The model and process for teacher licensing needs to address a tension that runs through the profession. Most good things that happen in education are the result of efforts of groups of colleagues. But in most schools routine teacher activity and accountability systems are organised around how teachers work as individuals. Furthermore, a teachers’ first opportunity to work closely with others in a team context is frequently within a management role, when accountability issues create a strong undertow.
The Evidence People
The Blog
"Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful"*
Assessment is definitely in the air. A very focussed conference (Assessing the Way Forward) on 24 June, for all Yorkshire and Humber schools that wrestled determinedly with systematising and framing assessment, helped me pull some pretty disparate threads together.
FE colleges might be the learning technology magpies of education but bright shiny things won’t do enough to meet the new FELTAG
Whose Vision is it anyway? The Role of Governors“The Buck Stops Here” was famously the motto on the desk of US President Harry S Truman. The staff in most schools would probably think that the rightful place for this sign was on the head teacher’s desk – but they would be wrong. |
“Peccavi” was the one word telegram that Sir Charles Napier (apocryphally) sent to announce his conquest of Sindh province (it’s Latin for “I have sinned”). Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and philosopher famously ended a letter with the apology “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time”. Both are good examples of how less can definitely be more in communicating something important.
Closing the Gap and Pupil Premium
The evidence base about Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and more recently Continuing Professional Development and Learning (CPDL) that works for teachers and pupils is settled and mature.
by Paul Crisp, Managing Director, CUREE
Our work to support school success through evidence based leadership and practice extends also to governance. The growth of academies (and the like) has put even greater responsibilities on governing bodies and this is reflected in the treatment of governors in recent OfSTED inspections. In this short article, I have attempted to offer a snapshot of the governance picture and to outline some of the support arrangements available from us and from others.
Governors under scrutiny