TM4T Techniques 3.1.9.1 - Self Awareness - Mindsets List

The roles and mindsets used in TM4T are as follows:

1. The Teacher. This role is critical during your classroom contact time, and for some - not all - elements of lesson planning and assessment. There is very little discussion of the Teacher role on this site, as you will already have received extensive professional training, and it is a role with which you are very familiar.  You must, though, realise that this role can HINDER success in some contexts.

There are several sub-roles to The Teacher (pedagogue, pastoral carer, etc) and none of them has a particular role in TM4T - you do not have to change the way you teach unless you want to.

    1a.    Teacher-AAA

There is an important sub-role to The Teacher, called AAA - AAA stands for academic-artist-athlete. This sub-role is important at least once a year during the long summer vacation. During this time, TM4T recommends that you forget about teaching and remind yourself of your chosen subject - your first love. Before you taught, you were once a historian, mathematician, poet, whatever. It is important to remember this.

2. The Analyst. This role is important in understanding this web-page, in reading this website and in figuring out exactly what TM4T system is best suited to your particular school and circumstances. When taking this role, it is important that you step back from your day to day teaching life and look at the detail of what you do logically and unemotionally, being prepared to challenge and change things which have become automatic over time.

This role will not figure strongly after your TM4T system is established, though every so often The Analyst should reappear, review what has been achieved and what needs to be changed.

3. The Office Administrator (OA) This role is important for carrying out repetitive tasks which do not require creativity or higher-level thinking. You need to be absolutely clear that this role is not unskilled - in fact most teachers will have to develop an entirely new set of skills to do this role successfully. This role needs to be able to work for extended periods of time on relatively boring tasks, though may demand comforts and rewards for doing so.

The mindset required for this role is subtly different to that of the 'Teacher'. The OA is meticulous, mentally focused on one task, dealing with practical, physical aspects of the task rather than any academic abstractions; and is skilled at dealing with repetitive tasks.

4. The Executive Assistant (XA) This role is important at least once a day, when you review your lists of things-to-do and plan tomorrow's work. It is important that you carry out this role working quickly and clear-headedly, making unequivocal and sometimes ruthless decisions.

Note: Executive Assistants in business are intended to do two things (i) to ensure that executives work as efficiently as possible (ii) to minimise the risk of stress and breakdown on valuable human resources. This sounds like something that teachers could use, but budgets, well, you know what it's like. You, therefore, dear reader, will have to act as your own XA, as will I act as my own. This extends to diary management, handling routine business, and making ourselves cups of tea occasionally.

Some teachers may perceive a kind-of power struggle between their roles: some might say 'My pastoral role takes precedence over everything'; others will say 'No, I am a pedagogue first and foremost; imparting knowledge is the most important thing.' In fact, the XA must always be the boss role. You cannot care for your pupils properly if you yourself are under too much stress and you will fail to teach well unless you manage your time properly. First and foremost, you must find the time to teach.

The mindset required for this role - XA- is very different to the typical Teacher: intolerant of uncertainty and ambiguity, bureaucratic and well-organised, quick-working, impatient and decisive.

5. The Off-Duty Teacher (ODT). This role is vital in ensuring that you remain effective as a teacher even if the workload becomes extreme. In this role, you must know how to recharge your batteries outside school, and must have the strength of character to put this knowledge into practice. The ODT must be able to relax and refuel effectively and sleep like a baby.

The mindset required for this role is one of health-awareness; constantly aware of the value and importance of relaxation, good food, sensible exercise, and social contact.

6. The Life Planner. This role, similar to the Analyst - is important at least once a year. Although the Analyst role stepped back from the day-to-day grind, the focus was on detail. The Life Planner also steps back, but is only interested in the big picture - the helicopter view of your life. The Analyst might ask 'where do you want to be to plan 5R's time?'; the Life Planner asks 'where do you want to be in five years' time?'

So.. six roles, but one job. Different aspects to the teacher's role. Most teachers would be comfortable with that, but might reasonably ask 'OK, but what does this mean in practice? How can we use this idea to improve productivity?'  The key point is one which we have already covered, and which we will revisit time and time again because it is so important: in TM4T we do not multi-task. If you are teaching, be a teacher; if you are planning your time, be an EA, if you are filing, be an OA; concentrate on one role at a time and be excellent at it.