About a week ago, I shared a deliberately “spicy” take on LinkedIn to test an idea I had been reflecting on.
As I’ve begun to more candidly share my thoughts on education and leadership, my audience has grown, and I was curious to see how this particular post would land. The response was certainly strong.
The idea itself emerged after my first term back teaching full-time, following eight years in middle and senior leadership roles. It reminded me just how busy, complex and rewarding it is to be solely focused on the hundred or so students you are responsible for each week in a secondary public school context.
From that experience, I began to consider whether there might be value in leaders periodically returning to the classroom to maintain connection with the day-to-day reality of teaching.
As expected, some leaders challenged the premise, while others engaged with the spirit of the idea, particularly the notion that the classroom remains a place of both complexity and joy. Encouragingly, several also saw potential in the idea as a way to build credibility and create space for aspiring leaders to step into new opportunities.
Feel free to read the post below, and as always, I welcome your thoughts.
Spicy teaching take #1 🌶️
What if education systems introduced mandatory, periodic, full-time teaching stints for senior school leaders?
It’s a curious anomaly that the better the teacher, the less teaching they do as they progress in their career. Senior leaders in particular often have little or no teaching load, and over time this can impact their connection with staff and the strength of their decision-making.
But what if it didn’t need to be that way?
What if systems created deliberate opportunities for senior leaders to return to the classroom, while retaining their substantive roles, and in doing so created space for aspiring leaders to step up?
Because the classroom is still the most important, and arguably the most complex, place in any school. And it doesn’t take long to lose touch. I’m speaking from experience.
After just a few years out of the classroom, the reality shifts.
- Student needs evolve.
- Parent expectations change.
- Technology reshapes practice.
- Administrative workload intensifies.
Unless you are living it every day, for a term or more, it’s difficult to fully understand it.
The more I reflect on this, the more it connects to the idea of seeking first to understand. There is no better way for leaders to understand their school than by stepping back into its classrooms.
IMO, a structured, periodic return to teaching could:
- Keep leaders current and grounded.
- Strengthen empathy and inform decision-making.
- Be aligned to accreditation cycles.
- Build trust and credibility with staff.
- Create space for emerging leaders to step up.
I believe that leaders who are willing to step back into the classroom, lead by example, and reconnect with the work at its core won’t diminish their impact, they’ll deepen it.
If you’re an educational leader, would you take the opportunity to return to the classroom temporarily?
Chris English 