ACTS Newsletter 09 February 2011

ACTS Newsletter February 2011

Welcome

Scottish Chartered Teachers as Researchers

Modern Languages and Curriculum for Excellence

An International Education for pupils with Additional Support Needs

Writing a report for a College of Teachers diploma

Gift Aid

Contact ACTS

Welcome to the February 2011 edition of the ACTS Newsletter

As we approach our second AGM, we can look back on the last year with a

mixture of sadness but also immense pride. The sudden loss of Annie

McSeveney and her vision and intellect could have seen ACTS flounder, but

part of Annie’s character was habitually to empower those around her. So

through the support of members of ACTS, the committee have been able to find

ways to take forward the aims and principles of ACTS: the ACTS Conference

and the successful launch of the Teachers as Researchers series are visible

signs of this.

And members of ACTS are well-placed to demonstrate to those who have the

responsibility for providing the best possible opportunities for our young people

why maintaining access to Chartered Teacher is one “best value” strategy they

must retain.

ACTS is a Registered Scottish Charity - Number SCO41390

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Scottish Chartered Teachers as Researchers

Tony Luby is a Chartered Teacher based at St Joseph’s Primary, Aberdeen

This article originally appeared in Education Today vol.4 issue 4 December 2010 and is

reproduced with kind permission of the journal and author.

Introduction

The first trickle of chartered teachers appeared on the educational scene in Scotland in 2005

and recently, February 2010, a significant milestone was achieved with the award of

chartered teacher status to the 1,000th recipient. To date, though, the impact of chartered

teachers has been mixed with, on the one hand, policy makers seeking opportunities to

praise but, on the other hand, practitioners questioning the value of such awards. Admittedly,

finance has a large role to play in this lukewarm reception. A substantial amount of Scottish

Government money has been invested in this innovation with chartered teachers receiving a

£7000 pa pay rise compared with their colleagues at the top of the pay scale. Perhaps,

inevitably, this has led to policy makers being reluctant to view this investment unfavourably.

Anecdotally, many experienced and successful teachers have been either unable or unwilling

to invest the £6-7,000 that is required to complete the various Master's programmes leading

to the award of chartered teacher status; and this may have provoked a somewhat jaundiced

view of the whole initiative.


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Nonetheless, the honeymoon period is now over as chartered teachers are sufficient in

number to make a recognisable impact on Scottish education. But what kind of impact should

this be? I should like to focus on two particular areas - collegiality and research. With regard

to collegiality the Standard for Chartered Teacher (1.4) indicates that a chartered teacher

should be “…committed to influencing the development of teaching and learning, and to

strengthening partnerships with other professional groups, parents and other agencies, as a

member of wider professional community” (The Scottish Government, 2009, p3). And with

respect to research the Standard for Chartered Teacher (4.1.2) intimates that a chartered

teacher should “critically evaluate educational policy and research publications in relation to

the current debates in the educational and wider community; and engage with others in the

critical discussion of educational policy and practice” (The Scottish Government, 2009, p7).

This focus on ‘strengthening partnerships’ and ‘engaging with others’ suggests that chartered

teachers should undertake educational activities that are transformative both for themselves

and for others. What does this mean for chartered teachers with regard to research?

The majority of newly appointed chartered teachers have undertaken small-scale research

projects as part of their Master’s degree studies. This research has had a transformative

effect upon them in that it has contributed to their acquisition of a new status within the

teaching profession and, hopefully, the knowledge gleaned has been of benefit to the

participants within their research projects. However, what about the ‘wider professional

community’? To what extent have they benefited? Unfortunately, “hardly at all” is the

conclusion to be drawn from the most recent meeting (May 2010) of the Committee of the

Association of Chartered Teachers Scotland (ACTS). At this meeting a senior manager from

one of the Scottish universities pointed out that the dissertations and reports produced by

chartered teachers remain in a locked cupboard and are not even available within the

university library. Further discussion revealed that this experience is not unique although the

most common practice appears to be that the dissertations are placed in the reference

section of the university library. Clearly, this does not constitute ‘engaging with others’ or

‘strengthening partnerships.’

To remedy this, I believe that chartered teachers have to move away from an understanding

of research-as-knowledge to that of research-as-transformation.


