I’ve been thinking a lot about our attitudes to subject knowledge and teacher preparation and CPD in England recently;
not least as a member of the OECD Expert Group carrying out country reviews of the quality of provision. While preparing for a conference in Tokyo where we will read across all of the nine completed country reviews, I was struck by the very significant contrast between the UK approach and practices in most other countries. I think we have a lot to learn as well as a lot to offer other counties. For the former, positioning teacher preparation as something that happens after studying subjects at degree level strips ways some powerful opportunities to make important connections which in turn help with curriculum development. For the latter, other countries whose teachers and school report intense “practice shock” on entry to the profession, have masses to learn from the way in which teacher placements are planned, supported and understood as part of the profession’s responsibility to invest in its future -as opposed to the province of academics. But pretty much every country involved so far has a great deal to do to improve the quality of mentoring and a lot to learn from greater integration of CPD leadership, support for new teachers and harnessing the skills involved in doing both for school improvement. So, I approached the Japan conference with excitement and my eyes and mind wide open. You can see more reflections on the opportunities our teachers might be missing and the intriguing and surprising role of critiquing text books as a tool for filling the gap in my recent blog here. Better still you can join me and other interested colleagues, including a teacher from South Korea who has worked with OECD, at our seminar on 5th July to explore what this means for practice first hand.
Dublin
It is just four years since I worked with the Teaching Council for Ireland. Then they were launching a new programme to support teachers’ professional learning; to be driven by teachers. On the 19th of May I am excited to be re- joining them to explore the outcomes of that programme of learning and to work with colleagues to deepen our understanding of the role of different kinds of evidence in developing teacher’s professional identities and practices. I am also hoping to re-connect with a teacher who was just starting her PhD in 2014. Interestingly the induction for her PHD involved a two-week job shadowing placement. I was delighted that she asked to spend this with us in CUREE and we and she valued and benefitted from the opportunity to learn across cultures and traditions. I was particularly impressed by this very practical and emancipatory approach to induction into doctorate study!
Education International
My third international for this month was a thrilling trip to Brussels (despite Eurostar and flight cancellations) to join teacher research leads for over 60 Countries at Education International’s (EI) stunning annual meeting to explore the role of research in enhancing teachers’ experiences, practices and professional identities. Facilitating an interactive workshop for 70 plus people in three different languages was challenging but you can see from this photo that with a mix of translation, great questions, visual cues and a great deal of laughter and good will we made some interesting progress!
Philippa Cordingley
Chief Executive