Two Narratives of Staffroom Education
Staffroom Education is a professional, friendly and consultative service for educational furniture recruitment. Located in Cardiff Bay, the company offers services such as staffroom consultancy, training and recruitment to both the public and private sectors.
Describe beginning HPE teachers’ micropolitical stories of the staffroom
Beginning HPE teachers are positioned within a unique staffroom context, which shapes their micropolitical knowledge and practice. They learn to navigate this context and protect their desired working interests and working conditions. The following article explores two such narratives.
Helen was the first NQT at Northton School. She had a deep sense of loyalty to the school and the department. However, senior management pressures led to conflict. Helen had to make decisions to safeguard her career. Despite this, she did not want to engage in forms of resistance in her leadership role.
She also wanted to secure future staff relationships and dismantle a ‘toxic’ group in the department. To do this, she used ‘power with’ and ‘power over’ strategies. These included: favouritism, punishment and reward.
Helen sought to side-line John and Anne. This was to prevent any form of resistance in the department.
School leaders communicate their staffroom culture by how often they get together
School leaders can communicate their staffroom culture through how often they get together. This can be a key way to improve the wellbeing of your staff. It is important that your senior leaders encourage good working practices and help ensure that your team are able to take time out for rest and rejuvenation.
The researchers investigated the best ways to support school leaders in collecting data and using it to support changes in the school. They also identified areas where improvements could be made. A mixed method assessment was used, including baseline data, quantitative and qualitative data from phase one, and phase two and three.
Quantitative measures included the use of the School Organisational Health Questionnaire (SOHQ), a survey tool developed by Hart et al., 2000. Eight of the 11 scales returned reliable scores, which allowed further analysis. Using the SOHQ’s central tendency and effect size, the researchers were able to identify what factors contributed to the organisational climate of the case study school.
Be a welcoming place for visitors and parents to feel a sense of belonging
A school staffroom is typically the best place to introduce visitors to your school. Creating a welcoming atmosphere not only makes your new neighbors feel welcome, it’s also a good way to promote positive relations between students and teachers.
To make your staffroom education worthy of attention, there are several things you should consider. Organize an open house or invite parents to join in on your classes activities. During these events, make sure your classroom is tidy and clean. Children will be more inclined to spend time with their caregivers if the setting is comfortable and sanitary.
You should also put up a community bulletin board, displaying important messages from the town, local government, and other agencies. Include the latest community events, as well as a place for upcoming multicultural events. This will also serve as a good place to showcase family resources.
Surviving staffroom politics leaflet
The Staff Wellbeing Surviving Staffroom Politics Leaflet offers school staff advice on ways to deal with the politics of their staffrooms. It provides information on how to get the respect and support you need, and it offers ideas for settling in and coping with the stresses of your role.
As well as focusing on the importance of staffrooms for mental health and wellbeing, this leaflet explores how staffrooms can be used as a space for critique and social reproduction. For example, it is important to consider how staffrooms can be rooted in able-normative and racialized exclusions.
Using the work of Effy Harle, Paul Keedwell and others, this leaflet describes the importance of having a personal workspace, as well as how to negotiate and politicize your personal space. The leaflet is available in black and white or super eco colour. Printed over 6 sides of A4, it folds down to create 10 pages of advice.