Staff working in education are all too familiar with the single-day professional development offered to “transform” practice. As we know from experience and research, such events do not lead to sustained change for staff or a positive or lasting impact on pupil outcomes.
It’s only once these events become just one part of a coherent, sustained programme of connected professional development activities designed to support staff with refining and embedding new practices that they become more effective and achieve their promise.
This module guides you to recognise the importance of moving beyond one-off CPD and helps you to design a continuous rhythm of professional development that builds knowledge and results in changes to practice. Throughout the module, you will also reflect on how what you’ve learned applies to your setting and identify actionable next steps to continue your learning.
Any school leader with a responsibility for planning CPD can benefit from this module, whether you are looking to adapt and improve an existing programme of CPD, or build an entirely new one.
Do any of the following feel familiar? If so, this module is for you.
This Online Learning Module features:
In the UK, The Teacher Development Standards state that “Professional development programmes should be sustained over time”. This is informed by studies consistently finding that giving teachers the opportunity to apply and refine their learning, as well as engage in further support, has a larger impact on their practice than one-off professional development sessions.
By planning a consistent, holistic cycle of CPD within your school, you can respond to the needs of pupils and staff as well as whole-school goals, reinforce new learning, and sustainably embed new approaches over time.
The whole module is designed to take around 90 minutes to complete, although this will depend on how long you choose to take on the interactive and downloadable elements.
This timing is designed to fit into your PPA time. However, there is the functionality to save your progress at any time and return later, if you would rather complete the module at a different pace which suits you.
Towards the end of the module, you will be encouraged to reflect and plan your next actions to develop your practice in this area.
When you finish “Using Research in Professional Development”, you will be able to download your certificate of completion. You can also find this saved in your CPD Leadership Hub Profile. You will additionally be directed to more useful resources to continue to grow your understanding
All Online Learning modules are intended for individual rather than cross-school or trust use. Any certificates of completion will be in the name of the Hub account holder.
The Teacher Development Trust’s insights on what makes great CPD are informed through our close work with education research, as well as our experience of working with over 500 schools on building stronger professional development programmes through the 7 Domains of People-Powered School Improvement
Each module is also shaped by the influential practice of school leaders working in education today, as seen in our case studies.