The Teacher Development Trust welcomes the new focus from the Department for Education on the importance of professional development for teachers. The Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, wrote to our Chief Executive last week and said:
“As you will be aware from your recent conversations with Ministers and officials, professional development for teachers is a central priority for my Department. We are actively considering how we can encourage all teachers to take part in more professional development opportunities which have proven to have a positive impact on teaching and learning. We are particularly keen to help teachers to make better use of educational research. Organisations such as yours will play a crucial role in ensuring schools have access to support they need to achieve this aim”
The press release from the DfE for the launch of the National College for Teaching and Leadership also noted:
“The merged Teaching Agency and National College will be known as the National College for Teaching and Leadership, Education Secretary Michael Gove announced today. The National College for Teaching and Leadership is a single agency focused on promoting high-quality teaching and school leadership. Its remit will also include continuous professional and leadership development and supporting school improvement.”
We welcome this renewed focus on the importance of CPD which improves teaching and learning and look forward to seeing policy and government resources applied to this challenging area. Given that so much CPD has been so poor, and had so little impact, improving practice and provision is a seriously difficult task but an important one. Our mission is to work with all education stakeholders to improve the learning in our schools by helping schools, training providers and government to design and implement evidence-based approaches to professional development. We look forward to working with the DfE and new National College for Teaching and Leadership to achieve this.
If Michael Gove is serious about offering more effective CPD for teachers on Teaching and Learning, he should consider re-introducing subject-specific consultants in Local Authorities to work alongside local schools, as they did when the Primary and Secondary National Strategies were in place. In addition, the wealth of high-quality training materials and resources which were produced under the auspices of the National Strategies should be re-published and circulated to schools, rather than being allowed to languish in the archive.
While the National Strategies programme was not perfect, it is recognised internationally as having a huge impact on professional development in Teaching and Learning and is the largest national strategy ever to have taken place in schools. Rather than spending scarce resources on another initiative, let us draw again on the National Strategies to provide the CPD and support that teachers need.
If Michael Gove wants to redeem himself he must consider what resources are already out there. Advanced Skills Teachers and consultants have been made redundant in many local authorities. I have been left disenchanted as my career path has now dried up. I took every opportunity offered to develop myself only to discover that I am now on the scrap heap! I was actively involved in CPD sessions throughout my authority working for the good of teachers and children alike. My colleagues and I were experts in our fields so why remove us ? Come on Mr Gove think again before our education system crumbles beyond recognition!
i fully agree about the National Strategy resources as, although archived suggesting they are available for use, they do not go beyond the first page. Googling produces some of them but a valuable resource to improve teaching and learning is largely wasted.
“Given that so much CPD has been so poor, and had so little impact” such absurdly trite, facile and incorrect, assertions do nothing for the credibility or professionalism of the Trust and are more in keeping with the ravings of the Daily Mail.
Hi Dan, you’re absolutely right it’s a very bold claim and you’re also right that such broad dismissals are often the province of the Daily Mail, so I do understand why you’ve made this comment – I do tend to rail against such things myself as well. In this particular case we’ve actually got some very good evidence for the claim though (see the link for more information). In fact, it was the shock of reading some of the statistics there that was one fo the reasons that I decided to take a break from teaching and set up this charity in the first place.
Of course, there’s a huge amount of very good CPD that goes on, and a significantly larger amount of extremely well-intentioned CPD that takes place, but ultimately we have to bear in mind that:
I hope I’ve said enough to convince you that I shouldn’t belong in the Daily Mail! That said, I’m interested in hearing any counterarguments, of course.
The most valuble and effective CPD I have gained is when I have been informally observed and fed back on my strengths and weaknesses. When I first started teaching in the 90’s this was from a maths consultant from the LEA. Returning to work a few years ago I had the luxury of teaching in a school in special measures. We had about three experts coming in to help us. One was brilliant and has made a huge difference to my teaching.
I agree with stevewaters17 above too.
Thanks for your support, Kim. You are right – the most effective way to improve teaching and learning is to be open to peer observation and feedback in a supportive environment. This is the kind of work that, as a consultant, I used to offer to teachers in my LA. although I still work in this way as a self-employed consultant, it is harder to build a level of trust with teachers when they don’t know me and when Headteachers are paying directly for my services and expect to see results quickly.
Sheila – I couldn’t agree more with your comment about your skills being devalued and wasted. I was made redundant too. If you would like some feedback on how I set up as a self-employed consultant, let me know. You might be able to avoid some of the mistakes I made!
I am really interested in the discussion as it parallels so much of what is happening in Victorian government schools. We had excellent professional learning modules based on local networks and network leaders working with schools, our coaching models in literacy and numeracy where making significant improvement in teaching and learning and student engagement and learning. We did have subject consultants but they have departed some time ago.
I work with my school team to develop a strategic plan to improve our teaching and learning – including teacher observation based teams of 3 colleagues working together – and then try to provide resources, professional learning and time to transform our teaching and learning plans. All this happens while the Education Minister makes broad statements about our schools, teachers, principals without actually providing any strategy for improvement.
I have 1 more week of term break and then back to school. Recall enjoy the forum etc
Improve teaching through compulsory MA in Education. Using university accredited courses this should be a mandatory part of CPD and teaching employment. In Germany it takes a min 5 years to train to this level and courses cost next to nothing.
In a symbiotic way learning at MA level should be experienced alongside teaching. Research projects link to current classroom practice set in realistic time and evidenced as progressed. All findings are linked through research and critiqued using contemporary educationalists – what could be more beneficial to improving standards and the professionalism of our teaching cohort in the UK.
I would love to begin my MA artist teacher scheme, but the funding has gone and I can’t afford the fees
There is an uncomfortable hierarchy when it comes to prioritising who gets CPD. So the bursary for Maths, Science, English, SEN excludes so many other subjects. The DFE has set it’s own priorities well before the needs of any teachers.