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Research-as-Knowledge

Generally speaking, research is defined as a systematic approach to furthering knowledge

e.g. Gliner & Morgan (2000, p4) posit “What is research? Many definitions have been given,

including a systematic method of gaining new information…” A similar view is proposed by

others including Verma & Mallick (1999) although, significantly, they concede that “there is no

universally accepted meaning of research” (p2). And this is a significant concession.

Arguably, chartered teachers tend to assume that research is an activity that concludes with

the production of new knowledge – a dissertation, thesis or report. And then it is over. If the

work remains on a library shelf – fine – is that not where it is meant to be? Well, yes and no.

“Yes,” in that it should be on a university library shelf as an indication of its quality and the

willingness of the university to make it available to others. But “no” in that the production of a

research report is only the beginning of a process and not the end.

A similar view is adopted by Brew (2001, p20) who was concerned that “...academic research

(is) in a state of disarray.” Brew sought clarification from senior researchers in Australia who

had been undertaking research for a number of years and who are distinguished by their

achievement in attaining large research grants and/or their number of publications. In order to

attain an overall perspective these senior researchers were drawn from the disciplines of

‘science and technology,’ ‘social sciences’ and the ‘humanities.’ From her ‘useful’ study1 Brew

(2001) identifies four ‘variations’ in the way which such researchers think about the concept of

‘research’ i.e.

Trading variation in which ‘research is essentially a social phenomenon’ akin to “…a

village fair where research outputs (publications, research grants) and ideas are

commodities which are exchanged.” (p25)

Domino variation in which “…research is talked about as if it were a series of separate

tasks, events, activities, problems, experiments, ideas or questions, each of which is

viewed as distinct.” (p24)

1 See Burnheim (2003, p309) who believes that “Brew’s typology of narratives… is a useful way of understanding different approaches to research.”


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Layer variation in which “reality is presented as a surface and the researcher is

investigating or uncovering the phenomena, descriptions, explanations or meaning

lying beneath that surface.” (p25)

Journey variation in which “research is interpreted as a personal journey of discovery,

possibly leading to transformation.” (p25)

Clearly, then, research is a complex phenomenon that can be understood in a variety of

ways: and two of these have particular relevance for chartered teachers. First of all, with the

‘trading variation’ researchers are socialised within a community of enquiry (Lave and

Wenger, 1991) as they build up a portfolio of contacts, conference presentations, grant

applications, publications etc. For chartered teachers, then, there should be a growing

expectation that they will write articles for learned journals and both attend and present at

conferences. The research proffered for the award of chartered teacher status should mark

the entry of a chartered teacher into a community of enquiry comprising not only fellow

chartered teachers but also academics, policy makers and others from the wider educational

community. One can see this already taking place for some of the ACTS Committee

members – as evidenced by the successful ACTS 2010 winter conference – but it is not so

readily apparent for the large number of chartered teachers who, at present, are outwith the

Association of Chartered Teachers Scotland.

Secondly, Brew’s concept of ‘journey variation’ leads to a consideration of research-as-

transformation.

Research-as-Transformation

Brew’s typification of research as ‘a personal journey of discovery possibly leading to

transformation’ sums up the anecdotal comments of many chartered teachers upon

completion of their award (Luby, 2004). Often they speak of gaining fresh insights and new

understandings and of having a new appreciation of the worth of their teaching post. But does

this continue once they have been in post for a few years as a chartered teacher? The early

signs are not promising with anecdotal evidence backed up by the more authoritative


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evidence of Ingvarson (2008) with respect to the Australian ‘accomplished teachers’ initiative

that “…it often turns out to be a dead-end or a sideline.”

Continuing with research in a collegiate fashion offers chartered teachers a means to avoid

such a dead-end and to participate in an ongoing process of transformation. Literature about

such a transformation abounds within the field of education research. Nisbet (2005) outlines a

tripartite overview of education research over the last century that demonstrates the

beginnings of education research as primarily psychological experiments and enquiries.

