School-based training and development : implement innovative programmes that

harness your school’s existing expertise

Liz Francis

Director

Workforce Strategy, Standards and Qualifications

National Curriculum review

“We need a truly modern curriculum that provides schools and

teachers with a baseline, a benchmark that will be meaningful to

parents and the wider public but that does not fetter the ability of

heads and teachers to innovate and adapt.”

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(Michael Gove, 20/1/11, speaking at the launch of the National Curriculum

review at Twyford Church of England High School)

Prescription on teaching method?

“High performing systems do not tend to be prescriptive about

teaching method in general. They rely instead on their workforce

strategies to ensure that they have people with the right knowledge

and skills well trained and working with other skilled professionals

collaboratively. Prescription about teaching method appears to be

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an effective approach to securing basic minimum standards, but

ineffective as a strategy to encourage excellence.”

(DfE, November 2010, The Case for Change)

“The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers”*

“Nothing matters more than

having great teachers - and

great head teachers”

“Teachers and other education

professionals will be at the

front and centre of the White

Paper because everything else

we want to achieve flows

“At the heart of this

Government’s vision for

education is a determination

to give school leaders more

power and control” Raising teacher

quality, and greater

“The quality of an

individual teacher is the

“Our first Education White

Paper will lay out a

programme of reform that

will lead to a more

autonomous school system”

we want to achieve flows

naturally from the quality of the

workforce”

greater autonomy for schools

individual teacher is the

single most important

determinant in a child’s

educational progress”

“Wherever we look across

the globe, a crucial factor

which defines those

countries whose schools

are most successful is the

quality of those in the

teaching profession”

(*Barber/McKinsey, 2007)

Combination of factors

“A well-defined and enhanced National Curriculum is a necessary

but insufficient condition for ensuring that the performance of the

English system approaches that of the leading nations – policy

needs to be formulated in respect of other ‘control factors’ such as

teacher expertise, teaching quality, learning materials and

inspection. ”

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inspection. ”

(Oates, T. (2010) Could do better: Using international comparisons to refine the

National Curriculum in England, Cambridge Assessment)

White Paper extract – How teachers learn

“We know that teachers learn best from other

professionals and that an ‘open classroom’ culture is vital;

observing teaching and being observed, having the

opportunity to plan, prepare, reflect and teach with other

teachers.” (2.4)

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teachers.” (2.4)

Curriculum Development and Professional Development

“When teachers engage in curriculum development work in ways

that are properly planned, resourced and supported, the

development work they do can itself be an important and effective

form of CPD. By structuring curriculum development for learning

and/or by using curriculum development as a vehicle or site for

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and/or by using curriculum development as a vehicle or site for

CPD, school leaders create opportunities that do double duty thus

increasing efficiency and effectiveness.”

(QCA, (2008) Curriculum Evidence – CPD and Curriculum Development,

CUREE and University of Wolverhampton)

Sauce for the goose

“Effective learning for teachers, like effective learning for their

pupils, depends on deep understanding of the learning content and

goals brought to bear through planning and dynamic interactions

between learners and those who support them. In the context of

CPD this includes including other professional learners; we need a

pedagogy for CPD just as much as we need one for pupils.”

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pedagogy for CPD just as much as we need one for pupils.”

(Cordingley, P. (2008) Sauce for the Goose –

learning entitlements that work for teachers as well as for their pupils. CUREE)

• “All the schools placed a very strong emphasis on the school as a workplace. Its business is learning and everyone is there to learn and help others to learn.”

Ofsted analysis of outstanding schools

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• “Time is ring-fenced for staff to work in teams: engaging in productive discussion about pedagogy, planning lessons … and being reflective … they undertake peer observations across departments so that good practice is widely shared and inter-disciplinary collaboration fostered…”

Excellence in English 2011, Ofsted

• Debate about the subject, and its value to pupils, informs staff understanding and provides support and consistency

• Staff constantly borrow ideas from other schools and experts in the field but have used these ideas to create their own, distinctive learning ethos in the school - Castle View Primary School

• Working in pairs, teachers plan together and visit each others lessons –• Working in pairs, teachers plan together and visit each others lessons –Crown Woods School

• The effective use of meetings to focus on aspects of pedagogy rather than administration – The Duston School

• Pupils are involved in the coaching process, with selected older pupils observing lessons and offering feedback alongside teachers and classroom assistants – Castle View Primary

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Successful Science 2011, Ofsted

• The schools focused strongly on improving the quality of teaching and learning, with staff within science departments planning together and sharing good practice

• Inspectors saw improvements in collaborative planning in both primary and secondary schools. Where this was in place, there was a greater coherence secondary schools. Where this was in place, there was a greater coherence in the curriculum and sharing good practice was often intrinsic to planning

• Subject leaders monitored and evaluated provision well through activities such as lesson observations

• Subject specific training had promoted a more coherent and broader understanding of issues affecting standards

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Curriculum innovation in schools 2008, Ofsted

Schools considering significant change to the curriculum should:

• …. provide high quality professional development and support,

matched closely to the requirements of the innovation and the

needs of staff

• …. they had also benefited greatly from the training provided

and from the opportunities to share ideas through local networks

and working groups. A number of staff referred to this as

“contagious professionalism” and felt that it had boosted their

morale, enthusiasm and teaching skills

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Training Schools

• “The leadership of teaching and learning is outstanding and firmly linked to the school's status as a Training School. This can be seen clearly in the career pathways developed for all staff in the school at all levels and in the excellent support given to teachers new to the profession.”

