Newsletter 07 Summer 2010

ACTS Newsletter Summer 2010

ACTS is a Registered Scottish Charity - Number SCO41390

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N e w s l e t t e rWelcome

Finland – CPD models and practice

Co-operative learning in practice

ACTS Response to the Donaldson

Review of Teacher Education

Teachers as Researchers

ACTS online

Using a Credit Union to fund CT

SERA Brisard Memorial Prize

Upcoming events:

Edutalkr next broadcast

Conference 2011

ACTS @ Scottish Learning Festival 2010

Join ACTS

Gift Aid

Contact ACTS



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Welcome to the Summer 2010 edition of the ACTS Newsletter.

As the doors of our schools open once again at the beginning of a new session, and the

holidays fade too quickly to a distant memory, open the pages of the ACTS newsletter and be

inspired by experiences of Chartered Teachers acting on their commitment to professional

development. Read details of an important ACTS development, Teachers as Researchers,

open to probationer teachers as well as more experienced colleagues. Find out how ACTS is

using technology to communicate. And discover a pointer in these straitened times to a

source of funding for those on the route.

We hope this newsletter marks the beginning of a successful, effective, and confidence-

building year for all readers and their students.

Finland – CPD models and practice

Lucy Hare ([email protected]) is a Chartered Teacher at Livingston Village Primary

School and is an ACTS Committee member.

Lucy describes her recent visit to Helsinki where performance in PISA comparison studies is

very high.

Photo: http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Koulut/Peruskoulut/Torppk?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/torppk/fi/Etusivu

The context for the visit to Helsinki was to examine and reflect upon teacher continuing

professional development within the Finnish education system, explore the methodologies

which underpin the CPD model in Finland, and the role Universities and Trade Unions play in



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enhanced professional practice given Finland’s high levels of performance in PISA

international comparison studies.

Learning Experiences

Whilst in Finland I visited the Finnish National Board of Education and was familiarised with

the key characteristics of the Finnish education system in terms of national organisational

structures, the curriculum and undergraduate teacher education. At the University of Helsinki

we explored post-graduate CPD opportunities. A visit to the Viikki Teacher Training School

allowed opportunities to see how national policy is enacted within a school setting, through

discussion with the Principal and classroom observation. At the Ministry of Education we

explored in greater depth educational policy guidelines and implementation. At the

Opetusalan Ammattijärjestö (OAJ) teaching union headquarters I gained a greater

understanding of teacher’s conditions of service. A visit to Torpparinmaen Koulu School

allowed for comparison with the Vikkii Teacher Training School. A return visit to the Finnish

National Board of Education facilitated peer reflection on the Finnish Education system and

comparison with our experiences of teaching and learning in the Scottish system.

Comparison with Scottish education system and practices

As a relatively young republic of 90 years the Finns were able to forge a new path when

setting up the education system. Culturally and politically, there is a largely consensual view

of the direction educational policy should take, therefore, the education system has not been

subject to the ideological shifts which have characterised the Scottish system. Surprisingly,

given the high levels of performance in international education comparisons, there is less

investment in Finnish education as a percentage of GDP than in Scotland, with larger

classes and less hours spent in school.

In Finland only 10-12% of applicants to teacher training programmes are successful. Given

that all teachers must attain a Masters degree before entering the profession, the status of a

teacher is greater than that enjoyed in Scotland and there is a great deal of societal trust in

the abilities of teachers. As the Masters degree has a research component, newly qualified

teachers are more able to identify, explore and address teaching and learning issues. An

ethos of teachers as researchers permeates the education system and as such teachers

don’t look for instruction or teaching tips.



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The Finnish national curriculum and the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence are closely

aligned in that each school chooses its own methods and materials, though in Finland

individual teachers have more freedom to choose the methodologies they deploy.

Interestingly given this extensive local discretion, evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses

of different methodologies in terms of pupil achievement doesn’t influence the development of

education policy nationally.

A truly collegiate culture of improving teaching and learning was evident in discussions with

teachers, classroom observations with a focus on peer reflection rather than formal, recorded

quality assurance and the fact that there is no national inspection system. Small scale

sampling of pupil attainment is conducted by the Ministry of Education, the results of which

indicate very little regional difference in terms of pupil attainment and achievement. Formal

testing does not taking place until secondary school.