These ‘academic theorists’ of the early C20th were superseded in the mid C20th by ‘expert

consultants’ who received funding for research that was commissioned to bring educational

policy and practice closer together. Then in the latter half of the C20th the ‘reflective

practitioner’ and ‘teacher-researcher’ appeared on the educational scene as research came

to be recognised as a fundamental element for educational practice. Using another typology

Verma & Mallick (1999) identify these three stages as ‘pure / basic research,’ ‘applied / field

research’ and ‘action research’ respectively. Whereas, Gage (2007, p155) affirms this

threefold typology but labels them as antinaturalism,’ ‘interpritivism’ and ‘critical theory’.2

Drawing upon the above and also Carr (1986) one can construct a three-fold model of types

of education research (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1

Model of education research

Type >>> Scientific Interpretative Action

The form of knowledge of education Empirical Interpretative Critical

The nature of education Instrumental Practical Reflective

The function of research Technical Communicative Emancipatory

2 See also Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000, p3) who speak of the ‘three significant lenses of scientific/positivist methodologies, naturalistic and interpretive methodologies, and methodologies from critical theory.’


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Thus, according to Carr, Gage and Nisbet, among others, education research has developed

such that it now encompasses three different but valid approaches. Firstly, a scientific type of

education research that is founded on an empirical form of knowledge i.e. knowledge of

education is furthered through the scientific method of drawing a general principle from a

number of observed facts which are then checked by experiment. With such a type the nature

of education is instrumental i.e. bringing about desirable educational outcomes such as

pupils' acquisition of knowledge and skills. And this means that research has a technical

function - to inform educational practitioners of such principles. This is the type of education

research with which the majority of chartered teachers are most familiar. As required by

national guidelines their Master's degree studies conclude with a work based project3 that

requires identification of a school or an institutional problem. However, when solutions have

been identified and the reports subsequently written up then there is a tendency to think that

the research is completed. The other two types of education research, though, do not offer

such a neat ending.

The second interpretative type of education research is based on an interpretative form of

knowledge i.e. knowledge of education is improved through a concern with explaining the

meaning of educational practice and uses both objective and subjective evidence. With such

a type the nature of education is communicative i.e. the exchange of information, ideas and

feelings. And this means that research has a practical function: the consideration of such

explanations as a basis for deliberations about what ought to be done in education. This is a

more fluid type of education research in which it is necessary to engage with the ideas and

feelings of others: and ideas and feelings are prone to change. But such a type of education

research sits well with the requirement of the Standard for Chartered Teacher (1.4) that

chartered teachers are active members of a wider professional community and are seeking to

strengthen partnerships.

The third action type of education research is based on a critical form of knowledge of

education i.e. knowledge of education is furthered through critical self-reflection and the

acquisition of self-knowledge. With such a type the nature of education is reflective i.e.

concerned with reflecting upon factors that may distort one's assumptions, beliefs and

understandings. And this means that research has an emancipatory function: to promote and

3 e.g. see http://www.education.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught-degrees/MTeach/pdf/CT-Final-Project.pdf & http://www.abdn.ac.uk/education/ctp/about/courses/


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assist such critical self-reflection in order to free one from irrational beliefs and practices and

so enhance the development of self-knowledge. This sounds fine in theory and correlates

with the requirement of the Standard for Chartered Teacher (4.1.2) that chartered teachers

participate in critical discussion of educational policy. But, in practice, when chartered

teachers adopt such a critical stance they can find themselves accused of being disputatious

and discover that their views are ill-received (Luby 2010).

Paradoxically, though, this criticism offers an illuminating insight. To participate in such critical

debate a chartered teacher requires a wealth of experience in both teaching and research.

There needs to be a process of growth and transformation in which the chartered teacher

gains experience of each type on the continuum of education research (Gage 2007):

scientific, interpretative and action. Ultimately, the chartered teacher-as-researcher will

exemplify Pring's concept of education as

“...learning which in some way transforms how people see and value things, how

they understand and make sense of experience, how they can identify and solve key

problems... People become, in an important sense, different persons” (2000, p14).

Conclusion

Some policy makers are blocking out the siren voices bewailing the lack of impact on the

Scottish educational scene by the chartered teacher initiative. However, there is mounting

anecdotal evidence that some chartered teachers are not fulfilling their potential. At this

crucial point in its development the fledgling chartered teacher initiative should draw upon the

rich literature of education research to develop a new momentum.

Chartered teachers are familiar with the scientific type of education research: but this

research-as-knowledge has produced many work based projects and dissertations that are

gathering dust on library shelves and in locked cupboards. It is time to embrace research-as-

transformation. Firstly, an interpretative type of education research, with its emphasis on

collegiality, that will better enable chartered teachers to engage with the wider professional

community. And then, secondly, an action type of education research, with its emphasis on

criticality, in which chartered teachers develop the confidence to critique matters of

educational policy and practice.


