In September, I will take up a new post as Assistant Headteacher at my current school. Amongst other things, I will have responsibility for developing aspects of school life which will impact directly on the culture of learning in the whole school. These responsibilities include, provision for ITT, NQT and RQTs; pupil researchers; provision for the Most Able; the Learning to Learn curriculum and CPD. So, while I will not be ultimately responsible for determining the direction of Learning and Teaching (my dream job), I will play an important part in growing a learning culture amongst both pupils and staff. Not only, that but I will be a part of the CPD steering group for the Teaching School Alliance of which my school is a member. There are exciting times ahead.
Alex Quigley (@huntingenglish) once told me that, for him, blogging was thinking and so it is my intention to try and think through every aspect of my new role in a series of posts. As this will be an exercise in ‘thinking out loud’, please make allowances if my ideas are sometimes unfocused or contradictory. After all, that’s just the way that evolving thought is, isn’t it? It goes without saying that I would welcome any suggestions or feedback.
CPD
The overarching aim must be to contribute to an ethos in which both students and staff are fully engaged in their own learning journeys.
Like @kevbartle, who has written eloquently about the need to abandon the ‘deficit model of teacher development’ here, I believe that teachers have been de-professionalised by a National Strategies model of CPD and an increasingly aggressive Ofsted framework. The idea has arisen that there is one way to teach and that many teachers fall short in respect of this model. This is connected to an equally toxic idea – that there are ‘outstanding’ teachers and then the ‘others.’ The result is that teachers are disempowered and de-professionalised – they experience CPD as something which is ‘done to them’. As a result, many excellent staff are alienated from their own professional development and this is a huge obstacle to school improvement.
I believe that schools need to create an ethos in which CPD is a state of mind – a growth mindset shared by all teachers in a school – one which is committed to day to day reflective practice and mutual support. The question is, how do we go about achieving this?
First of all, we must communicate the message that there are no outstanding teachers – there is only outstanding teaching and everyone of us can aspire to that. This begs the question, how can we best support staff to explore different ways of strengthening their classroom practice?
Developmental Observations
My ideal state of affairs would be to make a clear distinction between developmental (formative) observations and judgemental (summative) observations. Dylan WIlliams and Hattie both point to the power of effective formative assessment in developing pupils .Surely adults are no different. A culture of developmental walk throughs or formative observations might go some way to dispelling the sense of threat which surrounds observation. Perhaps staff would come to see formative observation in the same way that a professional golfer might regard their programme of coaching: as both essential for success and a professional ‘right.’ Zoe Elder has written about her concept of MOT observations here.
Celebrate the Strengths of All Staff
Leaving this state of ‘Nirvana’ to one side for the moment, a programme of peer to peer coaching seems to me to be essential. Hattie points to the positive impact of peer to peer teaching and I am certain that this would be no different for teachers. One approach would be to train those teachers who are judged consistently outstanding as coaches and pair them with teachers who are ‘stuck’ at ‘satisfactory’ or ‘good’. This would work. Because it is ‘in-school’ there is scope for that essential on-going dialogue which is lacking from one-off, externally provided inset. So far, so good. However,the danger is that this approach would only serve to reinforce the idea that there are ‘outstanding’ teachers and the rest of us.
An alternative approach might be to cast the net more widely and identify those aspects of outstanding practice in the teaching of all our colleagues, particularly those more experienced staff who have been reluctant to engage with new pedagogy . Just because a teacher is not judged ‘outstanding’ overall, there may well be aspects of her classroom practice which are outstanding: for instance – her ability to ‘explain’ a complex idea effectively – or to plan group activities. These teachers could be paired with colleagues for whom group work or explanation is an area of challenge (I recently heard the phrase ‘strength gap’! I’m not kidding!). This would send a powerful message to all staff.
