Making CPD Count

Tom Sherrington@headguruteacher

What is CPD for?

• Old Dogs needing New Tricks: Innovation?

• Biases and Myths: Values and attitudes?

• Rules and regulations: Compliance?

• Getting better at what you do already: Mastery?

• Deepening what you know already: Expertise?

CPD Models:

One-off in-house sessions

Courses

A visiting speaker

Teaching & Learning Communities

Research Projects

Lesson Study

Coaching and mentoring

Books and Blogs

Online tutorials

Masters, NPQSL/ML, OTP

Departmental Meetings

The Research ChampionConferences

What makes a great teacher?

• they are relentless in pursuit of excellence and their language with students is infused with this sense of urgency and drive:

• there is no argument about expected standards of behaviour. They achieve this in different ways – sometimes through the gravitas of maturity and experience; sometimes through amazing warm, interpersonal interactions with every child

• they have the ability to explain complex concepts in ways that make sense; they ask good questions and give really good feedback; however it is done, students feel that they are learning; they know where they stand and feel confident about the process

What have you learned from CPD? • Close the gap marking – school visit• Think Pair Share – a National Strategies INSET• Lesson Study – from NTEN; online materials• Ideas about memory and testing: blogs and books• Behaviour Management – Bill Rogers videos• Science demos – Observing lessons and sessions

in departmental meetings, Alom Shaha videos online

• Ideas about groups, exemplar essays, teaching measurement – from Lesson Study

• Co-construction and Edmodo – from personal research and exploration.

Research vs The Basics

Culture + Systems

“Creating the conditions for great teachers to thrive”

Purpose

Challenge

Autonomy

Growth

Recognition

Care

Shared values and language

Evaluative culture +Intelligent accountability

Professional Culture• Intelligent Performance Review . Rigour without F.E.A.R.

• Focus on inputs as well as outcomes; engagement with CPD is a bottom-line

• CPD is tailored and self-directed to greatest extent possible, given a teacher’s context.

• CPD for mastery vs CPD for innovation

• CPD is individual and collective

• CPD includes: behaviour, subject knowledge, assessment knowledge and pedagogy

Barriers

• Time – too ad hoc, too inflexible, insufficient

• The blind leading the blind

• A Bang and a Whimper

• Plantation Thinking

• Opportunity costs. Deck chairs on the Titanic

• OfSTED compliance: inertia and inhibition

• The jaded eye-rollers of doom.

• The hyper-puppy evangelists of the new

A Research-Engaged Learning Community #1

Engaging WITH research

• Reading Research

- blogs, books, journals, examiners’ reports

• Sharing the Learning from the Reading of Research

- the pedagogy champions, the bloggers, the myth-busters, the challengers

Research-Engaged Learning Community #2

Engaging IN research

• Masters, CamSTAR

• KEGS T&L Workshops: 6 key sessions across the year

–Key Question

–Evidence Collection

–Evaluation: qualitative; quantitative

–Conclusions

–Dissemination : The marketplace; Learning Lessons

• Improving behaviour using IRIS as a tool for self-reflection. Here a couple of teachers used IRIS videos of their lessons to evaluate their skills in relation to behaviour management, identifying their verbal and physical mannerisms as key factors – more than their use of the formal sanctions systems. Very interesting work eg: “It’s about HOW you consciously develop a postural, gestural repertoire which can have a multiplier effect on instructions and interventions”

• Introducing 1:1 interviews as part of teaching AS Biology units. A group of biology teachers had explored the value of conducting individual interviews with students as a built-in part of the teaching process. It was obviously time intensive but they found that it has some very positive gains in terms of getting to know students and setting standards

NTEN Peer Review Framework

• Leadership and Culture

• Focus on Learning and Pedagogy

• Evaluation of Impact

• Support and Challenge

• Processes, Systems and Resourcing

• Research, Innovation and Evidence

Summary

• Get the basics right – keep the rest in perspective

• Create a culture of intelligent accountability and self-evaluation

• Develop the culture and systems for engagement WITH and IN research

• Make tailored CPD the key driver of improvement at individual and team level