Productive Partnerships

1. Productive Partnerships National Education Conference 14th July 2012 Starter: Try to list all the other adults that have worked in your classrooms, in whatever capacity.

2. What is your worst experience of working with another adult in your classroom? Work in pairs or threes and feedback to the group. • Communication is not consistent or focused. • No joint planning. • Students working at lower levels become the unofficial responsibility of the second adult. • Second adult is passive within the lesson. • Strategies for supporting lower level attainment do not endure beyond the supported lessons. • The partnership is not revisited or evaluated.

3. Now do the same for the best experience you have had. Try to identify why this partnership worked.

4. In pairs or threes consider which of these are the most important in making a partnership productive. Try to organise them into a hierarchy. Shared pedagogy styles Positive personal relationship Time Training for you Clear line management Training for them Sharing of expertise Shared planning Control over time or type of support Clarity about your roles Shared goals Clarity around behaviour expectations Support from school leaders

5. Now try to consider which ones you can control and which ones are out of your control? Shared pedagogy styles Positive personal relationship Time Training for you Clear line management Training for them Sharing of expertise Shared planning Control over time or type of support Clarity about your roles Shared goals Clarity around behaviour expectations Support from school leaders

6. The difficult conversation…. Think of a time this year when a partnership between you and another adult has not worked well. In pairs/threes, role play how you might have broached this issue. Consider what your usual ‘style’ is in tackling awkward issues with colleagues. or

7. What is your top creative tip for how to use a second adult in a classroom?