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Such a transformation is not an easy process but the alternative is stagnation

REFERENCES

Brew, A. (2001). The Nature of Research: Inquiry in Academic Contexts. London: Routledge /

Falmer.

Burnheim, C. (2003). The Nature of Research: Inquiry in Academic Contexts, book review.

Australian Journal of Education 47(3) 309, 2003.

Carr, W. (1986). Theories of Theory and Practice. Journal of Philosophy of Education 20 (2)

177-186, 1986.

Cohen, L, Manion, L, and Morrison, K. (2000). Research Methods in Education, 5th edition,

London: Routledge / Falmer.

Gage, N. (2007). The paradigm wars and their aftermath,’ Chapter 11 of M Hammersley (Ed)

Educational Research and Evidence-based Practice, Milton Keynes: The Open University,

2007 (originally published in Educational Researcher, 18 4-10, 1989).

Gliner, J A, and Morgan, G A. (2000). Research Methods in Applied Settings: An Integrated

Approach to Design and Analysis. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ingvarson, L. (2008). A clearer route with the Chartered Teacher scheme. Teaching Scotland

issue 28. Edinburgh: General Teaching Council Scotland.

Lave, J, and Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Luby, A. (2004). Fashioning a union of vision. The Times Educational Supplement Scotland,

09 January 2004.


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Luby, A. (2010). Chartered teachers meet their match. The Times Educational Supplement

Scotland, 26 February 2010.

Nisbet, J. (2005). What is educational research? Changing perspectives through the 20th

century. Research Papers in Education 20(1) 25-44, 2005.

Pring, R. (2000). Philosophy of Educational Research. London: Continuum.

The Scottish Government. (2009). Standard for Chartered Teacher. Edinburgh: HMSO.

Verma, G K, and Mallick, K. (1999). Researching Education: Perspectives and Techniques.

London: Falmer Press.


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Modern Languages and Curriculum for Excellence

Interview with Isle Lombard, Crieff High School, by Jeanette Forbes, English

Teacher at Crieff High School.

Plans. Procedures. Protocol. Typical requests you might find on a teacher’s wish-list of

What would make it easier to implement CfE. Reasonable requests, surely. Teachers

want to be seen as professional practitioners with the independence of mind to make their

own judgements on what is best for their own learners. At the same time, we need

guidance and direction to give us the confidence of our convictions. In her recent article

‘Moving Towards a Curriculum for Excellence in Modern Languages’, Ilse Lombard

cautions against an overly prescriptive framework for learning and teaching and highlights

the need for reflection and trust.

Ilse Lombard teaches German at Crieff High School. She holds the post of Teacher of

Support in the Guidance Department and also teaches Personal and Social Education.

Ilse is originally from South Africa and has been living in Britain for nearly 13 years now -

most of which, in Scotland. She started teaching in South Africa in 1979 and her subjects

included English, first and second language, Afrikaans, first and second language and

German. In 1994 she joined the National Ministry of Education as a curriculum advisor, a

post which she held until she and her husband left the country. She completed an M.Ed

in Curriculum Design and Development at the University of South Africa in 1998.

Ilse is currently completing the third module of the Chartered Teacher course at the

University of Dundee and has enjoyed the challenge of enhancing her teaching as a direct

result of her study. I asked Ilse some questions on the practicality of CfE. In particular,

does she think CfE has the balance right between the need for professional autonomy and

accountability?


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Q Ilse, in your recent article Moving Towards a Curriculum for Excellence in Modern

Languages you stress the importance of reflection – a practice endorsed by much

contemporary pedagogy. Can you suggest practical and constructive ways of building

reflection into the learning/teaching process?

A I think that teachers with a professional approach to their work will automatically reflect

on their practice and change or enhance areas which they feel did not deliver the desired

outcomes. Experience tells us that one cannot be prescriptive about this as teachers will

see any formalising of the process as a workload issue and the danger will be that it

becomes just another tick box exercise. In my experience, most teachers reflect on the

work they have done in a given series of lessons and implement improvements where

necessary.

Q Your article highlights the fact that ‘the implementation of CfE will rely heavily on trust in

the ability of the practitioner to provide experiences for learners to achieve the outcomes.’

Can you explain the nature of this trust? Do you have trust in Scottish teachers that they

will be able to deliver? Any reservations?