In terms of continuing professional development, studies by the OAJ teaching union indicate

that 70% of their members are dissatisfied with current CPD provision with many undertaking

CPD activities in their own time and at their own expense. There are 3 in-service days per

year, two of which focus on pedagogy and are organised by the local municipality. Currently

the Advisory Board for Professional Development of Education Personnel is undertaking a

review of initial teacher education and continuing professional development given that their

own studies indicated in 2007 that 32% of teachers had not participated in CPD that year,

evidence that there are large variations in the quality and scope of CPD provision between

municipalities and that initial and continuing education don’t support one another adequately.

The evidence I gathered during the visit points to the key drivers of strong performance of

Finland in international education comparisons being high quality initial teacher education,

teachers as researchers, and a trusting culture within schools in which quality self and peer

reflection takes place.

Dissemination

In terms of disseminating my learning experiences and reflections on the Finnish system it

has been agreed at my Staff Review and Development meeting that I will present my findings

next term to the whole staff team and explore and develop with my colleagues aspects of the

Finnish model which would enhance our collegiate practice and further improve pupil learning



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experiences within our setting. Planning for this presentation has been underpinned by

further professional reading and reflection on the Finnish education system. On returning

from Finland I immediately began to ‘tinker’ with my own classroom practice based on

classroom observations in Finland and had learning conversations with colleagues on the

impact of these changes.

I have shared my preliminary reflections on my experiences of the Finnish education system

with the Head Teacher of the school in which I teach and a Head Teacher within the authority

who was able to provide a comparison with the Norwegian education system through the

experiences of a member of her staff who undertook a recent visit to schools in Oslo.

Nationally I have taken part in an online Flashmeeting (web conference) with fellow

committee members of the Association of Chartered Teachers Scotland (ACTS) to devise a

group response to the Donaldson Review of Teacher Education and my contributions were

heavily influenced by my experiences of the Finnish education system. I will also share my

findings at the first Teachers as Researchers event organised by ACTS which will take place

in Aberdeen in September 2010.

Excellent BBC report on Finland’s education system, featuring one of the schools visited.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlYHWpRR4yc

References

Berthelemy, M (2009) Rebuilding teacher professionalism at

http://www.learningconversations.co.uk/main/index.php/2009/11/01/rebuilding-teacher-

professionalism?blog=5 (last accessed 19 July 2010)

European Commission Education and Training (2010) Teachers’ professional development: Europe in

international comparison at http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/doc1962_en.htm (last

accessed 19 July 2010)

Finnish National Board of Education (2010) For Learning and Competence. Helsinki. Ministry of

Education

Kupiainen, S., Hautamaki, J and Karjalainen, T. (2009) The Finnish Education System and PISA.

Helsinki. Helsinki University Print

OAJ (2010) Teacher Education in Finland. Helsinki. OAJ

OAJ (2010) The Trade Union of Education in Finland. Helsinki. OAJ



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OCED (2006) Programme for International Student Assessment at

http://www.pisa.gc.ca/what_pisa.shtml (last accessed 19 July 2010)

SRN LEADS/Stanford University: School Resign Network (2009) Leadership, Equality and

Accountability in Districts and Schools at http://www.srnleads.org/press/prs/nsdc_profdev.html (last

accessed 19 July 2010)

Stewart, G (2008) The Teacher Profession and Teacher Education in Finland at

www.transversal.org.uk/core/core_picker/download.asp?id=185 - Similar (last accessed 19 July 2010)



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Co-operative Learning in Practice

Gus Mackay is a Chartered Teacher of Physics at Dornoch Academy.

Following on from our interview with Chris Ward, Gus writes reflectively

on his experience of using co-operative learning in his S1 class.

You know the expression “The devil makes work for idle hands.”? Well

it’s true, it happened to me! In one of those (rare) moments of

comparative idleness I was browsing through Glow when I remembered that I had applied to

join the Chartered Teacher glow group. I thought I’d pay the site a visit and found my way to

Dorothy’s invitation to collaborate. Like the innocent butterfly of Chaos Theory I flapped my

wings and mentioned that I had been trying to get to grips with co-operative learning. A short

time later I was idle no more! Could you write a follow up article to the interview with Chris

Ward on how you find co-operative learning in practice?

I was fortunate enough to attend a CPD event run by Chris and Highland Council’s own

champion of co-operative learning Mark Jones. They certainly practice what they preach, the

whole event is run using co-operative learning strategies. You get the opportunity both to

experience it as a learner and to practise it.