Another approach to generating a pedagogical buzz amongst staff that has impressed me greatly is that adopted by Calderstones High School in Liverpool. At Calderstones, departments have a Twitter account which they use to promote the work of the department. This may take the form of a picture of pupils engaged in a classroom activity, with an accompanying explanation. These tweets are then collated with a hashtag and retweeted by the Calderstones teaching and Learning account (@caldiesTandL). As I understand it, pupils do not follow these accounts, but I think that the impact is as follows: the requirement to promote the department’s work through the medium of Twitter has led to the development of a more reflective pedagogical culture in the school. I would also imagine that the exposure to Twitter has led to those departments who are proactive in this way, making contact with other tweachers working in the same discipline. Twitter has reinvigorated my classroom practice and enabled me to become a more creative, purposeful and effective teacher and I believe that it could work a similar magic on a whole school basis. If you’re not following the Calderstaones suite of Twitter accounts, you’re missing out. Search @caldies… and you’ll never look back.
Pupil Researchers
The idea of pupil ‘voice’ can raise the hackles of some teachers and it is incumbent upon SLT to be mindful of these sensitivities. Staff must not feel that students are placed in the position of judging staff – nor should pupils be put in that position.Instead, it should be a collaborative exercise. David Rogers has written compellingly about his school’s approach here. I am not sure about the wisdom of using pupils as part of the interview process and I am certain that they should not, as some have suggested, play any part in the appraisal process which determines teacher’s pay. However, it is clear to me that if we are to develop a genuine, whole school, growth mindset, that dialogue between staff and pupils is essential.
I think that Lesson Study could represent a positive starting point. As with so many things, I learnt about this approach from reading Rachael Stevens’ (@murphiegirl) blog. According to this model, two teachers plan together to secure the progress of three identified children who represent the full spectrum of ability in that class. One teacher watches the lesson and feedback from the children is solicited. Just as with developmental observations – no grades are involved and the focus is on the learning and not on the individual teacher. Because the focus is on learning and what aspects of the lesson pupils felt helped them to learn rather than on the teacher’s ‘performance’ and because the teachers themselves solicit this feedback from the pupils, it is a transparent and learning focused model which might go some way towards convincing staff of the value of this kind of dialogue and dispelling the suspicion surrounding pupil involvement.
Targets
I am convinced that targets can be a barrier to the development of a growth mindset for both staff and pupils. Pupils often see them as a ceiling on their aspirations and as such they can be determinant of outcomes. The same can apply to teachers who set their expectations of pupils on the basis of their target.
David Didau, @learningspy, has written about countering this through the use of the transition matrices that any school data manager can access. Read about it here.
G 1.% F 1.% E 1.% D 6.6% C31.7% B 39.2% A 18.2% A* 3.5%
If targets are issued to pupils in this format and recorded in exercise books, they might form a useful focus for discussion between pupils and their teachers. The floor target can still be identified, but the pupil can see what a more focused approach might achieve. Equally they can see what might be the consequence of a poor work ethic. I’m planning to trial this in September with the English Department.
I can see the ‘thinking out loud’ aspect here Jamie. I can see the connections forming. I think the different aspects of your role are really exciting.
The challenge is to nudge staff from their largely unchanged core habits to making sustained changes to improve their teaching. I think we are all looking for answers on that one! The answers will be found in the connections made between the different areas you outline above. I think an important cultural aspect for staff is senior leaders sharing their learning and teaching ideas. Newsletters, blogging, Twitter, briefing contributions, training day slots, they all accumulate to a culture shift.
I suspect many of our answers are under our noses, teaching in our neighbouring classrooms. Often they aren’t the showpiece delivering ‘Outstanding’ teachers, but the good teachers who are determined to be better and make a difference. They are the bright spots that can change a culture. I bet if you survey your students those teachers will be known instantly. Can those teachers lead contributions on teaching and learning and help you shape CPD? If you gave them the questions and ideas above they could help shape them into something brilliant.
I look forward to seeing you chart you new and exciting course. I will be looking to spy some great idea! ;0)
And I’ll be scouring your blog for ideas around coaching and deliberate practice, Alex. Thank you for taking the time to comment on the post. If you feel that there is something in it worth considering, there must be!
