Photograph: Jim Baker teaching in 1976.
Jim Baker went into teaching because he enjoyed passing on his
knowledge. After 42 years, despite how much the profession has changed, he's
not ready to switch off the bunsen burner yet.
My
own chemistry teacher from Swanwick Hall Grammar School, my great mentor Tom Cook, advised me to become a
teacher. I remember him telling me about friends who'd gone into industry who
looked more haggard than he did, something that might not necessarily be true
nowadays.
I
studied specialised chemistry at Sheffield University and I loved it but at the end of the day I'm a people
person and I just couldn't see myself in a lab working on my own. So after my
degree I did a year's diploma in education. I
remember my professor of education telling us: "You are entering teaching at a very
interesting time." And how right he was, Of course he couldn't have
foreseen all the many changes, but in the course of my career, teaching has
changed radically.
I
started teaching in 1970. I've been teaching for so long that in 2008 one lad
told me I had taught his grandad. I remembered him too; I've taught thousands
of pupils but I'm usually able to remember their names and faces.
When
I started teaching, all pupils would be taught chemistry by a chemistry
graduate, physics by a physics graduate and biology by a biology graduate. The
problem now is that everyone has to do science and there aren't
enough specialists to teach them. There are people teaching chemistry who don't
know much about the subject. In
my travels I have seen trainee teachers who have done A-levels in psychology
and photography and they are becoming secondary science teachers. But children
won't be inspired if their teachers are only one step ahead of them in
knowledge of the subject.
I
retired from full-time work in August 2008 after teaching in the same school,Lincoln Christ's Hospital School,
for 38 years. I was head of chemistry and deputy head of science in charge of
behaviour management when I retired. People
say you should be moving every two years to get progression, aiming I suppose
to get out of the classroom. But I went into teaching because I liked being
with people and passing on my knowledge: that's why I became a classroom
teacher and that's why I stayed one.
You
might think I'd get fed up in the same school as a classroom teacher, but I
didn't because every class and child is different. I've found children learn
when it's fun and they want to be there so I became a bit of an entertainer in
the classroom – it's no good having the subject knowledge if you can't explain
it. For me teaching is all about relationships. If you can't build
relationships with students, and they don't want to be in your class, no matter
what else you do, it's wasted.
In
1997 I got to the final 13 in the Salter's
Chemistry Teacher of the Year award. Three years after that one of my lessons
was judged by Ofsted to be unsatisfactory. It was probably the worst day of my
life. My head couldn't believe it and he asked for another lesson to be
observed. The head of science pointed out the high A-level results of my
students, but the Ofsted inspector gave the second lesson a satisfactory. She
criticised me for doing forces with my students because they are supposed to
learn that in primary school. I was so happy that my head and head of
department stood by me but it was a horrible, horrible day.
The
great thing about being semi-retired now is that I can say what I like. After
42 years teaching I think that the key to being a good teacher has to be
developing strong relationships with the children. I also know my subject
inside out: I almost daren't say this but I don't plan lessons. I just go in
and know what I need to teach. Some of the trainees tell me they've been
advised not to smile until Christmas, but I ask them what sort of people do you
want to be around? People that are fun and have a good time – the children are
no different. If you walk in with a smile, they will feel positive about their
learning. Trouble is, there's so much pressure on teachers now that they're
tired when they walk into the classroom.
After
I retired, my old head of science at Christ's, went to be head of house at St Peter's and St Paul's Catholic High School.
He asked if I would give his chemistry teacher some help and, when she went
part-time, I started teaching A and AS-level chemistry one day a week. I only
teach part of the course but after applying my methods the AS pass rate has
improved so they've given me another year's contract.
I
teach the things I want to do, my way. It works and I feel sorry for the rest
of the staff who can't have this freedom. Often schools with badly behaved
children arrange for these kids to be absent when the Ofsted inspectors come
around and the school say they'll do the same with me. It's almost funny but in
fact it's deadly serious. Things are changing so quickly and teachers are so
busy they don't have time to sit back and think about it. But if I were the
chief executive of a company in which 50% of my employees left in the first
three years I'd seriously review my policies – yet that's what's happening with
maths and science teachers. I
soon realised the huge value of modern technology and set up my website back in 1998 in
the early days of the internet. I heard about twiducate and now all my year 12 and 13
chemists use it to keep in touch with me and access my resources. They can post
their questions and I can answer them.
My
students can also email me their questions when they need to know the answers,
usually in the evenings or weekends. It takes me ten minutes to answer them
while I'm relaxing with a cup of coffee, far better than being chased down the
corridor in the school day when there's no time to talk.
Teaching
chemistry is my career and my hobby so why should I stop? Statistically
teachers working on the front line tend to have a low life expectancy once they
retire, so I don't dare.
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