The Educator Magazine UK May- August 2023 - Magazine - Page 27
Keeping CPD relevant
The disconnect between what staff
want from their CPD and what the
SLT can sometimes assume they
need, was highlighted in a Teacher
Tapp survey. Only 34% of teachers felt
their school’s CPD was helping them
to become better teachers, compared
to 67% of headteachers who felt they
were providing the right teacher
developmental opportunities.
Nishkam High School made CPD
more relevant to staff by injecting
fresh thinking into how it was offered.
The changes made have positively
impacted on pupil outcomes and
teacher buy-in at the school.
As Emma explains, “we wanted to
help our teachers flex, move, and
adapt their teaching practice to best
suit the needs of the children they
have in their classrooms right now.
Finding ways to keep our CPD fresh,
with regular and focused feedback
is integral to our approach.
“Encouraging self-reflection is key,
but it’s hard for teachers to do this
without the aid of seeing what their
teaching looks like in practice.
We’ve found using video technology
provides a more objective view of
how a lesson went compared to a
traditional lesson observation.
“Our teachers feel positive about
the central role they play in their
professional development. They
can review the camera footage by
themselves or with a colleague and
see what specific aspects of their
teaching practice could be improved
upon and just as importantly, when,
and why, things go right.”
Greater teacher autonomy
Teachers feel valued when they are
trusted to take ownership of their
teaching practice and make any
positive changes needed. And yet,
in the Big Question NASUWT 2022
survey only 28% of teachers surveyed
felt their professional judgement is
respected when it comes to
professional development.
Schools can fix this. Create a
climate of continual professional
development by giving teachers
the autonomy to identify and focus
on what they want and need to focus
on. Encourage teachers to learn from
one another and use the expertise of
other staff to push the school
forward.
Find better ways to do CPD that will
engage staff and raise the quality of
teaching and learning, like visiting
other schools to develop their subject
knowledge, bouncing ideas off
colleagues, or attending a Research
Ed conference.
Emma Wilks is featured in What’s wrong with teacher CPD – and how do we fix it? which examines CPD in more detail.
Matt Tiplin has been a senior leader in a MAT and an Ofsted inspector. He is vice president of ONVU Learning.