Interview with Beverly Clarke

Beverly Clarke was born in Georgetown, Guyana, in South America in 1971. She is the oldest of three children and has a sister and brother. Her parents were both teachers in Guyana. They moved to the Bahamas when Beverly was twelve to teach for the Bahamian government. After three years in the Bahamas, the family moved to the UK to teach.

As well as her parents, Beverly was also influenced by both sets of grandparents, in particular her grandmothers. She was also influenced by Mr McNulty, a computing teacher at Cardinal Pole RC School in Hackney where she attended when the family moved to England at the age of fifteen. She says: “Sometimes you think in terms of giving back or letting someone know the impact that they had upon your life.  I have this standout lesson in my head where he was explaining number systems and I just remembered sitting there thinking, wow, this is so fascinating.  The teacher’s manner was very, very nice, and he spent the time on us.” By the time that Beverly moved into the A level class it was just a small class of five or six girls, she continues: “I remember being introduced to programming and not liking it; languages like Pascal back in the day, and using an RM Nimbus;.  Number systems. Starting to gain an awareness of what computers could do for us and what the field was about.”

Computing became Beverly’s favourite and best subject, along with Geography, English and Biology.

 In 1990, having progressed through school and gaining first GCSEs and then A levels, Beverly went on to South Bank University.  She says: “That’s where things really started changing.  Computers were becoming more networked, so you could speak to other universities.  Email, it was still fairly embryonic but that was coming on board, bits of multimedia started seeping in.  University gave me a, a wider understanding of computing, there was quite a lot of mathematical and programming content which I had worked out many years prior, was not my strong point, but it taught me to stick with things.”

Beverly’s third year was a placement with the Metropolitan Police, she adds: “I knew gaining experience would open up many more doors for me.  I was the only female in the department, and they took me under their wing.”

It was at the Metropolitan Police where Beverly first learned about Novell networks, and began to realise where her future could lie. One of her projects was the computerisation of the diplomatic services index cards, says: “I had a fantastic placement year. … I helped the public servants to move information from index cards to a computerised system. It was that transition period again in our history of going from a manual system to a computerised system.  It was good for me to build relationships with customers, they were my clients for that year. It taught me to relate to people of different ages, different experiences, to simplify what you are saying.”  A skill that Beverly says she has used to great effect throughout her career. She adds: “I think that year really set me up for where I am today, because I came out thinking, I know what I can realistically apply for.”

As well applying herself to her studies, Beverly also took on role as a student representative during her second and final year.

Surrey County Council

After university, Beverly briefly considered a role in the diplomatic service but was not successful in the entrance exams and so chose the computing pathway to her career. In 1994, just a few months after finishing her degree she was employed as an IT Consultant in networking and customer support with Surrey County Council.  Her role involved going to client sites across the Surrey and she says it’s where she honed her people skills. She adds: “There were training courses, and there was lots of in-house training also. I furthered my skills with networking, I definitely did all the reading for the certified Novell networks (although she never sat for the certificate).”

In 1997, having enjoyed her time at Surrey County Council, Beverly took up a role as IT Consultant at Capgemini. As well as increasing her earning capacity to allow her to buy her first flat, it also gave her the opportunity to gain an understanding of and experience in the private sector. While at Capgemini she rotated every six months to different clients; she explains: “Capgemini allowed me to experience many different industries. I went to Esso and Exxon in Leatherhead in Surrey. I was gaining knowledge of the oil industry and understanding the customers that they had. … Customer services came into it, because I was doing first and second line support, and assisting the third line support.” The team walked the floors rather than waiting for calls from people in difficulty, she adds: “It’s about keeping your customers, your clients, satisfied and the business moving, and seeing where you fit into the whole organisation.”

Beverly also gained experience of the pharmaceutical industry while on a placement with Innovex, which then became Quintiles. She adds: “It was a brilliant experience at finding out about different clients, and I did lots of work in-house, that’s when I got my first proper management responsibility as a problem manager. I didn’t fully enjoy it though, but again, it was just managing a help desk.   ”

After being made redundant and now with two daughters, Beverly decided to follow her vocation to go into teaching adults. In 2001 she applied for a role as lecturer at Brooklands College teaching evening classes.  She says of the change of direction: “Sometimes when I reflect on different things that have happened throughout life, I think, well that was actually always there.  I was able to impart knowledge to others, all throughout, able to break things down clearly.  I can get on with others and that lends itself naturally to teaching.”  After being successful in the interview and starting her new role, Beverly also started a City and Guilds teaching introduction course. She adds: “That really helped me with the theoretical side of teaching and teaching theory.” Beverly started initially working part-time and built up the hours before taking a post-graduate certificate in further education at the University of Greenwich in 2004 which she did at the same time as working.

