The revolution WILL be televised

Revolution School: Episode 1

I must admit I was initially very hostile towards the concept of the ABC 'Revolution School' series. I believe I said something along the lines of "Oh great! Another bunch of journalists to come along and tell us how to do our jobs because we are so terrible at them!" or words to that effect. However, after seeing the above extended promo I thought that PERHAPS this one might be different. 

I'm a school teacher and it is a fascinating profession. So many people think that, because they went through the school system, they are somehow an expert and can tell you how to do your job. When I tell people I am a secondary school teacher they launch into "Ah! Well the problem with the school system is..." and I have to restrain myself from stabbing them several times with the nearest sharp object. I would argue it's particularly bad for us History teachers, we seem to be the most politicised area of the school curriculum (You never hear politicians complaining about the maths curriculum do you?). Beyond this I'm also a Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE) student, currently completing my Master of Education degree with that august institution.

So let us say I come to this TV series with quite a lot of baggage. I would only need to be an ABC employee to fall into all three of the camps involved in making this program; teachers, researchers, and journalists. One thing my supervisor has taught me in my research, however, is that as long as you clearly explain where you are coming from (positioning), you can gain insights that may be lost on others. 

The first episode of Revolution School, set at Kambrya College in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs, began with a powerful assault on some stubbornly difficult to dislodge elements of public debate in this country. 'Class sizes', 'private vs public schooling' and 'parent choice' don't matter decried internationally renowned education researcher Professor John Hattie. While there are nuances to these debates, the nature of how these issues are debated within Australia makes John Hattie more or less correct. The element that has the biggest impact on a student achievement, Hattie forcefully proclaims, is the teacher.

Some of the discussions on twitter really emphasised how incredibly difficult it is to wrench the debate away from the other issues and to have a constructive discussion about teacher performance. In the show we saw some powerful examples of teachers who were trying their best to be the best teachers they could be. We also saw some great structures that their leadership team implemented to help them do that. 

On the flip side of the coin we saw the students. You can't change the kids or swap them out for more compliant ones (well maybe you can if you're a private school, but at a public school you get what you get). If you want to improve a school, you have to improve teacher effectiveness and give them the skills and strategies they need to effectively support the myriad of student dispositions and ability levels that will present themselves in your classroom on any given day. The first episode gave us a great look at this and I have to commend the teachers at Kambrya College for allowing themselves to be put in such a vulnerable position, especially Mr Wallace who may now be my teacher hero. Having anyone come in and observe your classes can be a daunting experience, but to have them filmed and then broadcast to the entire nation!?

My biggest complaint is the title of the series, 'Revolution School'. With all due respect to Kambrya College and the ABC I saw nothing 'revolutionary' at work, just good educators using good research with support from the MGSE to improve their pedagogy. There are MANY schools across Victoria doing EXACTLY the same thing to varying levels of success, in this regard Kambrya College is not a 'revolutionary' school. Kambrya is, however, an excellent showcase of what many schools across Victoria (in every sector: Government, Catholic and Independent) are trying to do.

I was expecting a hit-and-run job on teachers by journalists (it's happened before). What I got was an insightful look at how a public secondary school has partnered with the MGSE to use evidence to improve. It's not the sexy debates around class sizes or laptop programs, it's about the messy world of teachers working with students.

I look forward to episode two.