#maternityteacher

#maternityteacher tip 1: use your human resources to your advantage - baby probably knows more than you do about teaching, learning and child development!

Recently, I wrote one of my first blog posts that veered towards an opinion piece rather than a post based entirely on sharing practical teaching strategies, focusing on how to make productive use of my six months of maternity leave, and how this time could be used as an effective CPD and reflection opportunity amongst the demands of a newborn baby.  I was genuinely shocked by the popularity of the post and the responses I received on social media from mothers, fathers and those from within and outside of the teaching profession without children.  Some were comforting, some made me truly sad, and some absolutely enraged me.

What has been somewhat challenging so far, though, has been that very few responses provided me with a model to which I can aspire.  There seem to be very few women in my social circle or Twittersphere who can offer me personal anecdotes or real life examples of having your cake and eating it: some have used maternity leave to complete MAs or other professional qualifications but have either felt like they have compromised, or have made a decision that is personally right for them and their families not to go back to work, to go back to work part time, or to pursue foci in their life that require less commitment in order to balance the needs of their families.  Others have reassured me that ambition and leadership are definitely women's arenas, I just need to be patient, accept that there is a longer term plan, and wait until these baby/ motherhood years are 'done' so that I can achieve my goals later in life.  Others, especially those outside of teaching, have reassured me that the individuality of my skills means that I will not be 'overtaken' whilst on maternity leave because only I can do my job in the manner in which I do it; however, in the fast-paced, demanding culture of disposability that is the British state education system, I am not convinced that this investment in or valuing of people is something that is realistically sustainable, especially where women with priorities other than Year 11 and Progress 8 are concerned.

Call my rose-tinted, but I am not naive enough to think that this means that there are no female role models currently smashing some professional goal, leading a year group, a department or a school whilst simultaneously breastfeeding and managing their childcare direct debits, 10 hours into their 12 hour day on 3 hours sleep, it's just that I don't know their Twitter handle, and they haven't read my blog yet.  It is likely that they are too busy being inspirational to read my blog posts or to have a Twitter account and so I will have to seek them out and watch their practice without the help of social media.

In the meantime, I wanted to thank all of those who responded and shared some really insightful articles and experiences with me and post again, reflecting upon what I have heard (this is what happens when you encourage me!  No more useful strategies - all waffling opinion from now on!)  Your comments have raised questions that, as of yet, I have no answers for, but which I think are worth pondering over, if this whole motherhood/ women/ leadership/ gender equality is your special interest topic:

• Why are the men who love and support us - both personally and professionally - not more involved in this conversation or the actions that could lead to changing this culture that seems to force compromise upon working mothers?
• To what extent are these men equally as trapped by social expectations and gender stereotypes as their wives, partners and colleagues are?
• Why is there such a resounding rhetoric of 'can't' and 'won't be able to' from other women surrounding new mothers' abilities to multitask?  Is this reality, experience or simply negative reinforcement and a self-fulfilling prophecy?
• How, really, is 'domestic work' valued by both genders in our society and where do concepts of choice, flexibility and equality come into this?
• Where is my inspiration or a model to follow and, if they do exist, why do they seem so hidden, despite proactive searching?  (Maybe these women are too busy being on maternity leave and completing their professional development for Twitter!)
• How can I have my cake and eat it, break the mould, swim against the current, be the change that I wish to see and all those other cliches without simply doing so just to prove a point and show that it can be done?

Ever solutions focused, however, I posted a number of suggestions - for myself and for other teachers on maternity leave - about how I am going to try to use my time to flexibly keep my mind ticking over during this six months in order to maintain a sense of my professional self whilst entirely consumed by the presence of a tiny human who I will love beyond words and want to stare at and squeeze all day.

This new blog, therefore, is dedicated to this career development (yes!  Maternity leave is a career development!): as I will now be out of the classroom for six months, it will focus on documenting my professional development and reflections, which is likely to lead to more opinions, but as much as possible, I will link all of my pursuits to hypothetical classroom, whole school and pedagogical practice with the continued aim of sharing and igniting discussions about effective teaching and learning.