I’ve had an interest in pupils working together for a long time. Indeed, my CT work based

project was on using computer supported collaborative learning to improve the written

descriptions and explanations given by pupils in physics. I’ve often had pupils working in

groups to conduct experiments, discuss ideas etc. So what changes group work into co-

operative learning? Five basic elements are required for co-operative learning; if any one of

them is missing then you don’t have co-operative learning you simply have kids working in a

group. They are:

positive interdependence

individual accountability

face-to-face interaction

social skills



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group processing.

I had come across some of these ideas before but there were two things that were especially

interesting to me in this model of co-operative learning. First was the equal emphasis given

to both the social and the academic development of the learner. Second was this concept of

“positive interdependence” and how to structure tasks to ensure this was the case. I’ll try to

show how I incorporated these ideas and explain what they mean.

The task

This was an extended (five 50 minute periods) investigation into wind turbines with an S1

class. I aimed to give the pupils an introduction to the scientific concepts of fair testing,

recording data (in the form of a table), analysing data (in the form of a scatter graph) forming

a conclusion and presenting a report (in the form of a poster).

I organised five mixed ability groups of three and four (no more than four in a group is the

guidance for co-operative learning) for the task. I asked them to imagine that they were a

team of consulting engineers and scientists competing for a contract from a major wind

turbine manufacturer to optimise the output from their turbines. The contract would be

awarded to the team that displayed the best investigation skills.

The first job was to develop a name and logo for the team, with a social task of listening to

others. Anyone in the team might be asked to explain the choice of name and logo. They

came up with R.D.V.J. Inc (initials of team members), Aeolius Design, T.T.M. (the turbine

machine), Windmillz Direct and Cyclone Engineers.

Teams were then issued with model wind turbines, fan, voltmeter, ammeter and leads. I

demonstrated how to connect up the turbine and we discussed fair testing – keeping the

turbine lined up and square on to the fan, etc.

We decided that everyone would do the same first investigation – the effect of wind speed on

output. We varied the wind speed by changing the distance from the fan to the turbine. I

explained the scoring system for the challenge 5 points for fair testing, 5 for table of results, 5

for graph, 5 for overall presentation, 2 for the conclusion and 3 bonus points to be awarded



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by teacher if good team work spotted. The winning team would be the one with the highest

score for any single investigation.

Pupils were assigned individual roles and responsibilities for the first investigation which were

then to be rotated in subsequent ones. Pupil 1 set up equipment and perform experiment,

pupil 2 ensure fair testing and write conclusion, pupil 3 table of results and pupil 4 construct

graph. For groups with only 3 then the jobs of 1 & 2 are combined.

The five elements of co-operative learning

Positive interdependence

This is where all members of the group perceive the need to work together to accomplish the

task. There are actually nine aspects to this! The more aspects you can build into the task

the better. It is considered the most important of the five elements, although you still must

have all five to have co-operative learning.

The group had to produce a single report on A3. Since each pupil was responsible for a part

of the report, the success of the group depends on all members (positive goal

interdependence). They were in competition with the other groups (positive outside force

interdependence) and had to work in the same place as each other (positive environmental

interdependence). They were assigned roles (positive role interdependence) which were

rotated. They had developed an identity (positive identity interdependence) and were

involved in a simulation (positive simulation interdependence). Since the jobs were also

completed one after the other we also had positive sequence interdependence!

Individual accountability

This occurs when each member of the team needs to demonstrate responsibility for learning.

In this task, the rotating roles ensured that each member experienced the responsibility for

scoring points for the team in each area. They were allowed to get help from the others

verbally but had to complete their task alone. Anyone in the team could be asked at any time

to explain what was going on and what everybody was doing their response might affect the

teamwork score!



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Face to face interaction

This is as the name suggests – group members are close enough to engage in dialogue to

contribute to progress in learning. They were able to make suggestions to each other and

peer-assess the product before calling me in to mark it.

My room has a traditional layout with benches in rows and a separate teacher’s desk as

shown in figure 1. This was modified as in figure 2 to encourage face to face interaction.

Social skills

The social tasks should be chosen to further the academic goals. We mainly used listening

attentively and taking turns gracefully.

Group processing

As the groups completed each investigation report at different times I had a good opportunity

to discuss their work with them. We talked about the good aspects and explored why it was

good and also what might be improved next time. This discussion was mainly about the

academic task; however, group processing is really about the group members assessing their

performance on the social skills.