Hi Jamie – really interesting seeing your initial thoughts as you proceed on this new venture. The ideas and possibilities have a lot of energy. By chance, just before I read this I spent the day tidying my study and came across the notes I made at the SSAT annual conference in Liverpool last November and many of the keynote speakers were saying much that is similar to your approach. My hand-written scribblings have Dylan Wiliam saying “We have no idea of what makes a ‘good teacher’ – a good teacher….. Where does ‘expertise’ come from? It comes not from ‘talent’ – this is far less important than ‘practise’ in leading to expertise. Expertise is the result of ten years of deliberate practice rather than talent.” This seems to be the line you are intending to take by opening up the potential for all teachers to identify where they can develop their technique and pedagogy. The area I think you are right to exert caution is in your recognition of the challenge in spreading good practice. Relying on teachers judged to be ‘outstanding’ to mentor colleagues who are deemed to be ‘not there yet’ has at least two constraints: the first being that ‘outstanding’ teachers are often unaware of why they are judged as such – and are even less able to identify and translate those qualities or habits (an issue there straight away) into those that other personalities can clothe themselves in; and secondly it’s an approach that however you try to present it, places the subject into a deficiency role to be ‘improved’. Another note I’ve got from DW is “Teachers don’t improve by having their deficiencies topped up by experts….professional development shouldn’t be about filling in areas of weakness but making them play to their strengths so they can be outstanding in those areas”. We’re setting up voluntary trios & quads this year to action-research an area of their own choosing that will have an impact on the classroom. It’s attempting to build on this approach.
It seems you’ll have a willing group of people to work with if your remit includes NQT & ITT teachers – and it would be interesting to see if you can attract some of your good/outstanding teachers to work with them for mutual benefit – the transmission of expertise honed by deliberate practice, but also a return-flow of fresh perspective and seeing the school through new eyes should provide the mentors with some food for thought too – especially if they can all work on a pedagogy or presentational technique amongst themselves.
I wish you ‘productive influence’ in this new role and look forward to the posts that emerge as you overcome the inevitable obstacles and enjoy the successes. Shall be looking to learn a thing or two from them.
All the best Jamie.
Andy – Thanks for leaving such a detailed and thoughtful response. I wasn’t aware of Dyan William’s recent comments on deliberate practice. This is a really helpful ‘signpost’ which will help me put flesh on the bones of some of these ideas (first stop – Alex Quigley’s website). As always, thanks for your support, Andy!
Really interesting to read this, Jamie, and the challenge ahead sounds fascinating. I look forward to sharing your journey through your blog!
Thank you, Jill. I’ll try not to disappoint. Please let me know if I veer off in the wrong direction. This is a steep learning curve for me!
Great post, Jamie. I love ‘thinking aloud’ posts.
Spot on comments from Alex and Andy there! Going back to Alex’ first point, yes… we all look for the key ingredients that will really engage all staff. Fiona King would say that we have a collective responsibility to be ‘agentic teachers’, that meaningful collaborations between staff often have a snowball effect that can profoundly change the culture/ethos of an institution. That’s what we’re aiming for. You could also have, for those who are more naturally inclined to read, recommended books in a staff library, or even photocopied contents pages, and later quick reviews by staff as they read them, easily available and promoted regularly.
Would absolutely love to see how it develops.
Have you considered looking at NTEN?
Helene – Thank you for these comments. I love the idea of ‘agentic teachers’ and fully agree that galvanising even small numbers of staff can have a profound impact. Who is Fiona King? Is she published? Can you recommend a book? I’m also keen on developing some kind of book club – along the lines of @TeacherTweaks. I would love to know more about NTEN?
Here are two links that Fiona King sent me when I asked:
Associated paper http://t.co/LKO7e1lADT
Thesis http://t.co/iLN24Dl6r9 Peer review paper in print
Hope they work from here. There is a good summary of the thesis but it is gated.
As for NTEN, I would have loved it if my school had got involved but … Maybe next round.
