CPD Team

I came across the old document Teaching for Learning (SCCC 1997), from the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum, the other day.  It suggests the following set of questions for teachers to put to themselves on a regular basis:

• How often do I encourage pupils to think for themselves and try out new ideas?
• What techniques do I use to help learners be more aware of how best they learn and why?
• What assumptions do I make about the individual learner when I teach?
• On what are these assumptions based?
• How would I describe the climate I am trying to establish in the classroom?
• What do I say and do to establish this climate?

In terms of delivering A Curriculum for Excellence the advice holds true today.  But I wonder how relevant it would be if the advice was given to school leaders and their relationship with colleagues.  In these terms we would suggest the following set of questions that teachers should put to themselves on a regular basis:

• How do I encourage colleagues to think for themselves and try out new ideas?
• What techniques do I use to help colleagues be more aware of how best they can deliver effective Learning & Teaching and why?
• What assumptions do I make about individual colleagues when I lead
• On what are these assumptions based?
• How would I describe the climate I am trying to help establish throughout the school?
• What do I say and do to help establish this climate?

Interestingly enough, these leadership questions are also vital to the delivery of A Curriculum for Excellence and to laying the conditions for effective leadership of change across the school.

Graham Thomson

Continuing our series on the great, free CPD you can get from CPDFind.

The SQA Academy is a place where you can access professional learning for many aspects of assessment. Combined with LTScotland’s AiFL site, you will get a formidable overview of assessment in Scottish education without leaving the comfort of your computer!

CPDFind links

1. The SQA Academy provider complete list

2. try searching for assessment on CPDFind

Currently guidance on evaluating the impact of CPD is being written by the National CPD Team. The paper will refer to existing sources of information and provide useful prompts for staff and CPD leaders on measuring impact. Exemplars of good practice are now being collated to support the recommendations being made.

Last week saw the Next Steps visits to Greenwood Academy and Ardrossan Academy following the Learning Round visits earlier in the month.  Both schools found the Learning Rounds approach very helpful in influencing their own approach to classroom observation . As with Irvine Royal and Arran High, Greenwood incorporated features of the approach in their already scheduled classroom observation undertaken by the senior management team. The observations will provide stimuli to departments to consider current approaches to learning and teaching. Ardrossan Academy is also intending to incorporate the approach into their observation schedule.

The National CPD Team and SCSSA look forward to ongoing contact with colleagues in each of the 4 North Ayrshire secondaries as they continue to adopt and customise the approach as relevant to their individual contexts.

This leadership development programme continues to progress within the Local Authorities/Councils of Highland, Fife, Dumfries and Galloway, and Dundee City. Participants currently being coached are 6 months through the programme on route to achieving the Standard for Headship. Participants from East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh and Moray Council will attend the launch of the next cohort at the end of April 2009. Flexible Route now has 27 successful graduates who will be recognised, on April 25th 2009 at a ceremony in Glasgow, as having achieved the Standard for Headship.

Kat Healey has joined the CPD Team to support the Flexible Route to Headship project.  She will be based at COSLA, Rosebery House, Edinburgh, and can be reached at kathryn@cosla.gov.uk or 0131 474 9362.

You will get the chance to meet Kat at our anual conference on 23rd-24th April, so please say hello.

The attached paper on lesson observation using the descriptive voice is a direct product of our Learning Rounds work in school. It represents my deep held view that we have to ensure a process of lesson observation that is meaningful, makes a difference and builds on colleagues’ strengths. We would very much welcome any feedback from colleagues and would love to hear about your involvement in good practice around lesson observation.

The paper starts with –

The challenge for every school leader is to create the conditions that maximise each child’s development. Increasingly in Scotland this is being delivered through a Curriculum for Excellence. To do this effectively it is essential to get to grips with the leadership of learning. However the problem for senior managers in some schools is that they are not associated with the leadership of learning but rather the management of the processes and structures around Learning and Teaching such as obtaining supply staff and timetabling.

What is it that school leaders can do that impacts positively on Learning and Teaching? Firstly, they can create an environment that facilitates excellent practice, they can support and encourage teachers to develop their skills and knowledge in Learning and Teaching and, finally, introduce a step-by-step approach that will lead to system wide change. This is change not just at the level of one or two teachers but right across the school.

You can read more in the attached article.

Lesson Observation and the Descriptive Voice.

Eric Burton of the Enterprise team in LTScotland in partnership with Determined to Succeed have developed a number of online CPD resources and professional study materials. Of particular note are the Partnership with Employers resources with their interesting use of video think-pieces and note-taking facilities.

CPDFind links

1. The Enterprise provider complete list
2. try searching for enterprise on CPDFind
3. Join the Enterprise Glow group

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There are lots of different ways to undertake your professional learning and they don’t all have to eat into your valuable CPD funds! Over the next few days on this blog, the National CPD Team will highlight just some of the free CPD available to Scottish education through CPDFind.

Most of the CPD opportunities are available with Internet access and no special passwords. If you see the +Glow logo, then you can access even more through the Glow community. If you are not sure  about your  Glow user account, have a look here.

And if you can’t wait…

Visit CPDFind and enter cost:free in the search box. You’ll get a list of all the free CPD that providers have amassed so far!

 Welcome our good friend Anne McGhee who is working with the team on our new look CPDFind and answering questions from providers.  Check it out and let us know what you think. Anne is a consultant, coach and trainer in the field of personal and professional development, and has worked with the team on a number of occasions in the past