Creating an effective environment for professional development
It is important that colleagues have direction over their own CPD and feel that it is theirs to own, rather than something ‘done to them’. A developmental learning culture will support this. Yet, lots of choice and teacher input can result in an unfocussed, expensive and potentially incoherent CPD programme. This article, Teacher choice in whole-school CPD, explores this further.
It is also crucial that teachers’ knowledge and experiences are informing the direction of whole school CPD. Teachers have the largest amount of data and knowledge about what their pupils need, then middle leaders have some overview, and school leaders have headline data and knowledge. It is important that this teacher expertise is collected and collated to identify school needs and priorities. See this page for further details.
Blog, David Weston: Overcoming Barriers to Professional Learning – Top down decision making.
This blog explores how top down decision making processes can be a barrier to effective professional learning.