Tough to Teach

Use Pareto’s 80/20 Principle

A newly qualified teacher starting work in England in 2020 will earn a minimum salary of £25,714 per annum (excluding schools in London and its fringes where this figure is slightly higher).

I never paid much attention to my pay when I began teaching. I spent what I had to on necessities, like food and rent, and refrained from spending anything further for fear of getting overdrawn. Any money I saved sat in my current account, but I didn’t pay much attention to how much (or little) this was.

If you haven’t yet considered how to manage your salary in a way that can offer you some financial security, here is some advice I wish I had known sooner:

Richard Koch in his book ‘The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More With Less’ takes the  Pareto Principle (the observation Pareto made that 80 per cent of Italy’s wealth was owned by 20 percent of its population) and notes that this can be applied more universally. In particular, that the minority of your decisions create most of your results.

When we apply this principle to your teaching salary, it means that 80 per cent of your salary should be spent on necessities and the remaining 20 per cent should be saved. These figures are relative though so it could be 90/10 or even 95/5. The important thing to remember is that it’s the the smaller percentage which is going to be of greater value to you in the long-term.

Let’s see what this could look like using 80/20 as an example:

Expenses (80 percent)	Savings (20 percent)
Rent or mortgage	Save and Never Touch (3%)
Council Tax	Irregular Shocks (5%)
Food	Bucket List (2%)
Utilities (Gas, Electricity, Internet, Phone etc.)	‘You Asset’ (5%)
Insurance	Investments (3%)
Personal Spending (a trip to the cinema, a meal out etc.)	Giving Back (2%)

These days most bank accounts can be accessed online and with an app. Many even have the function to organise separate accounts (or ‘buckets’) to separate your saving goals. I suggest considering these:

Save and Never Touch

A cash reserve should you ever get in trouble. A decent sum would be six months worth of living expenses. Any extra after this could be shifted to investing (which is riskier).

Irregular Shocks

Cash you can use in case of emergencies, such as an unexpected dentist bill.

Bucket List

Money to put towards any future goals you might have, such as a trip abroad.

‘You Asset’

Money to invest in your personal education, such as courses, books or professional coaching.

Investments

Examples include buying Stocks and Shares, Bonds or cryptocurrency or on a business venture of which you have some knowledge. This is high risk, high return.

Giving Back

Not only could this be donations to charity, but it could also be presents for friends and family. Charity begins at home after all.

Some other ways of saving money:

Shop around

It’s worth noting that a lot of your expenses are negotiable. You can always have a go at haggling when your tenancy agreement is up for renewal. Your monthly food bill can go down depending on what you buy and where you shop. Utility companies are often keen to hold on to customers so if you’re happy to spend a bit of time on the phone explaining that you’re going to leave, you’ll usually get made an offer of a cheaper bill.

Bring your own lunch to school

I cringe to think how much money I spend on ready-made sandwiches in my first few years of teaching. A colleague commented that I must be very well-off, so I quickly started cooking larger portions for dinner at home and bringing in leftovers for lunch the next day.

Take care and repair

Look after your belongings and they will look after you. Instead of buying new clothes or shoes, consider whether they could be cleaned or mended for a fraction of the cost.

Buy or find second-hand

Items bought used are often far less expensive than they would be brand new and often work just as well. There have never been more ways of finding used items people no longer want and are willing to part with for a small sum or for free. I’ve used Ebay, Gumtree, Freecycle and Nextdoor to name but a few.

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We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves

Five years ago, I did not possess the skills needed of a good teacher. Standing frightened in the headlights of such a realisation led to some behaviour I’m not proud of: I got easily cross with students and staff, I ignored feedback from my mentor, I gossiped about those I felt weren’t being supportive, and I believed some of my colleagues were willing me to fail.

But that’s not the worst part. To feel better I then unconsciously invented clever stories explaining to myself why I did this. These fell into three categories:

• The Victim Story. I made myself out to be an innocent sufferer where I left out the role I played in the problem. I told myself that I was being punished for my virtues, not my vices. I exaggerated my own innocence.

• The Villain Story. I overemphasised other people’s guilt or mistakes.

• The Helpless Story. I thought of myself as someone who was powerless to do anything helpful. I felt convinced that there was no healthy alternative to dealing with the problem, and I felt justified in the action I was about to take.

In order to improve my relationships at work, to feel better about myself and to get better at teaching, I needed to recognise when I was telling these stories so that I could stop. I needed to flip them on their head to tell more useful stories instead; ones that led to a healthy action more in line with the results I wanted. These healthier stories looked like this:

You’re not a victim, you’re an actor

Are you pretending not to notice the role you played in the situation? Face up to the fact that maybe you did something to help cause the problem. Perhaps you were thoughtless? Stop being selective with your perception of yourself.

