Professional Update and Practitioner Enquiry Thursday 3 rd March 2016 Kenneth Muir, Chief Executive General Teaching Council for Scotland

“In Scotland, we are all engaged in what I am sure will be seen in years to comes as a point where we are experiencing and delivering a “paradigm shift” in moving a good education system to becoming a great one; a system that sustains continuous improvement in outcomes for learners and ongoing professional learning for teachers.” Jan 2014

 What are schools for?  What should students learn (in them)?  What learning and teaching approaches?  What should be assessed and how?  How is success in education to be measured?  What is the role and purpose of the teacher in a world defined by change, complexity, fluidity and uncertainty?  How do we best support teachers to delivery high quality education?

“Teacher professionalism is at a threshold. Moral purpose and change agentry are implicit in what good teaching and effective change are about, but as yet they are society’s (and teaching’s) great untapped resources for radical and continuous improvement. We need to go public with a new rationale for why teaching and teacher development are fundamental to the future of society.” Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents Michael Fullan (1993)

“...producing better qualified, work ready and motivated young people with skills relevant to modern employment opportunities.” “...the foundations of successful education lie in the quality of teachers and their leadership.” “Curriculum for Excellence aims to achieve a transformation in education in Scotland by providing a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum from 3 to 18, firmly focused on the needs of the child and young person and designed to enable them to develop the four capacities.

Improve outcomes for all learners Close the Gap Improve standards Curriculum for Excellence What is it trying to achieve? Sustain long-term improvements in school and education system CULTURAL CHANGE Create a high- performing education system

Curriculum Learning + Teaching Qualifications

Curriculum Learning + Teaching Quals

Excellent outcomes for learners Excellent outcomes for learners Steer from the top Build from the bottom support pressure

“ The most successful education systems invest in developing their teachers as reflective, accomplished and enquiring professionals who are able, not simply to teach successfully in relation to current external expectations, but who have the capacity to engage fully with the complexities of education and to be key actors in shaping and leading educational change”. “Teaching Scotland’s Future” 2011

Teachers should be: “Increasingly expert practitioners whose professional practice and relationships are rooted in strong values, who take responsibility for their own development and who are developing their capacity both to use and contribute to the collective understanding of the teaching and learning process.” “Teaching Scotland’s Future” 2011

“At the heart of the Donaldson report is the idea of a “twenty first century professionalism”, a “reinvigoration of professionalism” and “extended professionalism” where teachers are agents of change, not passive or reluctant receivers of externally-imposed prescription and this to be realised by increasing teacher agency through their ongoing professional development” Rethinking professional standards to promote professional learning Forde, McMahon et al, Prof Dev in Education (Mar 2015)

“We want all new teachers to develop as enquiring professionals who are experts in teaching literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. This is critical to ensure the strongest possible progression in learning for all children.”

“The major source of student variance lies within the person who gently closes the door of the classroom and performs the teaching act.” “The remarkable feature of the (research) evidence is that the biggest effects on student learning occur when teachers become learners of their own teaching.” John Hattie “Visible Learning”

21 st c. learning focuses on the need to develop students’ cognitive, inter- and intra- personal capacities. However, a necessary precursor to this is that teachers’ capacity for, and awareness of, their own learning needs to be developed “Leading learning in 21 st century schools” Bull and Gilbert (2013)

“Systems that invest in professional capital recognize that education spending is an investment in developing human capital from early childhood to adulthood, leading to rewards of economic productivity and social cohesion in the next generation Professional capital requires attention not only to political and societal investments in education but also to leadership actions and educator needs, contributions, and career stages.”

Scottish Education today CfE and DYW How Good is Our School? 4 Teaching Scotland’s Future Revised Professional Standards Professional Update Practitioner Enquiry Scottish Attainment Challenge National Improvement Framework Scottish College of Educational Leadership

Putting the learner at the centre (“… personalised, customer or learner- centric…”) Supporting achievement by all Reconceptualising the model of teacher professionalism (Professional Update, revised Standards, Fitness to Teach, etc) Establishing an effective framework that allows continuous review and improvement

“ Professionals need to be fully engaged in the change process and to feel a high degree of ownership about the outcomes. [This] requires an infrastructure for changing professional practice that ensures the profession owns and drives the change.” Harris 2010

Creating an “infrastructure” that supports teachers to: move from being reflective practitioners to becoming enquiring practitioners move from continuing professional development to the concept of career- long professional learning

Professional Standards Professional Update National E-Portfolio Supporting Practitioner Enquiry - EBSCO and Education Research Hub Professional Recognition Awards