Teachers will have to be trusted to create the experiences which will support learners to

achieve the outcomes. This relies upon teachers knowing their subject and having the

ability to make that knowledge accessible to learners with differing abilities. Teachers

need to focus throughout on the outcomes that need to be achieved. Schools will have to

be well resourced and facilitated with well stocked libraries and access to the internet and

Glow where teachers can go to find support and ideas for their subject area. The danger

as I see it will be that a minority of teachers might not wholeheartedly buy into this new

approach, mostly because they lack the confidence to do so and fear change. I believe

that this is where managers and other colleagues will have to be supportive and help their

colleagues along.

Q You stress the importance of engendering a collaborative ethos. Given staff cutbacks

and time restrictions of the typical working week, do you see this as an achievable

objective?


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Engendering a collaborative ethos will not be an easy undertaking. There are a variety of

reasons why this is difficult to achieve. In secondary schools in particular, teachers can

feel protective of their subject and want to take control over the content. Some may not

take kindly to teachers from other departments providing inputs which might overlap with

their own. Collaborative working is time consuming, particularly in the planning phase. In

my experience, the basic premise for making this work is to start small, keep it simple, and

expand over time. In our department, for example, we have had the Art teacher present a

lesson on German artists and their work as a basis for working with German adjectives

which are then used to describe the paintings. This is very simple and can be elaborated

upon over time.

Q You refer to the fact that the new CfE expects all teachers to take responsibility for

promoting and developing language and literacy. In a system where literacy is to be the

responsibility of individual departments are you confident moderation will be implemented

efficiently and effectively?

A The question that arises is how to create a practical methodology that will allow

teachers across the school to moderate to a specified standard and, at the same time,

one which is flexible enough to allow for subject specificity. We need to get the balance

right.

Q Your involvement with The Finland Initiative has helped provide children and young

people with a means of communicating directly with people from different cultures. Might

the price of developing global citizens be a shift in focus away from local or national

culture?

The emphasis in developing global citizens is on first and foremost valuing one’s own

culture as a basis for valuing that of others. I believe that if you value your own culture,

you will be more likely to respect those of other cultures. Global citizens are not people

who have turned their backs on their own culture, but rather people who understand and

value their own culture as well as that of others.

Isle’s article can be read in the Scottish Languages Review, Issue 22, Autumn 2010, 7-16


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An International Education for pupils with Additional Support Needs:

An E-Twinning Approach

John Barbour is a Chartered Teacher and Maths and Learning Support Teacher within

Renfrewshire Council

The development of young people as global citizens, able to play a full and active part in an

increasingly interconnected world is a fundamental aspect of Scottish education and Global

Citizenship is identified as a key “theme across learning” within A Curriculum for Excellence.

Schools across Scotland are charged with fostering responsible citizenship skills within our

pupils, at a local and global level, and with giving them an understanding of ‘the world and

Scotland’s place in it’, as described within the new curriculum.

While the most able pupils in our schools will enthusiastically involve themselves in the

variety of global citizenship activities on offer, it is important that all pupils, including those

with additional support needs, such as dyslexia, are given such opportunities. The

development of suitable approaches to global citizenship education for pupils with a variety of

learning barriers was the focus of a recent research project I undertook with a small group of

S4 pupils.

The project centred around a partnership with a school in Spain, using the British council run

etwinning website (etwinning.net) with each pupil corresponding with a partner in Spain,

comparing and contrasting their lives and learning about Spanish traditions and customs

while researching and informing their Spanish partners about aspects of Scottish culture such

as the life of Burns and typical Scottish foods. Their learning went further however and the

pupils demonstrated an awareness of the pitfalls of cultural stereotyping and the portrayal of

Scotland as, in the words of one, “all kilts and shortbread”, and were keen to give their

partners an accurate picture of modern Scotland and its youth culture.


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The partnership project proved to be a successful means of developing international

awareness amongst the pupil group. The fact that the pupils were communicating with a peer

from another culture was in itself the single biggest motivator for my pupils. On the days

when emails from their partners appeared in the inboxes you could hear the proverbial pin

drop as they read their emails, and immediately set to writing their responses, requesting

support as required. Similarily,when cultural information about Spain was uploaded by the

Spanish partners to the etwinning website for their perusal, it was read with interest and

without prompting, they set to researching and producing information about Scotland for their

partner.

