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http://headteachersroundtable.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/htrt-english-baccalaureate-trial-update-jan-2014/
The setting up of a professional body, such as The Royal College of Teaching, which is focused on the longterm improvement of teaching across the country, is long overdue.
Within the first five years of teaching professionals initiating their career there is an alarming number of
teachers who decide to leave their job, with up to half of teachers wasting their training and leaving the
classroom. This is compounded by the fact that our Initial Teacher Education model has been altered to
such an extent that it makes it difficult to quality control entry into the profession effectively.
There is, at best, an inconsistent approach to continuous teacher development (CPD). There are few
systems that function as a quality control mechanism for CPD and we cannot just wish our teachers to be
better.
There is no clear pathway for career progression for great teachers who wish to remain in the classroom
and not take up an explicit leadership and management post. There is no organisation that can initiate
and lead a charter system for such professional progression, if you discount the DfE.
There is no clear mechanism to circulate the best research evidence to support the self-improvement of
the teaching profession.
There is no coherent and independent voice with which to express the opinions of the profession on
behalf of teachers and buffer the political noise of politicians. Teaching unions provide an important role
for the profession, but they lack the independent expertise to be the solution to many of these
questions/problems.
The Royal College of Teaching should have a primary role in raising and maintaining the professional
standards of continuous professional development. This would include verifying the standards of initial
teacher training, proving an advisory body for HMI oversight of such provision.
A central aspect of the Royal College of Teaching would be to ensure that a statutory right to high quality
Continuous Professional Development is met and that standards of such CPD training are secured
consistently. All the global evidence states that teacher quality has the single greatest impact upon
student outcomes. We cannot therefore leave the key lever for teacher improvement to chance.
The Royal College of Teaching should validate explicit pathways for teachers to develop their practice on
the path to expertise. A clear professional progression, that is tied to relevant CPD training needs to be
established making the continuous aspect of professional development a reality.
There should be an emphasis on high quality CPD for Development Stage Teachers (phase one would
encompass the first 5 years of professional development). The Royal College could provide training and
verification for the best practice through the following stages:
Initial Teacher Education (ITE);
Newly Qualified Teacher education (NQT);
Newly Qualified Teacher +1 education (NQT+1)
Early Development Phase education (EDP)
Creating a clear and rigorous process, with clear standards and an effective dissemination of best practice,
could help standardise the quality of CPD for teachers developing early in their career. The statutory
expectation for high quality training beyond simply passing your NQT year would help raise the status and
quality of the teaching profession in England and Wales. It would hopefully stem the flow of teachers
leaving the profession for whom support has been inadequate, or the added motivation of high quality
training has been lacking.
The Royal College should initiate a process for Chartered Teachers, whom, having completed their
development stage training, wish to continue their career progression by enhancing their practice as an
excellent teacher. The vast majority of leadership and management roles in schools mean that often the
best teachers teach fewer and fewer students. Akin to the Scottish model for Chartered Teachers, the role
would be entirely distinct from existing posts in school leadership and management.
The Royal College of Teaching would also provide ongoing high quality training and practical workshops
for teachers at all stages of their career to steer the quality of CPD in schools. It would have an important
role in sharing best practice independent of the DfE and any institutions with commercial interests.
The Royal College of Teaching would be the body to best promote and support educational research;
including the dissemination of guidance regarding new and existing research evidence. There is no
systematic, school-led model for sharing the best of research evidence, beyond the setting up of Teaching
Schools, which have proven to be ineffective in some areas. With this breadth of expertise, the Royal
College of Teaching could play an advisory role to the DfE, without compromising its independence.
The Royal College of Teaching should not be an inspectorate, nor be a part of the accountability system.
The Royal College of Teaching should, however, provide independent guidance to the DfE on the
inspection process and ensure that the role of the inspectorate is functioning well and is valid; existing
bodies, such as the Royal College of Surgeons, would prove instructive in this respect.
David Laws was right when he questioned the negative impact of the short-term electoral cycle on our
education system. A Royal College of Teaching could prove the antidote. A self-improving education
system, driven by schools, will prove the most effective method for improving education for children in
England and Wales, but such a complex, adaptive system needs support mechanisms like the Royal
College of Teaching to bring coherence to the development of teaching standards.
The new Royal College of Teaching would provide a central pillar of peer-led support which sees us
establish a world class teaching profession; for the future of our children and our country, nothing, it
seems, could be more important.
Twitter: @HeadsRoundtable
Find us at: http://headteachersroundtable.wordpress.com
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