They’re not a villain, they’re a person

Ask yourself why a reasonable person might do what this person is doing. Replace your judgement with empathy. What if that person was just trying to give you a hand?

You’re not helpless, you’re able

What do you really want? What would you do if that was your true goal? You’d probably openly and honestly discuss the problem rather than gossip. When you refuse to think of yourself as helpless you begin to hold yourself more accountable.

If you can master the stories that you tell yourself, you’ll free yourself of the unhealthy emotions that come with them and will be able to get on with the business of getting better.

Raise your words, not your voice

As a teacher, you’ll sometimes need to hold difficult one-on-one conversations with students who are not meeting expectations. This could be for ongoing bad behaviour, a bad attitude or poor quality work. For the inexperienced, this can lead to unfortunate arguments which are exhausting and leave you both feeling sour. In order to avoid flared tempers, here are some steps I’ve learnt that have helped me speak to students with more curiosity and patience:

Step 1: Share the facts

Facts are persuasive because they’re undeniable and are unlikely to prove controversial.

Step 2: Tell your story

Your story is your interpretation of the facts. It’s important to make sure that this is presented as a possible story and not a concrete fact. For example: ‘In my opinion…’ or I’m not sure whether you intend to mean this, but I’m beginning to wonder if….’ Or ‘Maybe you think…’. Afterwards you can ask them to clarify: ‘Is that what’s going on?’

Step 3: Contrast

Make your view clearer with contrasting statements. You could say words to the effect of ‘I know you care about…’ etc. ‘My only issue is…’. Be careful here not to apologise for offering your point of view.

Step 4: Ask for their facts and story

Ask the student to share their view. Make it clear you really want to hear what they have to say: ‘What am I missing?’ ‘Do you see it differently?’ or ‘Don’t worry about hurting my feelings. I really want to hear your thoughts.’

Step 5: Encourage testing

If they seem hesitant, play devil’s advocate. Model by disagreeing with your own view: ‘Maybe I’m wrong here’.

Step 6: Mirror

If they seem hesitant, play devil’s advocate. Model what this sounds like by disagreeing with your own view: ‘Maybe I’m wrong here’.

Step 7: Paraphrase

Re-phrase, without repeating word-for-word, what they’ve told you to acknowledge that you have listened to them. Do this is in a tone that validates their point and doesn’t not ridicule it.

Step 8: Agree or disagree

Say that you agree when you do. Add any details that have been left out. Compare where you differ. This might sound like: ‘I think I see things differently. Let me describe how.’

Step 9: Decide and assign

It’s best when a consensus is reached where you both support one decision, phrased something like ‘Moving forward I need you to… and I will…’. Make sure you’ve answered: Who? Does what? By when? And how will I follow up? Write these down to show that you’re committed.

Step 10: Hold them accountable

Refer back to your notes. If either the student (or yourself) has failed to live up to the promise they made earlier you’ll need to have another conversation, repeating the steps above.

What might this look like?

Let’s say a student of yours, Stephen, has failed to submit three homework tasks in a row. You’ve used the school behaviour policy of setting a detention each time (which they attended), but their behaviour is not changing and they seem to have become resentful resulting in a few small arguments during lessons. It’s time to have a difficult conversation:

Teacher: Stephen, you haven’t handed in the past three homework tasks [sharing the facts]. It seems that you’re struggling with the topic. Is that what’s going on? [telling your story]

Stephen: No, I get the topic. I don’t know why I don’t do the homework.

Teacher: I know you care about your GCSEs. My only issue is that you might not get the grade you need to do what you want to do next. What am I missing here? Don’t worry about hurting my feelings. I want to hear your thoughts. [asking for their facts and story]

Stephen: I dunno. I’m just lazy, I guess. What’s the problem? I come to the detentions, don’t I?

Teacher: Look, maybe I’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Maybe you are motivated to do the work, but there’s another issue stopping you from doing it? [Encouraging testing] 

Stephen: I just find it boring. It’s not your fault, it’s just the subject. I don’t really care that much about Macbeth to be honest.

Teacher: You seem unhappy about that. [Mirroring]

Stephen: Well, I know English is important. I’m worried that I’m going to get bad results.

Teacher: So you’re feeling anxious about doing well in English? [Paraphrasing]

Stephen: Yeah, I suppose.