She taught modules on  the University Foundation Programme; a scheme that provided students from Asia the opportunity to do a university foundation course which then allowed them to apply to British universities to study for a degree.  It covered key skills in IT level 1 and 2 which included the use of Microsoft products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, databases and email.  With her non-foundation students, Beverly taught a database unit and networking.

 Having enjoyed her time at Brooklands College and with some changes to her personal life, Beverly decided to gain qualified teacher status (QTS) through the University of Gloucestershire in order to move into teaching in secondary schools. She adds: “By then I had gotten over my anxieties teaching anyone younger.  I sort of gradually taught younger age groups as I’ve gone along.” As well as working at Brooklands, Beverly volunteered as a computer teacher at her local Catholic secondary school to get the necessary experience.

Having qualified, in 2009 Beverly moved to Sunbury Manor School in Surrey.  She says: “It was an interesting transition to teaching at this place. I remember thinking, this will either make you or break you.  I’m here today, so it did make me.  What I found challenging, which I had not dealt with up until that point, was behaviour management. I don’t think anything can truly prepare you for managing behaviour until you are actually immersed in it.”

Beverly taught GCSE classes, Key Stages 3 and 4, providing schemes of work. She says: “We had excellent results year on year, with GCSE, ICT, and some of the vocational courses. We chose the best courses for the ability of our students. …  One of the things that teaching did for me was learning to differentiate; ensuring the material is taught to different abilities of students and getting them to understand it.  Working across departments and with colleagues in the same department and also appreciating all the wider issues that affect students in a classroom.”

With her background in IT, Beverly was able to relate what was needed and what was available to her students, she explains: “I noticed there were more skills were being required by industry, but students were still only doing Microsoft Office.  Things were changing in industry, and the two were not matched up.”

At this point Beverly discovered Computing at School (CAS), a grass root organisation supporting teachers in computing, which along with other organisations was championing a change to a new computing curriculum. Beverly decided to get involved. She adds: “I could see that it’s beneficial for the students, it’s beneficial for the teachers, and just for the economy.  I could see where we were heading.” Beverly set up the an after-school Computing at School community in Sunbury that met once per term. In turn, Beverly was asked by CAS to record a video for the DfE, talking about the computing curriculum, how beneficial CAS communities were for teachers, and the impact they would have on students, from teachers attending those meetings.

In 2014, the Department for Education changed the ICT curriculum and introduced computing, which incorporated computer science and computational thinking. The changes applied from primary through to secondary – Key stage 1 to 5.

Beverly explains the difference between ICT and computing and computer science; “ICT, information and communication technology, is mainly Microsoft Office products, digital literacy and e-safety generally. Then you have got computer science; your programming and your computational thinking.I think of it as three slices of pie  (a circle) with the umbrella heading of computing.  So, we’ve got, ICT, digital literacy, and computer science.  One of the main things that has changed is programming which sits within computer science, plus the introduction of computational thinking, things like algorithms, abstraction, decomposition, although those skills are used in every subject across the board. Prior to 2014, it was just ICT, so these other areas weren’t taught.”

 With the changes coming in, Beverly undertook the CAS Master Teacher Training programme which she explains ‘gave you the backbone of what you would need to teach the new computer science curriculum’ which was introduced in 2014. It also meant that her school could apply for CAS Lead School status, which at that time meant that it was a school who was taking an active interest in computing. Beverly adds: “I really enjoyed that.  I had already pulled together the local teachers who came once a term, voluntarily again, to discuss computing, to learn more about computing.  I started networking with other CAS Master Teachers because computing is a big field.”

With the transition to the new computing curriculum CAS developed the Network of Excellence (NoE), with funding from the Department of Education, to help teachers develop the skills they needed to teach it. The NoE brought together universities, Master Teachers and educators to give training courses to help upskill teachers up until 2016.

In 2018 the National Centre for Computing Education, the NCCE, was launched with an investment of £84 million into the  programme aimed at upskilling teachers. NCCE is a consortium of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, BCS, the Chartered Institute of IT, of which, CAS is a part of, and STEM Learning.

Having made a move to Wiltshire, Beverly continued her connection with CAS and started working as the CAS South West Outreach Support. In 2019, Beverly became the National Community Manager for the CAS communities She says: “CAS, the DfE who fund it, the NCCE, recognise that teacher networking is an integral part of professional development.  So, that’s why we as CAS recognise how important it is that teachers network and deepen their professional practice.”