(Cheam High School, Sutton, Ofsted report, 2010)

• They have a commitment to engage at least 20% of their staff in classroom • They have a commitment to engage at least 20% of their staff in classroom based research and some conduct research into aspects of school activity

• A minimum of 30% of staff are trained in mentoring or coaching

• Engagement in ITT can have a positive impact on the professional learning of all staff

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The importance of time

• CPD on the timetable for all staff

• Early close for pupils (by increasing length of school day on other days)

• 3 period day model

• Timetable staff for regular peer observation

• Department / subject focus on whole school training days

• Creating timetabled opportunity for staff to work across schools locally on curriculum development and pedagogy

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Effective teaching

Dylan Williams explains the important elements as:

• Sharing learning intentions

• Engineering effective classroom discussions

• Formative feedback

• Developing learners as resources for each other

• Developing learners as owners of their own learning

• Dialogue should be thoughtful, reflective and focused to evoke and explore understanding and conducted so that all pupils have an opportunity to think and express their ideas

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Lesson objectives

Objectives need to be specific and clear

For example:

• Understand fractions / convert a decimal into a fraction

• Demonstrate, plan, make, recognise, clarify, use, sort, describe, • Demonstrate, plan, make, recognise, clarify, use, sort, describe,

draw, identify, discuss, explain

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• Expectations inform outcomes

• Think of something you’re good at - how did you become good

at this?

• Think of something that you don’t do well – what went wrong

when you tried to learn it?

The importance of expectations

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when you tried to learn it?

• Think of something you learnt successfully but didn’t want to

learn, what made you persevere?

• Effective policies include explicit, observable indicators

• Involve staff in agreeing the criteria

• The what - teachers should engage students and challenge

them to think

• The how – ask open questions, challenge students to

Lesson observation to support learning

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• The how – ask open questions, challenge students to

summarise key facts, encourage students to explain their

thinking

• Specific focus

• Effective feedback

• Good observation needs training

• Professional knowledge

• Professional skills

• Professional judgement

• Personal qualities

Coaching

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• Personal qualities

• Modelling through sharing planning and teaching

Using effective CPD models – Lesson Study

Lesson Study is a model for collaborative classroom professional

learning which embodies all the features of effective CPD; namely:

• high quality input

• focused on addressing real pupils’ learning needs

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• focused on addressing real pupils’ learning needs

• two or more teachers developing practice together

• collecting evidence of impact for identified pupils

• keeping a record of what they learn

• passing practice knowledge on to others

In School Variation

• The collection and use of data

• The role and effectiveness of middle leadership

• The quality of teaching and learning

• Listening and responding to student voice • Listening and responding to student voice

• Standardising procedures

http://www.tda.gov.uk/school-leader/school-improvement/isv.aspx

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Five characteristics of effective teachers

1. Being familiar with what lies behind the strategy or technique being adopted and how it applies to their context: not just adopting ready-made solutions

2. Undertaking professional enquiry and working collaboratively to deepen their own understanding: within their subject, across subjects; within the key stage and across key stages and phases

3. Having a strong sense of professional values and moral purpose

4. Reflecting upon experience and refining their approach, using a range of evidence including feedback from peers, external inputs and wider reading

5. Focusing on learning to enhance performance

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The most effective leaders

The leadership practices that had the most significant effect on

student outcomes were when leaders promoted and participated in

teacher learning and development

(Robinson et al, 2009, School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying what

works and why)

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works and why)

For the 4 phases of a lesson (overview, input, processing, review):

• Identify the differences between satisfactory and excellent

• Identify the key indicators of excellence

• Compare to the Ofsted subject grade descriptors

The difference between satisfactory and excellent

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• Compare to the Ofsted subject grade descriptors

Grade description for the quality of teaching and the use of assessment to support teaching - outstanding

• Pupils understand in detail how to improve their work and are

consistently supported in doing so

• Teachers systematically and effectively check pupils’

understanding throughout lessons, anticipating where they may

need to intervene and doing so with striking impact on the need to intervene and doing so with striking impact on the

quality of learning

• Excellent subject knowledge is applied consistently to challenge

and inspire pupils

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Subject descriptorsAchievement in Art, Craft and Design

Outstanding:

• Pupils use visual language skilfully and convincingly to express emotions, interpret observations, convey insights and accentuate their individuality

• They think and act like creative practitioners by using their knowledge and • They think and act like creative practitioners by using their knowledge and understanding to inform, inspire and interpret ideas, observations and feelings

• They participate actively in lessons and are committed to optional activities in and out of school

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Proposals for inspection arrangements from January 2012

• Greater priority to detailed observation of teaching and learning

• Achievement, quality of teaching, leadership and management,

behaviour and safety

• Good or outstanding teaching – strong subject knowledge, good • Good or outstanding teaching – strong subject knowledge, good

use of assessment, constructive dialogue, high expectations

• Effective leadership and management – focused staff training

and development, quality of professional development to

improve teaching and learning, focus on classroom practice and

the development of consistent good teaching and learning

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• Established from April 2012

• Support for teachers and instructors, early years, classroom based support staff, SENCOs, educational psychologists, examination officers

• The Professional Development Scholarship scheme will be launched in June 2011

A new Executive Agency

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• The National CPD Database (including professional development provided by schools for schools) https://cpdsearch.tda.gov.uk

• Teacher Development Hub http://bit.ly/tdhub