Info from David Weston or here:
http://www.teacherdevelopmenttrust.org/teacher-enquiry-network/
Helen, you’re a star. Thank you : )
Hi Jamie, hate to mention Ofsted on a Sunday morning but just to help your thinking-during my interview with them, they made it clear that CPD meant all staff, not just teachers and they were right to seek an explicit link between the quality of teaching and CPD and to include everyone. The problem I had already found with a survey of all staff, was that non-teachers tended to regard CPD as unsuccessful if it didn’t result in promotion or more money. I responded by explaining my notion of devpt and decided to focus on trying to develop a collaborative approach to devpt with our TAs as I had worked on with students and teachers. We have 30 TAs so their impact on learning is massive and this coincided with other local schools being criticised for their use of TAs in lessons. They don’t have the PPA/meeting time/chance to discuss that teachers have and often receive little training and yet they are open to inspector fire! I’ve written our early ideas up in the next edition of School Leadership Today and just feel that it is an area of CPD that we often forget because many schools can’t afford to pay TAs to come to inset days/sessions as they use to do. You may have already worked on this with MADCOS but I brought in a couple of other schools to TAmeet with our TAs and I think that they appreciated the opportunity!
I do agree with your other points and have noticed a difference between the schools I work with and talk
to in that the successful ones in terms of progress, inspections and willingness to share, include everyone [students and staff-sometimes parents and the wider school community] in an agreed vision of what outstanding learning should look like and how an individual student or adult can contribute to a collaborative whole. Our students join us below national average and I’m convinced that by constantly engaging them in the language of learning, seeking ‘real’ discussions about their learning whether it be in dialogue or surveys about learning-this student CPD is absolutely missed by many schools and is the reason why some make more ‘progress’ than others. CPD is their right too and they need to understand what constitutes great learning for themselves and how they can develop [and support each other]
If I get the chance to speak for 5 mins at Calderstones, I’ll try to take colleagues away from the obsession with the one-off outstanding obs and share how we try to get all teachers [not just volunteers] to consider their contribution to sustaining high quality learning and measuring the impact on their own devpt and on the learning in their classrooms. Of course we began with timetabled developmental peer obs to allow everyone to participate [and timetable hub meetings and cross-curricular meetings and internally award shared, reflective approaches] but when colleagues, as a matter of course, begin to drop in to each other’s lessons to watch new ideas in action the conscious growth mind-set becomes sub-conscious and CPD has really began to have the effect that the initial vision aspired to.
Good luck at Maricourt with your ideas Jamie-it sounds an exciting place for both students and a teachers to learn together.
Hi David – Thank you so much for responding to the post. As you can tell, I am on a steep learning curve and I am grateful for any advice/ guidance that comes my way.
I’m slightly shamefaced at the fact that, despite having refered to whole school CPD, I conspicuously failed to factor in TAs. I love the idea of a TA Teach Meet and I think that the TSA of which Maricourt is a member might provide an opportunity for that. As I type, I wonder if a focus on Literacy and Numeracy, might be a good theme?
I have a slot to present at #TMNorthWest. I’m planning to talk about group critique. I can easily cut that short to allow you time to speak. I think that it would be a valuable opportunity people to hear what you have to say.
Thanks again
Jamie
Thanks Jamie. I’m booked into the teachmeet already [depending on soccer fixtures!!] Literacy and numeracy are always interesting but I have been specifically working on sharing TA ideas/good practice as we do with teachers, how best to use TAs based on the latest research [and Ofsted criticism of TA/teacher relationships], observing TAs and helping them to measure the impact of their support and so on. I realised that I had spent so long with our teachers and students obsessing with what outstanding learning and teaching should look like that I had missed a key area of school, and a group of colleagues who felt less valued and, in some cases lacked self-esteem and weren’t sure if their jobs were safe considering the negative press they have received in some research and from Mr Gove! We unusually have far more TAs than most and that makes my previous lack of focus on them, retrospectively, crackers- the development of ‘Professional Capital’ should cover everyone – Some of our ideas re TAs and everything else are on our web-site [bulletins, blogs, reports etc.] and are written for our school community [and schools we support] to read, rather than the more usual philosophical blogs-just an idea to engage parents/students/teachers with learning and teaching, rather than giving them too much heavy stuff they wouldn’t bother to read! My political asides and personal views go to teaching staff only!
Look forward to your group critique talk.
I’m looking forward to your talk, Dave. Thanks again for taking the time and trouble to respond. Your comments will certainly inform my planning.