How did we find it?

I think the first thing to point out is do not expect either you or them to be expert straight

away! I am very much at the beginning stages with co-operative learning. Indeed, I went

against the advice to start small. It takes time for these ideas to become ingrained with you

Figure 1Figure 2



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and the pupils. I think that the time spent building the team through the logo design and the

choice of name was time well spent. This was an aspect that I have never really paid

attention to in my past efforts at group work. As I said at the beginning, I found the advice on

how to structure the task for positive interdependence very helpful. They worked mostly on

task – certainly for the first few investigations. Then interest perhaps began to wane slightly

later.

It was certainly better than previous versions of this activity where you tended to get some

pupils hogging the equipment and doing all the experimenting without any real regard to fair

testing. Some pupils would copy results without thinking and not worry about the technical

aspects of drawing a scatter graph.

As usual, some groups gelled better than others – you need to emphasise the need to be

able to get along with everyone in order to complete the task. You will not modify behaviour

overnight or even over a couple of weeks. I don’t think I spent enough time on, or sufficiently

rewarded, social skills. Chris often used a phrase on the course that has stuck with me

“What gets measured gets paid attention to”. If you make a point of measuring social skills

then they will have increased status in the eyes of the pupils. I should have spent some more

time modelling the required social skills and discussing with them what we would expect to

hear and see in a group working well together. I should also have awarded more points for

team-working.

Overall I was much encouraged by this early step and I am convinced enough by the

methodology to continue to develop my expertise with it. I won’t use it all the time but I can

see it becoming a much more prominent feature of my practice. I would thoroughly

recommend the course, if you get the chance to experience it.

Further Reading:

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1994). Leading the cooperative school (2nd ed.).

Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company.

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Holubec, E. J. (1993). Cooperation in the

classroom (6th ed.). Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company.

The Cooperative School http://www.co-operation.org/pages/cs.html



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ACTS responses to the Donaldson Review of Teacher Education 2010

REVIEW OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND

EVIDENCE FROM: THE ASSOCIATION OF CHARTERED TEACHERS SCOTLAND

A1) What do you believe are the MAIN overall strengths and areas for improvement

within teacher education as a whole in Scotland today and why?

Overall strengths:

Chartered Teacher programme

Coherent progression from student teacher to Chartered Teacher

Proper probationer period now with time out of class for prep and mentoring

Overall areas for improvement:

Placement teachers should be taking more responsibility for linking student experiences

to theory/policy whilst on placement

Secondary students go to the same school in their second and third terms. Would

giving them different schools not widen their experience?

Consideration of future routes and learning for established Chartered Teacher

A clearer understanding of CPD and its benefit to teacher / school development needs.

A2) When thinking specifically about initial teacher education in Scotland today

what do you believe are the MAIN strengths and areas for improvement and why?

Strengths

Focus on enabling reflective practice and sharing of practice

Positive experience of action enquiry in the classroom and building of the skills

underpinning evidenced based practice



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Good knowledge of new technologies and ICT in particular

Areas for improvement

Certain B.Ed course has no tutor visit at all in first year so student could do over a year

before being formally assessed

Lack of basic input on courses about the Developing Person (what was Child Growth

and Development), the Child in Society (what was 'Childhood Studies'), current broadly

used Pedagogies and Philosophies of Education and generative studies on 21st

Century Culture and its implications for education

Lack of input on developing early the competencies and character required for 'teacher

leadership', especially the ability to influence colleagues and help make changes to

established practice in schools.

Lack of support for the growth of a mindset that looks beyond the tips and techniques to

more fundamental underpinning pedagogical approaches. Without this new teachers

lack the ability to plan and prepare units of work for CfE with more creativity and

autonomy (rather they just continue picking up published resources and implementing

them with little thought as to their appropriateness or effectiveness).

Opportunity for universities to work with students in schools to encourage classroom

based action research.

A3) When thinking specifically about probation/induction in Scotland today what do

you believe are the MAIN strengths and areas for improvement and why?

Strengths

More emphasis on peer mentoring and peer observation as a stimulus for professional

dialogue and reflection

More encouragement for NQTs for to demonstrate teacher leadership in areas they are

most competent

CPD differs from school to school and Local Authority to Local Authority. Perhaps a

more consistent approach




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There is more weight now to the time in school/ on school opinion of the student and

only one crit lesson per placement. Is this a positive move? Obviously not an issue for a

good student, but what about a student who does well when their tutor comes out, but

is finding the rest of the placement hard.

