdeenshire.
These discussions have been fascinating on a number of levels, discussing issues big and small. From the operational struggles of the day to day to big, structural reforms to assessment and qualifications.
No matter the sweep and scope of the discussions, one clear theme emerged…
November is the worst month of the school year!
As a natural optimist, this view jars slightly with my usual world view however listening to the experiences of so many this week, I can’t help but concur.
There are a number of internal and external challenges which inter-relate in making this time of the year so difficult. Many of these are highly contextual but some challenges will be all too familiar to educators, young people and families.
So what is it that makes this month so uniquely challenging for those on the front lines of education and how can we make it easier?
Greenwich Mean Time
I do not think it is a coincidence that the rigours of November in schools is always preceded by the dreaded turning back of the clocks.
Whilst that extra hour in bed is very welcome for some, the following days feel like a bit of a twilight zone of collective checking of watches when the the sun dramatically sets, only shortly after the school bells rings.
I have read a number of articles recently about the, sometimes fatal, consequences of leaving the lighter evenings of Daylight Savings Time/British Summer Time behind as we fall back into winter.
Some research shows that the severity of sentences given by judges, the number of car accidents, the rate of heart attacks and the risk of injury at work are all impacted by changing our clocks twice a year.
There is a growing movement, particularly in the United States, to reform this practice and move to a permanent state of living in the lighter evenings of Daylight Savings Time.
It is hard to argue that giving both adults and children the chance to finish school in the light would not be a generally positive move.
The ever-increasing darkness as we head through November to the Winter Solstice adds to the difficulty of learning and teaching without regular exposure to Vitamin D.
This occupational Seasonal Affected Disorder adds to the unique strictures of this already trying month.
Two-Term Dash
The terms before and after Christmas are often, rightly, referred to as the ‘Two Term Dash’ in the context of preparation for exams in the Summer Term.
If we are to expand the running metaphor in describing the school year as a marathon rather than a sprint then I think it would be fair to suggest that November is the part of the marathon which is mostly uphill and finds you grabbing for the energy gels!
Why is this?
November is almost uniquely positioned as the month of the school year which is not interrupted by holidays or special events.
This can provide four weeks to make really good, solid, sustained progress. I have experienced this as both a class teacher and as a school leader. For many pupils this works really well: they make academic progress, they embed learning, they thrive.
Great! This is not the case though for many other young people though. For myriad reasons this concentration of focussed learning time can be incredibly challenging in terms of processing, retention, over-stimulation and general energy levels and wellbeing. This impacts on many young people’s ability to engage with learning and to self-regulate.
So whilst November can be a season of fruitful progress for some, it can be significantly overwhelming for others. And that’s before we even talk about the adults!
Teachers and their Holidays: Ridiculous!
Throughout my time as a teacher, I constantly heard complaints from friends and family who were not teachers about how ‘ridiculous’ teachers’ long holidays were.
Here’s the thing: I agree.
Our school year is an utter anachronism. A leftover relic of our country’s agrarian past. It works for almost no one and serves little purpose other than exemplifying the glacial pace of change in our education system.
That doesn’t mean I think young people or teachers should get less holidays.
It is the structure of the school year that is deeply dysfunctional and requires radical reform.
If we work on the assumption that the school year is to remain at roughly 40 weeks then this could be broken up into shorter blocks of learning book-ended by shorter holidays.
This would reduce the impact of both extended periods of holiday and the long slog of the Two Term Dash on young people and on teachers.
It is no longer acceptable to cast children off into a six week wilderness each July in our current national context where one in five children living in poverty seems a marked under-estimation.
A new structure for our school year may also bring new opportunities for teachers to finally find a greater work-life balance if they are not trapped in the feast or famine cycles they currently work within.
Seeing the Whole Board
We are never going to make the experience of learning and teaching utterly challenge-free.
In other words, November is always going to be somewhat tough.
However, by looking at the big picture and seeing the whole board we may find the necessary perspective and courage to make the changes required at systemic level to empower teachers to teach and learners to learn within the most effective (and least painful) structure possible.
November doesn't have to be this hard.
