CONTRIBUTORS
Tap into the power of a rich CPD ecosystem
In her regular column this month, BlueSky Education’s DENISE INWOOD says CPD isn’t just about formal professional qualifications and programmes - there’s a whole home-grown ecosystem of professional development growing in schools.
There was a revealing recent survey* of teacher attitudes to CPD which I think laid bare some of the key issues schools have with CPD.
The survey from Teacher Tapp revealed that although teachers were committed to improving their practice, they were sceptical about the sorts of CPD that were currently available to them. INSET days came in for particular criticism; teachers saw them as focusing on policies and procedures rather than classroom practice – and benefiting heads and senior leaders rather than the needs of teachers.
The key takeaway for me was what teachers wanted in terms of CPD content – and delivery – which I think highlights what I’ve always said about the nature of school CPD. Teachers want their CPD to be focused on developing their classroom skills first and foremost – and it needs to fit around the demands of their day jobs.
That chimes strongly with BlueSky’s own research, which asked our users what they saw as the main purposes of professional learning in their organisations. Their answer was pretty clear: more than 9 in 10 said it was to improve the quality of teaching, with impact on pupil outcomes the second most popular choice for three quarters of respondents. The Teacher Tapp survey is also interesting in revealing that while there has been a disengagement with traditional development activities such as INSET, the level of engagement teachers have in other, more informal CPD activities, is at a healthy level. Six in ten classroom teachers say they have taken part in peer-to-peer learning such as coaching, observation or a teacher professional development network.
I think the survey feeds into the picture of the changing nature of CPD in schools. It reinforces our understanding that the CPD that will help to deliver improved teaching and pupil outcomes doesn’t always have to be about formal professional development programmes and allotted CPD time. Professional qualifications such as the NPQs certainly have their place, but much professional development happens outside what is quite a rigid, traditional understanding of CPD. This home-grown CPD often emerges from the interactions between professionals. And as long as the conditions are right, and there is a framework in place that recognises it as CPD, then it will flourish into a rich ecosystem, potentially far more vibrant, professionally stimulating and purposeful than what has come before. The key is giving teachers the means to link all this activity into school improvement.
One of the schools that we have been working with for some years is a great example of this working in practice. When Doha College in Qatar – one of the world’s leading British International Schools – went from a paper-based system for managing performance development to an online one the technology created a professional development opportunity. They used our system to give staff more responsibility for their own learning and gave managers the ability to map individual development plans to the school development plan and professional standards.
That approach enabled staff to log any internal training they had undertaken – a rich variety of CPD that had always been there but until then hadn’t been accounted for. It has also widened the staff’s understanding of what CPD is; that there are a multitude of ways to develop themselves and to understand what they have achieved – and then use this knowledge to build a foundation for future development for them and their school.
*
https://teachertapp.co.uk/articles/how-can-we-make-cpd-work-better- for-teachers/
18
www.education-today.co.uk
Why prioritising retention can help solve your
staffing shortage In her latest column for Education Today magazine, NAOMI HOWELLS, Managing Director at recruitment specialists Class People, explains why prioritising staff retention is the key to a successful school.
It is no secret that the education sector is suffering from a deep and expanding crisis when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff. The issue is a perfect storm of factors; from the reality that the Department for Education (DfE) has missed its own trainee targets for seven consecutive years; to the fact that teaching pay has declined by around a fifth in real terms since 2010. Inflexible hours; overwork; underpay; growing need; increasing remit; peer bullying; not to mention post-pandemic behavioural issues in children; are, in many cases, contributing to an uncomfortable or even toxic working environment that does not reflect the importance or rewarding nature of this profession.
According to the Teacher Labour Market Annual Report, there are 93% more job vacancies in school in 2022/23 than in the previous academic year. Mid-January, the Government announced measures to help tackle the issue, including a £1.5million mental health fund; new anti-bullying guidance; and steps to reduce teacher workloads. Devised by the Workload Reduction Taskforce, the proposed changes will see the working week reduced by five hours within the next three years. Furthermore, there are pilot projects in place to identify aptitude hiring opportunities and transferable skills, like the one we are running here at Class People alongside the Department for Work and Pensions. Promising; but will they bring change quickly enough? Despite the recruitment challenges, the quality of education has risen steadily, with 89% of schools now rated good or outstanding compared with just 68% in 2010. This is testament to the quality and resilience of teachers, and demonstrates the value in prioritising retention:
• Flexible working – as we explored in last month’s issue, there are opportunities for adopting more flexible working practices. Similarly Looking at holiday entitlement for special occasions, or the opportunity to take term time annual leave, can also improve retention.
• Timetable innovation & homeworking – historically, timetabling has been restrictive, requiring staff to be on-site during all teaching hours. The advent of AI-based predictive analysis tools can be employed for timetabling, optimising teaching times so that each teacher is 100% utilised while onsite, but has timetabled home or private working.
• Proactive supply staff management – despite every school utilising supply teachers, it often feels unplanned. We are having success witha number of schools that forward-plan supply resource, employing“floating” personnel to offer support and cover classes. Better management of supply can reduce costs while improving resource distribution.
• Changing the workload burden – Teaching responsibilities have continued to expand, but not all aspects of the role require a teaching qualification. Re-evaluating all aspects, and identifying opportunities for other types of staff can broaden the labour pool from which you can employ, while improving retention of your teachers. There has been success with re-evaluating mandated QTS teaching qualifications in favour of industry experience (secondary education) and with sourcing supplementary teaching and resources for specialist subjects such as music or mental health which are not core teaching skills (primary education).
March 2024
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