Teach-Primary-Issue-19.1

D o you ever feel like you’ve made a thousand decisions before breaktime has even rolled around? The whistle goes, and you realise you’ve already had to juggle what could reasonably be considered an entire week’s worth of ‘this-or-that’s; ‘yes-or-no’s? You’re not the only one. There’s even a word for this in philosophy: phronesis . It means ‘a type of wisdom or intelligence concerned with practical action’. Aristotle came up with this idea to explain the process of linking theory to practice through quickfire decision-making. And it applies to the way we work in classrooms every day. All this has made me think recently... how does decision-making work in the classroom? How do we conclude what we think is right, and what does this look like on a practical level? Start at the very beginning One of the reasons I love working with ITT students is that you really get to break down the processes seasoned teachers are so used to in the classroom. One of the first things I tell new teachers is that you have to prepare for the most basic things to go wrong, because nothing in a classroom is simple. Perhaps you’ve had a similar experience; you’re working seating so those two girls who fell out this morning aren’t next to each other, and a million other things, seemingly all at once. Instinctive decision-making is an amazing skill, and I’m certainly not advocating that we spend all day unpicking every single action, but wouldn’t it be great to have time to reflect now and again? Why do I do this this way? Why does this process work well? Is there a better way of doing X? Right this way This is where we can go back to Aristotle’s concept of phronesis. The idea that there is an ethical element to the decisions we make in the classroom means that there must be a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’ choice as we seek to achieve certain outcomes or reach certain goals (Winch et al., 2015). This is by no means a simple feat. Phronesis focuses on the need for you to understand and navigate the complex environment of your classroom in a way that allows you to do the right things in a practical situation (Pickup, 2020). This is why the thought process behind an action or decision is just as important as the action itself, if not even more so. Practically Take action and put theory into practice with a foolproof four-step process that will revolutionise the way you make decisions, forever... Judgement DAYS with (or have been!) an incredibly excited and confident trainee teacher, who can’t understand why they stumble over something as basic as helping pupils enter a classroom and taking the register. The thing is, this sounds like such a simple task on the surface. But underneath, it’s a web of complex decisions. We often don’t see this, because we don’t break it down into its constituent steps. As “The thought process behind an action or decision is just as important as the action itself” teachers, we make so many decisions every day that when we stand back and really think about it, it’s amazing how much of it just feels automatic. As children pour into a classroom, we have to ensure that everybody is sitting down, help that one pupil who has already lost their lunchbox, figure out F EATURE S CPD CLA I RE HARLEY www.teachwire.net | 33