On the 3rd of October, 2016, CUREE helped to host a seminar with the members of the Expert Panel who authored the new standard for teachers’ professional development (published July 2016) to explore how to put them to work for school improvement. This important seminar marked the start of an ongoing campaign to ensure the standards are widely understood, used and exemplified and to help to build a shared understanding of what quality in implementation looks like.
Hosted at the prestigious RSA headquarters the seminar focusd on:
Forging strong links with Continuing Professional Development and Learning (CPDL) as part of school improvement - the standard positions CPDL as a key driver of school improvement. This matters for every leader of school improvement and especially for the Teaching Schools Council and their Regional leads and those who have budgets and a new and stronger remit for school improvement. The seminar explored the links between the CPDL and this all important work
The art of the possible - delegates and facilitators explored together the opportunities that open up when individual teachers, school leaders and CPDL facilitators align and combine their different contributions to professional learning into a coherent and sustained professional learning system
Understanding excellence - the standard and the guidance are easy to read and people tell us they recognise many of their practices in them – the seminar focused on what excellence in meeting them really looks like. Delegates and facilitators used the standards to analyse exemplar case studies to identify strengths, areas for further development and the issues involved in quality assurance
What needs doing in the system - delegates and facilitators planned collectively and individually what we can do to realise the potential of the CPDL Standard
Throughout the session the needs of the most vulnerable were an explicit priority - if we can make the Standard work for the most vulnerable we can be confident it will work for everyone.
Delegates from the day produced a set of action points for the Expert Panel to take to their next meeting, and we hope to follow up this hugely succesful seminar with regional events to further promote the New Standard. The RSA hosted a debate with members of the Expert Panel Philippa Cordingley (CEO, CUREE), David Weston (Founder and Chief Executive, TDT), Alison Peacock (CEO Designate, Chartered College of Teaching) alongside Lord Jim Knight (Chief Education Advisor, TES Global), Matt Hood (Chief Executive, Institute for Teaching) and Matthew Taylor (Chief Executive, RSA). The debate was livestreamed, and the archived video can be viewed through the RSA Youtube channel.
