Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Jennifer Perry and I am the Assistant Headteacher for Teaching and Learning and teach Spanish and French at Park House English School in Doha, Qatar. I embarked on my new role at Park House in September 2018, however, this is my fifth year living in Qatar having worked as the Head of Languages in a different school setting.
How did your career in Teaching start?
During my first year of my undergraduate studies at the University of Wales, Bangor I was presented with an opportunity to join a programme called Ectarc. Ectarc, an abbreviation for European Centre of Training and Regional Co-operation, was an educational charity based in Wales that organised summer work placements across Europe for students studying a second language.
My application for the programme was successful and I spent 4 wonderful months soaking up all that the city of Barcelona has to offer. As I was studying Spanish and Business Studies at university, the partners in Barcelona organised my work placement to be in a summer school. I spent the first half of my placement teaching English to students aged 8-18 years old and the second half of my placement was spent in the administration office. Before starting my placement, teaching wasn’t a profession that I had given much thought to, yet after spending time in the classroom, I realised how much enjoyment I got from working with young people and imparting knowledge.
From then I actively sought teaching experience. In my third year at university I spent the year in a small rural town called Don Benito which can be found in the province of Extremadura in Western Spain. There, I worked in a primary school as a language assistant. It was this experience that affirmed to me that teaching was a career I wanted to pursue.
On completion of my undergraduate studies I began a Postgraduate of Certificate in Education to become a qualified teacher of Modern Foreign Languages.
Could you tell us more about the projects you have been on working on at the school?
I have the following quote displayed on my notice board ‘Unity is strength, when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved’. This is the quote that inspired me to initiate the project ‘Park House Shares’. Park House Shares is a Teaching and Learning briefing that takes place every Thursday morning. The briefings are planned and presented by colleagues in the secondary school. Each week one member of staff presents an idea to the group based around the six principles of amazing learning: respect, the big picture, engagement, challenge, independence and feedback. The 15-minute briefing is used to inform staff about developments in education and inspire staff to experiment and take new risks in their practice. The follow up briefing is a session designed for reflection. Staff come to the briefing and discuss the impact of the strategy that they had used in their lessons that week. It is fantastic that staff are exposed to new ideas but I also believe that they need a time and place to reflect on their learning. I love how the teachers come together in unity to share their experiences and have an open attitude towards learning.
What does learning mean to you, and how has this impacted your approach as the Assistant Head Teaching & Learning?
I consider myself a lifelong learner and believe that as an educator it is a critical component for my own growth. Something that I use myself and encourage others to use is social networking. Social networking is a powerful tool for teachers and without a doubt, it is revolutionising how teachers interact with each other. Teachers online are having open dialogues where they are not only showing support for each other but they are challenging and deepening each other’s thinking.
This has directly impacted my approach as the Assistant Head: Teaching and Learning at Park House. We have around 40 teaching staff in the secondary school who all have different experiences to share and each have their unique style of teaching, one size does not fit all, and it is important to communicate with staff that this is okay.
At Park House we embrace our differences yet we have six guiding principles of what amazing learning can look, see and feel like. We believe that everyone in the classroom should show a mutual respect to each other, should be clear of the big picture, should feel challenged and engaged, are encouraged to be independent learners and are able to respond to feedback. When observing each other we use these six principles to guide our learning walks.
Following on from this, as a school we have adopted an open door approach to encourage open communication and discussion at all levels. Regardless of your position of responsibility in the school everybody is encouraged to carry out a learning walk and can use the six principles as a tool to support them. The feedback that staff provide must be positive and learning focused. We have replaced the next steps and even better ifs for a coaching style dialogue where questions are posed and staff are able to self-reflect on their lessons.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part of my job is knowing that I am helping shape minds both socially and academically. I believe, there is a real sense of purpose with teaching. The relationships we develop with our students will be remembered by them for the rest of their lives, this is an incredible privilege for all teachers knowing that the respect and care we show in the classroom will impact on our students. Further to this, there is nothing more fulfilling than knowing you have taught a great lesson and what you have taught has been understood. These are the moments I teach for.
What is the best thing about working at Park House?
There are so many wonderful things about working at Park House, but what I am reminded of each day is that Park House has a strong sense of community. I believe that every adult and child is enriched by being part of our community as we all have the special privilege of meeting, talking and learning with families from places in the world most only see in an atlas or hear of on the news. As a community we are welcoming and we embrace international diversity.
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