Teacher: Year 11 is a difficult year, certainly. Everyone in the class feels under pressure to perform. [Agreeing] Not doing the homework is only going to make your feeling of anxiety worse [Disagreeing]. You have a homework task due for next week. You know that homework is non-negotiable so I expect that to be attempted. [Deciding] You’ll need to do the task by next Monday. [assigning]

(next Monday) Teacher: Stephen, can I see your homework? [Holding him accountable]

Stephen: Sir, I did the first two questions, but I didn’t do the last one.

Teacher: The homework task was to attempt all the questions. That’s what it says on Show My Homework. [sharing the facts] (Notice how this is the beginning of another difficult conversation and the steps should begin again. Although the situation hasn’t been perfectly resolved in the first instance, progress has been made, which is what you should be aiming for).

Ten steps may seem like a lot to remember in what will probably be a three-minute conversation. To begin with, you could have the steps printed off in front of your to refer to, but the more you do this, the more natural it will be. And the more you engage students in these difficult conversations, the better your relationships will be.

Gravitate towards Gravitas

Most new teachers know the horrible sinking feeling that comes with being ignored by students. And while there could be a number of causes, I found that the source of my problem lay in my lack of what the Ancients called ‘gravitas’, meaning a speaker’s perceived weight or seriousness (think of David Attenborough in any of his nature documentaries – knowledgeable, passionate and calm).

We’ve all met memorable and interesting people who have gravitas and while they appear to have accrued this charm naturally, the good news is that gravitas is a learnable trait, some parts of which you might already excel at.

Caroline Goyder in her book Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority sums it up with The Gravitas Equation[1]:

(Knowledge + Purpose + Passion) – Anxiety = Gravitas

Knowing your stuff

I can recall teaching too many lessons where I simply did not know the topic well enough. I was clearly not the expert in the room so why on earth did I expect the students to listen? These days, whenever I demonstrate that I know something the students don’t and am then able to explain it clearly to them, they listen. Invest your time in knowing inside out what you intend to teach and how to deliver it in a clear and compelling manner. A teacher who knows their subject well:

• stands still with both feet pressed into the ground
• expresses clear thoughts in a logical and well-paced manner
• uses vocabulary that is their own (they know what it means and how to pronounce it correctly)

Showing purpose

What matters to you? Whether it’s a love for the subject, the quality of your students’ work or simply a respect for the school’s ethos, show that these are important in your tone of voice and in your eyes. You could:

• make eye contact with individual students as you give instructions or explain concepts, rather than broadcasting to the class as a homogenous mass.
• speak in a positive, playful voice most of the time. Keep it light and encouraging. Relax and smile to impart a positive tone.
• show students’ kindness, compassion and empathy to form a trusting bond that is more likely to move them to action as opposed to simple ‘do as I say’ authority.

Being your passionate self

Your students will figure out if you’re trying to be someone you’re not, so don’t put on a flashy performance or speak in an obviously scripted way as it will give the impression you don’t appear to care about what you’re teaching.

If you truly care you will engage them when you talk about your subject. But if you don’t care, it will scream a lack of confidence and you’ll lack authority. Besides, putting on a façade will make you tense and nervous. Not only is this unpleasant for yourself, the students will feel this tension too. Remember: what you feel, they feel. If you’re tense and holding your breath, so will they.  

In order to engage hearts as well as minds you’ll need to be yourself and not someone dryly reading from a Powerpoint slide. Your lesson materials are not the lesson itself. They are there to enhance what you’re teaching, but the students leaving the lesson should think ‘great lesson’. They should not be thinking ‘great resources’.

The students have turned up to see you so don’t pretend. You are enough, flaws and all. Besides, perfection is dull so stop trying to appear so. And when you’re not worrying so much about yourself, you’ll have a greater capacity to help them. And isn’t that why we’re there in the first place?

Letting go of anxiety

Nerves and feelings of self-consciousness stem from a fear of not measuring-up or fitting-in. As a new teacher, we obsess about what we’re not, rather than what we are.

Concentrate on how you are already valuable, not on how you can strive to become so. You need to be able to manage yourself before you can manage a classroom.

Being able to stay calm and confident under pressure will give you gravitas as you won’t feel tempted to get drawn into arguments. You’ll be calm and aware of yourself and others and able to bring yourself back to calm quickly in anxious moments, treating students as your equals and showing interest in them. You’ll be able to accept their perspectives even if you don’t agree with them.

While you may not develop David Attenborough’s charm overnight, with the Gravitas equation you can at least get a few more kids looking at you when you speak.

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[1] Goyder, Caroline, Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority, Vermilion (6 Mar. 2014)