This site’s main aim is to give clear, actionable CPD for all UK educators. The ‘Kaizen’ philosophy, made famous by the car company Toyota, is that improvement needs to be continual, through the delivery of a series of micro refinements, leading to sustained progress. This approach to CPD in education is working for me, hence the blog! Posts will detail specific techniques, routines, resources and cultures that have been trialled in a real school setting by teachers currently working in the Secondary sector.  

Why I love teaching.

Future posts will be more focused on CPD, but I wanted to set out my stall, so to speak. 

Blog #1: Why I love teaching. 

In recent years, expressing positivity about teaching seems rare. And believe me, I can understand why. During 21 years of teaching in comprehensive schools, there have been a myriad of political, social, even global (the COVID-19 pandemic to name but one) issues that have completely transformed education since my early days as an NQT. In 2024, TES reported that over a 1/3 of teachers have thought about quitting the job in the last year. But for me, choosing a career in teaching remains the best decision that I ever made. Here’s why: 

  1. Job fulfilment. 

After a brief stint in an office job after graduating, spending countless hours staring at a computer, teaching appealed to my sense of academic curiosity about the subject I studied at University. Naively, I thought I would spend my days showing students the wonders of the world through language and literature, talking endlessly about metaphysical poetry and the art of rhetoric – maybe even standing on a table like Mr Keating in Dead Poet’s Society. And whilst I still aim to bring that passion of my subject to every lesson I teach, the transmission of knowledge isn’t the main reason why I find this job so fulfilling. Meeting new students at the start of every academic year, watching as they develop an understanding of not only your subject, but the wider world around them, then finally seeing them succeed, in whatever way they can, is undeniably the best aspect of the job. Even the most hardened, battle weary teacher finds it impossible to not beam with joy when a student of theirs does well. 

  1. Being creative. 

Teaching encourages creativity all of the time. Sometimes this is out of necessity, for example when your technology suddenly stops working for no reason and you have to ad lib for an hour – hangman anyone?! But often it is because most teachers are given the freedom to generate new ways to teach their subject. I have been very fortunate that the schools I have worked in have actively encouraged me to be innovative. If I want to revise Macbeth by dual coding the entire play onto a roll of wall paper, then go for it! Practising how to build a narrative? A game of consequences it is. I love making resources – just ask my colleagues, after they receive yet another email containing more attachments than a new vacuum cleaner! This does not end with worksheets either. Taking a creative approach to all aspects of education has helped me to keep a positive mindset in an often-difficult profession – ideas are free after all! 

  1. Belonging to a community 

A school community is really something special. It’s also hard to put your finger on why and how this is built. Maybe it is the fact that schools are deeply rooted to their local area, with successive generations of the community all walking the same corridors. Maybe it is the mindset of togetherness – we are an extension of a family structure – celebrating both success and failure. Maybe it is a tribal thing – our uniform, mottos and logos are designed to instil a sense of collective pride and unity (like being a footy fan, but with less raucous chants!). Whatever it is, it surely must be the reason why some teachers stay in the same school for decades. Personally I know that it is very hard to feel lonely when you are part of such a caring and motivated team.  

  1. Love of (teaching &) learning 

Loving the subject that you teach is often a major reason for joining the teaching profession. Transmitting that passion to others is not as easy as it sounds, as most of us find out after our first ever round of assessments. What do you mean you didn’t listen to any of my fascinating thoughts on the role of women in An Inspector Calls?! It turns out that there is a lot more to teaching that students just listening to a lecture and churning out an A grade essay. There are many sub skills involved in successful education which often have very little to do with subject knowledge. Instead we employ a complicated mix of behavioural psychology, effective visual design, perfect timing and good old fashioned direct instruction on a daily basis. However, that’s where it gets really interesting, because what works well for one cohort of students, is guaranteed to not work for another group. As a result we are constantly learning alongside our students, something which I happen to love.  

  1. Humour 

Teaching comes with many ups and downs, and when the chips are down, there is no better medicine than a good laugh. Some of the funniest things I have every heard have been whilst sitting in my department office at lunchtime. Working with teams of clever, articulate and opinionated people promises a level of humour that is hard to beat. What’s more, children are downright hilarious. When staring down the barrel of yet another rainy Wednesday afternoon with Year 9, sometimes the only thing to do is laugh along with the jokes. 

By Prue Bendell, 22/06/2025

pruebendell@aol.com

thekaizenbriefing

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