The ICT based nature of etwinning is a major advantage for pupils with ASN, in particular for

dyslexic pupils who are able to draft and re-draft their exchanges, access spellcheckers and

obtain language support from the class teacher prior to sending their emails with confidence.

The supported use of ICT has been established in previous research as one key to unlocking

potential in young people with a variety of ASN, in particular dyslexia, and my own findings

were a confirmation of that.

Further approaches and support structures were also important such as structured templates

outlining possible aspects of their personal lives and cultural topics for discussion and

exchanging of information. Pupils were involved in regular cooperative learning tasks, which

allowed them to deepen their understanding of the information gathered, and they worked

collaboratively on the majority of tasks, sharing ideas and discussing their learning with their

classmates, with teacher guidance.

Giving pupils choice within their exchanges is fundamental. While the structured templates

were provided as scaffolding, it was clear that pupils had very strong opinions about the sort

of information they wished to exchange with their Spanish peers, in particular with regard to

their personal lives. It is clear therefore that whilst the scaffolding is necessary as guidance,

pupils need to be given the flexibility to make important choices for themselves in such

partnership arrangements.

Finally then, a partnership project such as this one, when carefully set up and managed, can

be a highly successful means of developing international awareness amongst learners with

ASN. Such projects can be developed at all school stages, with pupils of all abilities, and can

be based on any topic, making it a truly interdisciplinary approach, a cornerstone of the new


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curriculum. It is vital however that adequate support is provided while at the same time letting

the young people make choices in order that they have ownership of what they are doing.

What is without doubt is that all pupils will be motivated by the opportunity to make a real live

connection with peers from a different culture, increasing their understanding of themselves

as young Scots, and of their place in the world, and forming friendships which can be

maintained into their future lives.

(Etwinning projects can be set up via the website etwinning.net)


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Writing a report for a College of Teachers diploma

Dr Leslie Robarts is

This article originally appeared in Education Today vol.4 issue 4 December 2010 and is

reproduced with kind permission of the journal and author.

Being a professional involves making choices that affect people’s lives. In the UK a

bachelor’s degree and an initial teaching certificate no longer grant a perpetual licence to

teach. Teachers have to keep up-to-date, and in doing so can take advantage of

opportunities unique to their profession to reflect on what they do.

When you strive to improve your teaching by choosing new ways of working you go on a

learning journey and as a result change who you are as a teacher. A learning journey is an

expedition into the inner world of being a teacher. It is a voyage of discovery. A well-written

report of that journey will gain a College of Teachers diploma.

What the diploma report must include

The main structure for your report should be:

what you perceived then, before beginning the journey;

and what you perceive now, after the journey.

Your report should take your reader from ‘this is what I perceived then’ to ‘this is what I

perceive now, after the journey’. It will explain ‘what I recognized, what I willed, and how I

acted’.

Do not write in a cold, transactional way. Examine your feelings, carefully, in the report.

Explain any problems that remain unresolved, or give an account of how you resolved


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everything. Show how you have dealt with fresh thinking. Reporting on your learning journey

involves explaining how you assessed needs and then harnessed and utilized emotions and

demands made on you, and how colleagues and pupils reacted during your journey.

Write about your hopes for pupils. Be honest about what you consider to be worthwhile risks,

showing your understanding of those risks. Keep your writing focused on you by using the

first person singular (“I”). “I” should help enliven your account.

At the beginning of the learning journey

Explore the reasons why you are taking your particular learning journey.

How did colleagues react to what you hoped to do and what you then did? Remember: an

important perspective in your report is how the learning journey impacted on colleagues, as

well as pupils.

Explain your freedom, or lack of it, to think and act. Did your colleagues and pupils place

constraints on your course of action?

During the learning journey

Interpret, don’t just describe. Interpretation of what has happened during your learning

journey, and its effects, gives authenticity to your report.

Avoid jargon and detailed description of processes, measurements and ratios. If measured

results are central to your success as a teacher, they need interpretation in terms of their

effect on you the teacher and also on pupils and on colleagues.

Within the College’s word-limits, enjoy writing about what you have done for your pupils.

Mention any moments among your pupils and colleagues of surprise and delight. Explain if

you felt, for example, charismatic or helpless, confused or quick minded, agonized or joyful.

Explain the reasons behind any negotiating you had to do.


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At the end of the learning journey

By the end of your journey something somehow will have changed, perhaps for the better.