Reduced management time in schools means that some may not be getting the support

they need.

More help for teacher mentors who are not managers.

A4) When thinking specifically about continuing professional development in

Scotland today what do you believe are the MAIN strengths and areas for

improvement and why?

Strengths

Organised CPD for probationers

Commitment to 35 hours

Standards frameworks for whole career

Rich knowledge base amongst practitioners

Beginning to be many new professional learning communities established around

certain areas of the curriculum or around particular approaches and strategies for

teaching and learning


CPD provision can be random

Some teachers never take-up opportunities

Supply cover costs can prevent or limit access to relevant CPD for some

Means to access and share existing rich knowledge base

Linking of CPD opportunities offered to the Establishment Improvement Plan can limit

personalisation and choice



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A5) How do teachers’ learning needs change as they progress through their career

and how well does the current Scottish system cater for these changes?

Do learning opportunities need to be more individualised (in respect of self and school

setting) as teachers become more experienced/have more responsibility?

There is now excellent provision beyond induction and into the early phase, but very

little that really challenges teachers past those stages to move on in their learning and

understanding (apart from adding new techniques or learning about new initiatives to

keep up with current changes). How do we encourage teachers to engage with deeper

learning ? Which structures, experiences and opportunities will sustain them as they

grapple with the complex and diverse challenges of the classroom and seek to improve

the quality of their formative interactions with children and young people ?

Is there room in the career stages for emphasising the vital provision needed for

teacher leaders to receive support and sharply focussed input on how to lead

innovation and change from the classroom outwards.

A6) How can the impact of teacher education (specifically continuing

professional development) on improving young people’s progress and

achievements be evaluated?

A7) What do you see as the MAIN characteristics of teacher professionalism and

how can these be supported by teacher education?

Teacher judgement being used more in assessments linked to professionalism

Exemplifying impact

Sharing practice

Collaborative planning for school improvement



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All teachers taking responsibility for their own learning and development

Involvement in collaborative professional enquiry as a vehicle for the promotion of

greater autonomy and for encouraging more effective articulation of teachers'

professional 'voice'

Section B – Future Challenges

B1) Thinking about these challenges, what qualifications/ skills/ attributes and

qualities should we be looking for when selecting people for initial teacher

education in the future?

Some work experience, researching and presenting evidence, group tasks which are

observed

Evidence of ability to reflect on own learning

A passion for learning, a 'growth' mindset, resilience, reflexivity and creativity in the face

of challenge

A passion for people and for education as the 'practice of freedom'

Increasingly emotionally, intellectually and spiritually intelligent

They need to embody all 4 capacities so that children and young people can see what it

means in practice

B2) What transferable skills/ attributes/ qualities will teachers in all or specific

sectors need to successfully meet future challenges?

Be lifelong learners

Bring wider experiences

Websense

Critical awareness



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A love of community, huge relational awareness and competence

An ability to use what they 'know' in new and novel ways

A deep affection for engaging with, participating in and enabling positive human centred

activity

A love of change, paradox, mystery

Gardner's 5 minds !

Must be 'cultural creatives' - they should be apprentices in the 'art of graceful

subversion'

Ability to 'surf the edge of chaos' with courage

An enterprising spirit

A vibrant and resourceful global citizen

B3) In what ways does teacher education as a whole need to adapt to ensure that all

teachers are able to meet future challenges?

Consider Standards and CPD Frameworks for right through teachers' careers

At the moment, there is no follow- up - leads to the topic of reaccreditation!

To become local, specific and personalised

Peer support is essential in sustaining improvement and growth

Establishment of many more local networks for educators from a range of

sectors/contexts/establishments

More informal and energising involvement from universities stimulating professional

engagement in praxis

More help with provision of ICT hardware that makes it easy and affordable for teachers

to stay professionally connected



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Opportunities to work with universities. Teachers mentoring colleagues or observing

lessons are often teachers who have not been involved or are not aware of recent

research in pedagogy and this can hinder professional dialogue.

Section C – Further Comment

C1) Are there any other comments that you would wish to include that have not

been covered by the questions shown above? Please detail here:

Because of increasing numbers of teachers being offered and accepting early

retirements, in order to make room for newer teachers who have been guaranteed

positions (and who often happen to be cheaper to employ) there is a loss of the voice of

experience in schools. Can a balance be ensured?

