ABSTRACT
A newly qualified teaching friend of mine, working as a substitute teacher for three months, was visited in a city school by an inspector as part of her induction programme. The inspector asked to see the beginning teacher’s long-term written planning. ‘I don’t have it’, she said, ‘I usually just plan my work from day to day’. The inspector, who was nearing retirement, made no comment and continued with the visit looking through the notes she had. He observed her teaching and generally seemed quite pleased with how she was doing. He got up to leave, shook her hand and wished her well. As he was leaving the classroom, the inspector turned to my friend and asked, ‘By the way, I’m heading to C______ from here, naming a city about 200 km away. What’s the best way to get there?’.
