FEATURE: CPD
Supporting teachers to develop their teaching practice
which makes us the oldest university technical college in the UK. We offer pupils aged 13-19 a different route to training and qualifications to a traditional school. Exploring new ways to continually improve outcomes and adopting an innovative approach is in our DNA as much as it is in the scientists, engineers, technicians, and inventors of tomorrow we teach.
As an inner-city school attracting and retaining quality teachers can be more of a challenge perhaps then it is for schools in leafier suburbs. Providing excellent personal and professional development is a core part of our recruitment and retention policy.
I
n our first feature this month on CPD and its application to developing teaching practice, David Chapman, Head of School at Aston University Engineering Academy (AUEA), explores practical ways to support teachers’ personal and professional development.
At AUEA we believe in ‘knowledge for life and skills for the future,’ and providing good personal and professional development opportunities for our teachers is an integral part of this. Because when teachers thrive their students do too. Last year we celebrated our tenth anniversary,
However, one thing we’re mindful of is adding to teachers’ busy workloads. We’ve found making the school day a couple of hours shorter for pupils on a Monday afternoon to allow time for staff CPD has helped.
Last year, I put in a five-week rotation so everybody working in the school knows what’s happening on any particular Monday. Heads of Department know that every Week One is their time, so they can plan their departmental meetings or training around it, as it won’t be used for anything else. Week Two is for SEND training, but if that’s not needed the time is reallocated to the department heads to focus on understanding what’s working well and if there are any aspects of the teaching and learning that can be improved.
34
www.education-today.co.uk Reflective practice
As part of this programme, we have found that one of the most powerful ways to deepen and develop teaching practice is self-reflection. Because, as education reformer John Dewey reflected “we do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” Lesson observations are traditionally the main method used to help teachers understand the impact their teaching is having in class, but nerves and the Hawthorne Effect, can skew an observation by making it difficult to carry on as normal.
In fact, termly lesson observations often rank high on the list of teacher stresses, as even the most experienced teacher can be left feeling demoralised if the lesson did not go as planned. At a time when teacher retention and recruitment is hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons, compounding teachers’ stress levels is the last thing any school wants.
But as observations are an important part of a teacher’s personal and professional development, we wanted to see if there were other ways we could incorporate them into the rhythm of school life. Our aim was to give teachers the opportunity to take a more active role in reviewing their lessons on a more regular basis, but we needed it to be practical.
We decided to explore if using video technology would help us achieve our goal and in
October 2023
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