The major pedagogies that support our approaches to teaching and learning with

children and young people (including the fundamental values that they espouse and

promote) should support our approaches to teaching and learning with adults too ! If we

believe that learning is participative, active, relational, engaging, life affirming and

adaptive, we need to help our teachers become learners that have those qualities,

skills, dispositions and abilities that will best enable them to engage in learning of that

nature.



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Teachers as Researchers

Have you ever thought about doing some research? Do you want to find out more about what

happens in your classroom or about how your pupils learn? Or have you already dipped a toe

into the waters of educational research, completed a research project or studied for a masters

degree?

The Association of Chartered Teachers Scotland (ACTS) is developing a new series of

Teachers as Researchers events. The first of these will be hosted by the University of

Aberdeen on Saturday, 18th September, from 10am to 3pm. It will be open, not just to

ACTS members, not just to Chartered Teachers and those on the route to Chartered

Teacher, but to any teacher with an interest in research and enquiry.

Teachers as Researcher events aim to:

share and celebrate teacher research

provide an opportunity for teachers researchers to discuss their research with peers;

develop support networks amongst teacher researchers.

A feature of the day will be research discussion group sessions, which will give time for each

participant to talk with colleagues about their own research ideas (whether these ideas are

completed projects or still at the stage of ‘I’d really like to find out more about …).

Many people think that research and enquiry is an important aspect of teacher

professionalism in the twenty-first century. The first Teachers as Researchers event is being



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hosted by the University of Aberdeen and sponsors include the GTCS and Scottish Borders

Council. Plans are already underway for future events at universities in various parts of

Scotland. You can become part of this new network of teachers as researchers.

To register for the Aberdeen event go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J2NKRST

For more information about ACTS Teachers as Researchers events go to http://acts.edublogs.org or email [email protected]



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ACTS online

David Noble is a Chartered Teacher at Hillside School, Fife.

He is Vice-chair of ACTS.

David details some of the ways ACTS is using online media to

facilitate collaboration and communication with members and

the wider professional community.

Within ACTS and with wider and faster internet access, and the development

and availability of a variety of free online communication tools, teachers and

other educationists are able to engage in dialogue, learn from, and collaborate

with colleagues across traditional boundaries. Multimedia content, including

lesson planning documents, tutorial videos, presentations, and publicly-visible

conversations, can be shared via blogs and other social (professional)

networking sites.

Since prior to its formation, those involved in ‘steering’ the association have tried

several online ICT tools, many of which are now established as part of our

toolkit for communicating and collaborating within the geographically-spread

committee and wider membership. I will now outline seven such tools;

explaining their functions and giving examples of how ACTS and others are

using them. I hope that this will help you to consider how you engage with

ACTS and the wider Chartered Teacher community; and how online tools may

be used to enhance teaching and learning.

The main online resource is the ACTS blog (http://acts.edublogs.org). New

articles, documents and details of events are published here. ACTS members



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are able to download posters, membership forms, and the latest newsletter.

Details of the 2011 conference and how to book a place can also be accessed.

Presently, ACTS are developing an area of

the site which will contain details of academic

papers (including theses and dissertations)

written by members and other Chartered

Teachers. The blog is provided by Edublogs;

an organisation run ‘by teachers for teachers’.

Any educator can set up a blog for free at http://edublogs.org. The next three

tools are embedded in the ACTS blog.

Twitter (http://twitter.com/actscotland) is a free micro-blogging service that

allows users to easily publish text messages

and other media content comprising up to

140 characters. Messages can be posted

from computer or phone and instantly

appear on the ACTS blog (near the top-left),

as well as being sent to those Twitter users

who are ‘following’ ACTS. Presently, we are

using Twitter to provide new association news, brief details of forthcoming

Chartered Teacher events, and calls for participation. If you have a message

that you would like to share, send it to [email protected]. And it will be

published on our Twitter account that day.

Qik Live (http://qik.com/actscotland) is a website and iPhone application that

enables users to broadcast and record video online. In addition to being

streamed and saved in one’s online account, live video is embedded near the

top-right of the blog. At this years conference, two speeches from the main hall



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were broadcast live, enabling those who could not attend to ‘tap in’ to some of

the proceedings. It is hoped that soon,

office bearers will record brief accounts

of committee meeting etc in this format;

one which compliments formal minutes.