Write what that ‘something’ was and what has changed in you the teacher? This kind of

analysis is what the College calls reflection.

Reflect on (think and write about) any intellectual insights you have gained. Perhaps you

have acquired fresh understanding of teaching and how you, your pupils and other teachers

respond to each other.

Reflection means seeing validity in matters that are simultaneously complex yet

interconnected and which may be transformative and revelatory. These kinds of insights,

essential for a College of Teachers higher-level diploma, affirm your vocation as a teacher.

Think about how your pupils and colleagues consider you as a teacher now that this stage of

your journey is over.

Judge the climate of acceptance or animosity before and after your chosen activity with

pupils. How has what you have done enriched your sense of being a teacher?

Do not make assertions that cannot be demonstrated. Writing “I now feel much more

confident” is unhelpful. To provide meaning explain how growing confidence has influenced

your teaching, pupils, colleagues, and institution.

Write truthfully about the quality of your teaching at the beginning, during, and at the end of

the journey. If you feel relieved that the project is over, explain your response. There is no

shame in not achieving everything you had hoped for.

When you have written your report, check that you have explained what needed your

attention, what you decided to do and how you acted. You must describe the thinking behind

the choices you made. At the end of the journey you should be wiser, and recording growth in

wisdom is what the learning journey report is all about.


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As a result of your learning journey you should have gained greater self-knowledge as a

teacher and as a person, so reflect on this in your report.

____________________________________________

Warning notes:

Colourful diagrams that show a 22 per cent rise in some measurable activity may

convey numerical information but, unless you explain, they will not inform readers what

this rise means to the individuals concerned, either to the measured or, above all, to

you the measurer.

You will not have been on a learning journey when you obtain findings that support

your original position. For example, if you chose as your learning focus improved

attainment in mathematics among 15-year old pupils, and to achieve this you

concentrate on algebra and then report that mathematical progress has been made,

there has been no personal learning journey. This is because the pupils, and not you,

went on the journey.


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Join ACTS

Join by completing the form below and returning it to:

ACTS, 6 Monar Court, Dalgety Bay, DUNFERMLINE, KY11 9XJ,

AND either:

Making a BACS payment to

Association of Chartered Teachers Scotland.

Sort Code 80-06-55. Account Number 06033226

Or: Sending a cheque to the address above

If you are a taxpayer, ticking the Gift Aid box will allow ACTS to claim back 28p for every £1.

MEMBERSHIP FORM

Name

Address

Email:

o I wish to become a member of the Association of Chartered Teachers Scotland.

o I am a full Chartered Teacher (£25)

o I am following the CT Programme, having completed at least Module 1 (£15)

o I am a Chartered Teacher no longer registered with the GTCS but continuing to follow the

Code of Conduct (£15)

o I have made /will make a BACS payment

o I have enclosed a cheque

o Please treat this payment as a Gift Aid donation and all future payments that I make from

the date of this declaration as Gift Aid donations.


22

giftaid it - Make your subscription go 28% further!

As an ACTS member, you will know how hard we

work to ensure that every penny we collect goes as

far as it can. Through Gift Aid and Transitional

Relief, you can help us make your subscription go

28% further and it won’t cost you a penny more!

How does it work?

So long as you are a UK taxpayer, Gift Aid enables you to boost the value of your

subscription by 28p for every £1 you pay (25p in Gift Aid and a further 3p in Transitional

Relief). So, for example, if you pay £20 to ACTS, we will be able to reclaim an extra £5.60

from HM Revenue & Customs. This is a significant amount, and the more members who

enable this, the more we can benefit. What is more, if you are a higher rate taxpayer, you are

entitled to claim tax relief on your donations, enabling you to reclaim as much as 25p from

every £1 donated to ACTS.

What do you need to do?

To donate through Gift Aid, all you need to do is complete a simple declaration (orally or in

writing) confirming that you are a taxpayer and that you are happy for us to claim tax relief on

your donation. Just one declaration can apply to all payments that you have made to us over

the past 6 years and to any forthcoming gifts you make, until you notify them otherwise. It is

that simple.

Contact the Treasurer, Christine MacGregor to find out more about Gift Aid.

View the ACTS website at

http://acts.edublogs.org/

Contact ACTS at

[email protected]

The views expressed in this newsletter are those of the contributors and do not represent ACTS, or any

other organisation.

Documents

ACTS Newsletter 09 February 2011