Teachers as Playful Professionals with Dr. Jacqueline Fallon

Well, if we look at this in the context of the change that is happening and has happened with the new primary school curriculum and the great emphasis on the playful professional, it's really important to acknowledge that this is so new for so many teachers.

Change is difficult and it can be bit scary and a bit frightening.

Years ago, well not that many years ago I suppose, I did my doctorate on asking teachers about their beliefs about play in schools and I was really taken aback at the end of quite a long research project.

Teachers saw play as a risk.

And one of the main aspects of the risk was the risk to their professional standing, where they believed that the parents would see a teacher who was providing play opportunities as a slacker, somebody who was taken the easy way out, and that their professionalism in the eyes of parents would be lessened, that would undermine their position as the teacher.

Interestingly, it was also risky.

Most of the people I spoke to were involved in classes with the infant classes.

They were really worried about how teachers in senior classes would view them if very visibly there was a lot of play happening in their classrooms or they were being playful.

they felt that their own colleagues would see them as being lesser professionals.

So since that time, I finished that research back in about 2013, 2014.

I've been so aware of what this means.

And even though I know both of you are experts hugely supported.

You've gone through this.

You've seen the benefits of play.

You're clearly so comfortable with this, as are many of your contributors.

But we have to really be aware that there are teachers for whom this is a very significant change, and it's really going to be a big challenge for their own view of themselves as a professional, as a teacher.

as someone who's all over everything, at the top of the class, very much in control of everything that is happening and is able to, I often think of it as marshalling the children into specific behaviours and learning opportunities.

So that's my starting point here.

It's a concern for those people who were listening to all of this and now I've got to do playful and engaging and what does that mean and am I going to have to be some kind of silly, silly, silly person.

Well, no, you don't.

Well, if we look at this in the context of the change that is happening and has happened with the new primary school curriculum and the great emphasis on the playful professional, it's really important to acknowledge that this is so new for so many teachers.

Change is difficult and it can be bit scary and a bit frightening.

Years ago, well not that many years ago I suppose, I did my doctorate on asking teachers about their beliefs about play in schools and I was really taken aback at the end of quite a long research project.

Teachers saw play as a risk.

And one of the main aspects of the risk was the risk to their professional standing, where they believed that the parents would see a teacher who was providing play opportunities as a slacker, somebody who was taken the easy way out, and that their professionalism in the eyes of parents would be lessened, that would undermine their position as the teacher.

Interestingly, it was also risky.

Most of the people I spoke to were involved in classes with the infant classes.

They were really worried about how teachers in senior classes would view them if very visibly there was a lot of play happening in their classrooms or they were being playful.

they felt that their own colleagues would see them as being lesser professionals.

So since that time, I finished that research back in about 2013, 2014.

I've been so aware of what this means.

And even though I know both of you are experts hugely supported.

You've gone through this.

You've seen the benefits of play.

You're clearly so comfortable with this, as are many of your contributors.

But we have to really be aware that there are teachers for whom this is a very significant change, and it's really going to be a big challenge for their own view of themselves as a professional, as a teacher.

as someone who's all over everything, at the top of the class, very much in control of everything that is happening and is able to, I often think of it as marshalling the children into specific behaviours and learning opportunities.

So that's my starting point here.

It's a concern for those people who were listening to all of this and now I've got to do playful and engaging and what does that mean and am I going to have to be some kind of silly, silly, silly person.

Well, no, you don't.