The third resource which links directly

to the ACTS blog has enabled the

association to create an online library.

Delicious (http://delicious.com/actscotland) is a free online bookmarking tool that

allows users to save relevant web-based resources in one location. These are

categorised (tagged), making it easy for others to access and browse content.

The library can be found down the right-side of the blog. The latest additions

are listed by title nearer to the top. Typically, these will include: updates from

‘providers’, education news, policy documents and academic papers relating to

Chartered Teacher. All

existing categories can be

found further down the blog.

The larger the word, the more

articles can be found within

this category. Clicking on the

word brings up a list of

related articles within the

library. To contribute a resource to the library (note that it does not need to be

currently online), email details to [email protected].



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ACTS use Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) to receive notification of

new web content containing the phrase “Chartered Teacher”. Each week we

receive an email detailing all new instances of this. Google Alerts can help

schools to track mentions of the establishment, or teachers to access new

resources on a topic. Scholar Alerts (http://scholar.google.co.uk) provides a

similar service relating to academic key words.

The ACTS committee comprises classroom teachers, spread across Scotland.

In order to maximise the opportunities to communicate and collaborate, we use

email and a wikispace (http://wikispaces.com). A wiki is an online document to

which those with permission

have access. Content on a wiki

can be edited, added to, and

discussed. This enables work

to occur asynchronously

between meetings. Agendas

and responses to consultation

documents, for example, can be

constructed, and updates from

office bearers and sub-

committees can be posted. Minutes of previous meetings and event details can

be reviewed and comments made. Wikispaces are available free to educators.



25

The ACTS wiki is presently open only to committee members, though we are

exploring providing public access to certain areas.

A further way of keeping in touch, discussing, and making decisions is to run

web conferences. ACTS do so, on an ad hoc basis, using Flashmeeting

(http://flashmeeting.e2bn.net); an intuitive, web-based conferencing resource,

available free to educators. Many teachers involved in the British Council’s

eTwinning programme use Flashmeeting to connect classes across Europe.

Many face-to-face ACTS events, including some committee meetings, have a

Flashmeeting connection. This means that those on the committee and other

members not in physical attendance can still listen-in or even contribute through

the built-in chat facility.



26

Using a Credit Union to fund Chartered Teacher studies

Paddy Miller is a Chartered Teacher of Home Economics at St

Andrew’s High in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

Paddy looks back at the options she considered in order to fund

her Chartered Teacher studies.

On taking up my position as an EIS Learning Rep, I looked at options for funding my

Chartered Teacher studies. A Local Authority grant would not be available because teachers’

salaries start above the threshold for such a grant, and there were no obvious benevolent

funds or charities that I could approach. I then looked at different lending systems and

repayment procedures.

1. Finance Department of the provider of the course: This needs to be paid back before

graduation, and may be paid as a one off payment or subdivided into regular monthly

payments for the duration of the course with the final date aligned to final submission date.

2. Bank or Building society personal/professional development loan: terms and conditions

as per individual company.

3. Credit Union: A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and

controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at

reasonable rates, and providing other financial services to its members. Many credit unions

exist to further community development or sustainable international development on a local

level. Most local authorities have a link to the credit union system. A person is known as a

shareholder and the money is known as shares.

Having completed and paid for module 1&2 of the Chartered Teacher programme, the

teacher can use the increase in salary to make a direct payment into the Credit Union, thus

becoming a member of the Credit Union. At any point members have access to their money



27

and can withdraw it. However they may also draw down on their saving to a level of three

times the amount. So saving £1,000 for example would enable a loan of up to £3,000. The

monthly payment would be divided to provide 60% to pay off the loan and 40% to continue to

build the share dividend. The length of time it will take to pay back the loan is arrived at by

dividing the amount borrowed by the monthly payment. The application asks members to give

a reason for the loan. Shares may not be removed below a certain level until the loan is

repaid.

This information was gathered a few years ago but current information about Credit Unions

can be found at the website of the Association of British Credit Unions Ltd

http://www.abcul.org/page/members.cfm together with a list of Credit Unions in Scotland.



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SERA Estelle Brisard Memorial Prize

The

SCOTTISH EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

Memorial Tribute to Estelle Brisard (1973-2006)

Estelle worked in Scotland first as a doctoral student at the University of Stirling, from 2000,

but then as a Research Fellow and later as a Lecturer at the University of Paisley from 2002

until her death in November 2006. At that time, she had accepted a new post at Liverpool

John Moores University which she was due to take up from January 2007. She served on the

SERA Executive Committee, representing the University of Paisley, during 2004/05.