“If Standards are to become the basis for promoting high quality professional learning, they need to be regarded as a series of signposts to guide an integrated professional learning agenda, rather than a series of discrete accomplishments to be ticked.” Timperley (2011)

Professional Skills and Abilities Professional Knowledge and Understanding Professional Values and Personal Commitment The Standards for Registration (mandatory, comprising the SPR and the SFR) The Standard for Career-long Professional Learning The Standards for Leadership and Management (for middle leaders and Head Teachers )

Professional Update ITETIS FR Entry Memorandum & Guidelines Teaching Qualifications Qualified Outside Scotland Registration Dual Registration Provisional Registration Full Registration (General) The Enquiring Professional Professional Qualifications & Professional Registration Professional Recognition Standards for Registration SFRSPR Standard for Career-Long Professional Learning Standards for Leadership and Management Professional Review + Devt.

An annual update of contact details to GTC Scotland Engagement in professional learning Self-evaluation and reflection against the appropriate GTC Scotland Professional Standards Discussion of this engagement and the impact of this, as part of the PRD process Maintaining a professional learning record (MyGTCS) 5-yearly confirmation of this engagement to GTC Scotland and sign-off by GTC Scotland

 20% of teachers will complete P/U each year from national implementation in 2014  Teachers with registration years ending in: - 9 and 4 = 2014/ and 5 = 2015/ and 6 = 2016/ and 7 = 2017/ and 8 = 2018/19 For example: 1995 registration = 5 = 2015/16

I confirm that I have engaged in ongoing professional learning and reflected against the appropriate GTCS Professional Standards. I have maintained a reflective record of professional learning and evidence of its impact on my thinking and professional actions. I have discussed this with my line manager as part of my Professional Review

 Work shadowing  Co-operative or team teaching  Participation in collaborative activity e.g. teacher learning community, learning round  Leading or participating in a working or task group  Planning learning which is inter-disciplinary or cross-sector  Participation in activities relating to assessment and moderation  Secondments, acting posts and placements  Masters study and qualifications  Accredited courses or activity related to achieving national professional standards for teachers  Professional/Academic conferences

 Self-evaluation and critical reflection processes  Experiential, action or enquiry-based learning  Professional dialogue with colleagues, other professionals, parents, and learners  Focused professional reading and research  Leading or engaging in practitioner enquiry/action research  Critical analysis of reading, learning and impact on professional practice  Learning about aspects of the curriculum or pedagogical practice  Peer support e.g. coaching or mentoring  Classroom visits/peer observation  Online learning/blogs

To be successful, PU needs: Teacher ownership Leadership in schools and EAs to foster a culture that values PU Acceptance/recognition that professional learning is central to improvement

Professional Learning Hub, a central portal for all users Based on existing GTCS “My GTCS” system Holds record of teachers’ professional learning Portal for professional learning opportunities Piloting from August 2016

Practitioner enquiry, as defined by Menter et al (2011), is a 'finding out' or an investigation with a rationale and approach that can be explained or defended. The findings can then be shared so it becomes more than reflection or personal enquiry. It is usually undertaken within the practitioners own practice/ context or in collaboration with others. Within collaborative enquiry the group shares a common research question which can then be 'investigated' through different lenses to enhance knowledge creation and sharing within the group and beyond. As such evaluation and reflective teaching are fundamental elements of practitioner enquiry if it is to have impact on the practitioners practice and ultimately pupil experience.

“ The desire for teaching to become a research-based profession is a noble one, but ultimately it will not achieve the result its advocates want. Instead we need to focus on teacher expertise, of which research is one of many parts. We need to support current teachers to improve their practice and inform their judgement.”

“Teachers should seek to improve their practice through careful reflection. They need to explore different ways of meeting the needs of their students and try to evaluate (to the extent that this is possible) whether new approaches are more successful than previous ones.”

“ We also need to accept that teachers improve in different ways. Some teachers may wish to share their work with colleagues at conferences or professional development sessions..but...some may feel their time is better spent in other ways. Some may wish to prepare their findings for publication; others may wish to pursue degrees and publish their work in research journals. These are all worthwhile activities with equal footing.”

EBSCO – online access to 1700 educational journals + e-books Research Engagement Group – developing and trialling teacher engagement with EBSCO Education Hub (research hub)

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Professional Recognition provides the opportunity for those who are fully registered with the GTCS and have completed one year of professional practice to focus on and develop their professional learning in particular areas of expertise and gain recognition for enhancing their knowledge, understanding and practice.