Featured Teacher
“Katy Taylor is an outstanding
practitioner in all sense of the
word. Her dedication to teaching
and learning in the classroom, the
planning of the lessons she teaches
and her assessment of the students
she comes into contact with, never
falters.” ~ Mr Simon O’Connor-
Head teacher, Jumeirah College
I
t is often said that a great
teacher is one who can transfer
their love and enthusiasm for
learning to their students. Katy
Taylor is one such teacher. Katy’s
passion for teaching was not always
there and her unconventional route
into teaching could be one of the
secrets to her success.
“I can’t say that I’ve always wanted to
be a teacher the way some teachers
do. I didn’t consider teaching until
the age of 25 when a friend, who was
training a local inner city school in
Bristol, told me an anecdote about
some unconventional strategies he
was using to get his class to settle
down and learn maths. Something
about the story resonated with me.
He was being challenged on a daily
basis. He was making a difference,
and he was thriving on it,” she
shared.
His story resonated with her in such
a positive way. It led to her decision
to become a teacher. Katy already
had a degree in English. She applied
for a PGCE at Bristol University and
in her third year of teaching, she was
appointed second in department for
English at that school.
It is not surprising that today Katy is
the Head of English at an outstanding
school, Jumeirah College in Dubai.
Below, she shares with Teach
Middle East Magazine a few key
strategies that work for her, inside
the classroom.
Who inspires you most? Why?
It’s difficult to choose one person.
I’ve been really fortunate throughout
my life to be surrounded by excellent
mentors. I am grateful for the strong
and successful women in my lif e - my
family, my friends, my colleagues,
and all the students I’ve worked with
who have all played a part in inspiring
me along the way.
Share two strategies that you
employ to effectively engage and
challenge your students.
This depends upon the context.
When I worked in England, it was
really about being creative and
grabbing students’ interest from
the first second. When I worked
in Spain, it was about focusing on
bilingual expression through a focus
on literacy. Here in Dubai, I have to
focus specifically on giving students
work models to enable them to hit
the highest grade criteria because
we are aiming for the very highest
grades possible. My affirmation for
this year was to do the work along
with the students. So now, whenever
I set an extended piece of writing
or exam paper, I sit it with them and
share my work for them to mark.
I’ve found this to be really effective
in getting students to believe the
highest achievement is possible.
It also gives a stronger sense of us
working towards a shared objective.
What is the one key thing that
you would recommend to help
teachers who wish to create an
inspiring learning environment?
Know your subject and be passionate
about it. My favourite interview
question is to ask, “What one item
would you take from your classroom
to teach a lesson in the desert?” This
speaks volumes about a candidate.
How do you help your colleagues
to share good practice with each
other?
Two years ago, we painted a tree
on the display board in our English
office, which the whole school has
now come to know as ‘The Learning
Tree’. We started an informal process
of departmental observations where
positive feedback (only) was written
on a leaf, which was pinned onto
the tree for everyone to see. The
concepts behind the tree were that
we could be inspired by each other,
and praise the good practice within
the department. Since then, we
have developed different coloured
leaves for varying the focus of
our observations. This has led to
collaborative observations across
the school, including our Open
Doors Days, where we invite staff to
drop into English lessons.
How did you come up with the
“Every Child Will …” initiative?
How will this help to raise students’
attainment and progress?
When I became Head of English
at the beginning of this academic
year, I wanted to make sure that
the departments were united in our
approach to teaching and learning.
In our first meeting of the year, we
looked at the way in which Team
Great Britain had been so successful
in the Olympics and from this starting
point; we worked collaboratively to
come up with a vision for the English
department. We all had an input
and we came up with: “Every Child
Will’. We agreed that we would work,
whatever the barriers to learning, to
support every student to fulfill his/
her very highest potential and then
we each wrote a personal affirmation
that we would focus upon to ensure
that we maintained this vision in our
own practice.
What is the one thing about
you that would surprise your
colleagues?
I don’t think anything would surprise
them! I’m a pretty open book and
my colleagues see the true me
every day.
What is the best professional
advice that you have received?
Do what your moral code tells you
is the right thing to do; no matter
what other people say, if you believe
it’s important, then do it and keep
going.
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