Her field of research was teacher education and she was very much a comparativist. The

study at Paisley was a study of ITE policy and practice in Scotland and England. During her

research career she had made many friends and had established a strong network of

contacts in Scotland the UK, France, Europe, as well as in the USA and the antipodes.

She was a member of the Editorial Board of Scottish Educational Review and an Associate

Editor of the Journal of Education for Teaching. She was well known within the Universities

Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET).

In 2007, in recognition of Estelle’s outstanding contribution to educational research in

Scotland, SERA created an annual award in her memory. Submissions are now invited for

the 2010 award. Details are provided below.



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The Estelle Brisard Memorial Prize for

Educational Research

This annual award is made by SERA to an early career educational researcher for

excellence and promise in their work.

The prize is awarded for the best research paper written by an early career researcher based

in Scotland and is presented annually at the SERA conference. The prize is awarded

following open competition. For the 2010 award, submissions should be made by Tuesday 31

August 2010.

The award consists of a certificate and a cash prize of £250, to be presented at the SERA

conference in the Stirling Highland Hotel, Stirling in November (25th – 26th). Arrangements

may be made (if appropriate) for the paper to be presented at the Conference. If the paper

has not already been published, the winner will be encouraged to submit it for consideration

by the Scottish Educational Review (SER).

Eligibility: the competition is open to all those who are at an early stage in their educational

research careers. This is likely to include research students, educational practitioners

working in schools or in adult and community settings, college and university tutors.

Candidates would not be expected to have published significant amounts of research work,

but would be expected to aspire to this in the future.

In addition to the research paper, submissions should include a statement of up to 100 words

outlining the candidate’s research experience, current activity and aspirations.

The judging panel will consist of four members of the SERA Executive Committee, including a

member of the Editorial Board of SER and the convenor of SERA’s recently established

emerging researchers’ network.



30

Submissions should be in the range of 3000-6000 words and will be judged against the

following criteria:

Significance of contribution to educational research and/or professional practice

Being based on original work

Methodological rigour and/or professional relevance

Clarity of written presentation

The winner will be notified by the end of October and invited to attend the award ceremony at

the SERA Conference.

If you wish to enter this competition, please submit your research paper (in Word and as an

attachment) and brief statement, as indicated above, together with full contact details, by e-

mail to: [email protected]

Closing date 31 August 2010



31

Upcoming Events of interest

The 3rd show takes place on

Thursday, 26th August 2010 from 8.15 - 9.00pm BST

The panel will comprise:

Professor Stephen Heppell, Tess Watson, Ian Stuart and Douglas Blane

.

Making education relevant for 24-7 learners

1. In what ways might formal education be irrelevant?

2. Which aspects of pupils' lives might we make education relevant to? Might it be future

economic, present enjoyment, lifelong learning, personal development? Can it be all of

these? Do we have to sacrifice some to get best effect for learners?

3. How can education systems provide opportunities for testing, assessing, or otherwise

recognising or encouraging progression in learning beyond school?

4. Are Activity Agreements a scalable model for groups other than pre-NEET?

To find out more, visit http://edutalkr.pbworks.com

Listen to the live broadcast at http://www.ipadio.com/phlogs/EDUtalkr10/live



32

The 2011 ACTS Winter Conference will bring together two-hundred

and fifty Chartered Teachers and other educationists with an interest

in Chartered Teacher. The aim is to facilitate dialogue around the title

of ‘Inspiring Leaders of Learning’, and within our three themes of:

professional learning, leadership, and the curriculum.

The conference will focus on the roles and the learning of Chartered

Teachers, within the context of the new curriculum, and the

Donaldson Report on Teacher Education in Scotland (which by

February 2011 will have recently been published). There will be

opportunities for open discussion, reflecting constructively on

experiences across stages and contexts.

Providers of professional development courses, including those who

run a Chartered Teacher programme, will be invited to present details

of what they offer, and to discuss appropriate paths with Chartered

Teachers and other delegates.

Further details of our 2011 conference are at:

http://acts.edublogs.org/acts-winter-conference-2011



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Visit ACTS at the GTCS stand on Wednesday 22nd September 2010.



34

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.



35

View the ACTS website at

http://acts.edublogs.org/

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.

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

Newsletter 07 Summer 2010