Since starting as a head of department, my main priority each summer has been curriculum review. By using the time to evaluate and plan for the following year, we’ve been able to make some great improvements to what we teach. However, this year will be different.
The plans we made last summer did not, due to the impact of Covid-19, get fully implemented. This means that to a large degree the first rollout of many of those changes will take place in 2021-22 (with a few tweaks to mitigate the impact of this year’s remote learning on student attainment).
Though other priorities (such as Y6 and Y11 transition, and small group interventions) remain, the fact that we do not need as much time for curriculum review means that the time for another priority is available. In my mind, the most obvious contender is CPD.
Why prioritise CPD this summer?
It’s widely acknowledged that staff development is important to improving the offer for students, given that high-quality teaching is ‘the most important lever schools have to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils’ (EEF, 2019). It’s only logical that if developing teaching works to narrow the disadvantaged gap, then it will also be a priority to narrow that so-called ‘gaps’ that have been impacted by Covid-19. Add to this the fact that many secondary teachers will have lost out on meaningful CPD because of TAGs. Then add the possibility that improving CPD may improve teacher wellbeing and retention (Zucollo and Van den Brande, 2021). It’s a no-brainer, surely?
However, flexibility and teacher autonomy will still be important if we want the CPD, especially given that the autonomy is an important factor in professionalism (Booth, Perry and Boylan, 2019) and teacher motivation (Teacher Development Trust, 2020).
What will this look like for my department?
For the teachers I lead in my school, we’re taking a two-pronged approach to this. The first addresses subject-knowledge, by providing teachers with a list of resources that could help with specific topics that we teach (MASSOlit and Litdrive are a great starting point for English teachers, though we’ve also bought in various books over the past few years). Staff can then use their gained time to access their choice of resources for subject knowledge before sharing this informally in our subject meetings.
The main bulk of the gained time, though, will be dedicated to collaborative CPD. For this, teachers have the choice of accessing a peer coaching programme, team-teaching or collaborative planning (with the latter two being a possibility for those without gained time, as time is freed up for others to work with them in their existing lessons).
The majority of the department have opted for the peer coaching, which will serve to introduce them to the principles of coaching (an approach which will be a central facet of our CPD offer from September) as well as improving our teaching. Through this, we’re going to use our gained time to:
- Access CPD sessions on coaching, including practise of coaching skills (Jim Knight’s book on ‘The Impact Cycle’ has proven invaluable for this)
- Observe each other teaching, using the coaching to set goals and give feedback
Through this, I hope to take my department’s CPD in a direction that means teachers get more of a chance to focus on their individual goals and needs, both this summer and in our CPD time next year. Through this, we can then aim to continue to support our students in overcoming the impact of remote learning and absence that the past 18 months has generated.
References:
Booth J, Perry E and Boylan M (2019) Understanding Teaching as a Profession. Teacher CPD: International trends, opportunities and challenges. P35-41. Available at: https://chartered.college/download-international-teacher-cpd-report/
EEF (2019) The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Pupil_Premium_Guidance_iPDF.pdf
Teacher Development Trust (2020) Guidance on Teacher Goal-Setting. Available at: https://tdtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Guidance-on-Teacher-Goal-Setting-1.pdf
Zucollo and Van den Brande (2021) Why better CPD could be the answer to teacher retention. Available at: https://www.tes.com/news/why-better-cpd-could-be-answer-teacher-retention
