FEATURE: CPD
but progression remains just as important for them, and so they need to be given opportunities to improve every year.
CPD and career planning
By and large, teachers are not great at planning their careers far in advance (despite the brilliant advice we dispense to pupils about this). We often make major moves, such as changing schools, countries and positions, in a reactive fashion when an opportunity suddenly presents itself. Mentoring and coaching are undoubtedly helping to change this, but somehow speaking openly about career ambitions is often perceived negatively, when it should be embraced. When Kate and I wrote our book, we rarely used the word ‘wellbeing’, but it is implicitly about that in every chapter. We argue that teachers who are being fulfilled in their role, valued in their school, and challenged at the appropriate level are more likely to consider their wellbeing to be sound. Conversely, those who feel that they are in a professional rut, are more likely to be frustrated and unhappy. If you take control of your professional learning and link it to career progression you are far more likely to feel satisfied.
This means taking some time to reflect on what you want from your career. What do you want to achieve during your teaching life? Do you want to go into leadership or not? Do you want to stay at the same school and look to make a positive impact in the community? Would you prefer to work in various different settings to broaden your experience, maybe working abroad? And perhaps most significantly, how do you want to end your career? What would the perfect dismount look like for you, personally? We don’t tend to think of the bigger picture but it matters a great deal. If you can start to think about what you want to achieve, you can start to gear your professional learning towards that.
The importance of reflective practice and self-evaluation
Being able to think this way requires reflection, and perhaps some support in the form of coaching. This has been one of the most positive developments in education over the past few years, and if you are keen to think more deeply about your career path then asking for some
coaching is a great way to start; it is one of the most effective ways to reflect on your development. It’s also worth looking at Kolb’s experiential learning cycle to consider ways in which you can be more consistently reflective. By critically scrutinising what we do, we can keep control over our personal development. One of the simplest yet effective ways to self- evaluate is to update your CV every summer. If you look back on the past year and feel that there is nothing to add to your CV, you have to ask if you have really progressed in that time. You should always be able to add more experiences and skills, replacing older, less impactful content with better evidence. The benefit of this is, should an opportunity suddenly present itself at a time when you are extremely busy, you at least have one part of the application process already in hand.
Low cost, high impact CPD
One of the most important messages that Kate and I try to get across is that the most effective CPD doesn’t have to cost the earth. Here’s a list of ten low cost, high impact forms of professional learning out there. How many of them have you done in the past year?
• Use of social media e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn • Reading education books • Research summaries • Reading groups • Blogging and writing • TeachMeets • Radio, podcasts and YouTube videos • Action research, e.g. practitioner enquiry • Lesson observation • School visits
These methods can make a significant difference if used well, but to take a strategic and cohesive approach, it helps enormously to engage with professional learning networks (PLNs) or communities (PLCs). These can be based on subjects, or particular groups (like WomenED or BAMEed). One of the questions I ask aspiring middle and senior leaders at interview is to describe their professional network. I want to know that they have support and challenge from outside the immediate environment of their school. Who can they turn to for objective advice, or fresh ideas? Networking is one of the hardest things to do in any profession, but it has become much easier thanks to social media. Another thing that boosts teacher wellbeing is having that support network around you for when things become difficult.
Challenge questions
At the end of each chapter in The Teaching Life, we ask challenge questions. These are really coaching questions that are designed to get the reader thinking about their own teaching life and how to make it better. Ultimately, you should be in charge of your own CPD, and your own career progression. Can you honestly say right now that this is the case? If not, what can you do to take back control? Kate and I are always happy to help and you can reach us on Twitter at @robin_macp and @KateJones_teach. We do believe that teaching is the best job out there, but it’s also one of the most difficult. You only get the one teaching life, and you want to be able to look back when it’s over and say that you are completely happy with it.
Robin Macpherson’s The Teaching Life is published by John Catt Educational.
October 2022
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