Beverly has a team of outreach managers who cover the regions in England and who invigorate the CAS communities in their areas and support their volunteer community. Beverly manages the team but also spends time finding contacts and spreading the work about CAS and how it fits in with the NCCE journey to teacher training in computing.  She adds: “We are basically the subject association for computing and computer science.  I think that might be the best way of summing it all up.”

Beverly has also written a book entitled: Computer Science Teacher: Insight into the Computing Classroom, published by BCS.

Beverly says there are two main challenges facing the teaching of computing, she explains: “The first challenge is ensuring we have enough staff to deliver; enough people interested in teaching computing and understanding the education sector.  We also need to upskill those who are currently in the profession with the right skills.  I think those are the major issues at the moment.” She adds: “We are also a fast-changing subject, so it’s finding ways of ensuring that we stay up to date with those skills.  In my opinion, we have a few misalignments between examination papers/specifications because industry’s moving much faster, and we’re always playing catchup with teachers.”

On the subject of what makes a good teacher, Beverly says: “I’d say a good teacher, first and foremost needs to be professional and organised.  Be able to disseminate information to students of all abilities and colleagues of all abilities.  To look beyond the classroom, be able to relate to what’s going on in industry and make things relatable. That’s one of our big challenges, is to make what’s going on out there relatable to students.  Frequently our subject is considered, and I’ll put this in quotations, ‘dry’, lacking any excitement.  It’s because it’s not made relatable.”

Beverly does not believe it’s necessary for teachers to have a specific IT or computer science subject qualification in order to teach. She explains: “The training available from the National Centre for Computing Education, it’s upskilling and also bringing new entrants into the profession, so, anyone with an interest, a vague interest, is welcome to our subject. Everyone is going to bring different attributes, and if we can see computing as a facilitating subject and take things with a cross-curricular angle, I think that will benefit the subject so it isn’t just, oh you are programming, you are good at teaching IT. I think that would be the worst idea we could possibly have. I think, teaching needs a rounded person.”

 She points to her own career and experience of providing cross curricular IT, adding: “One of the roles I had at Sunbury, along my journey, was cross-curricular IT coordinator. It involved looking at all the subjects and identifying where computing language was used.  It was an eye-opener for me, because I didn’t realise that things like Logic Gates were also taught in physics and design and technology, and physics teachers wouldn’t have realised that that was taking place in computing. It’s having that awareness. …  Then the students are getting a 360 approach to teaching, as opposed to compartmentalising every single subject area.”

 However, she says that teachers do need an understanding of industry. She adds: “It doesn’t mean you need to have been in industry before going into teaching, but what I think is important is to have opportunities while teaching to perhaps interact with industry, perhaps even go on a two-week placement in industry, or to get people from industry to come in and speak to the students and the teachers about what’s taking place.”

 Part of her role is to engage industry with the education process and encourage, support and foster greater understanding so that teachers and students have access and can relate their studies to the real world and the potential opportunities open to them

Beverly says that her two daughters are her proudest achievement in life. In her career, she is most proud of having written her book, publishing  an artificial intelligence curriculum for America (K12), being on the Bett Advisory Board and being a spokesperson for computing education. She adds: “What I’ve come to realise now as I meet people, and it has happened on more than one occasion, they’ve come up to me and said, ‘I read your book,’ or, ‘I heard you speak, and that made a difference to me.  I just wanted to tell you that.’  They wanted nothing else from me but to say that. Up until this year I honestly didn’t realise that I had actually ever affected anyone in that way and I’m still reflecting on that. It’s nice.  So, if you get a platform to inspire others, to enthuse them, and to make a difference, take it and do well with it.”

Beverly is also proud to have been invited to speak to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence at the House of Lords, making the case for Artificial Intelligence to be taught in schools and asking for funding to make that a reality.

The link to the article is here – https://www.appg-ai.org/evidence/evidence-submissions/evidence-meeting-2-beverly-clarke-written-evidence/

For those looking to have a career in IT, Beverly advises: “Getting the right qualifications is important, along with networking.  Keep up to date with what’s going on.  Take advantage of opportunities.  Don’t sort of get stuck in one thing and be open to emerging opportunities.”

Interviewed By: Ian Symonds at the BCS London Office on the 15th January 2020

Transcribed By: Susan Hutton

Abstracted By: Lynda Feeley