CPD Team

As part of the PRD initiative the team has been looking at the 2002 document on Professional Review and Development. It is interesting to note that inspite of the fact that it predates Curriculum for Excellence by a number of years and it doesn’t articulate the importance of PRD and teacher professional learning specifically in relation to Curriculum for Excellence, it remains entirely relevant and valid for today’s purposes.

This is a guest post from Mike Farrell of the Developing Global Citizens Team in LTScotland

A programme of 5 Open Day Study Visits to secondary schools across Scotland is currently being finalised.  These will take place between January and March.  Many practitioners are increasingly becoming aware that the rich contexts and learning approaches associated with global citizenship are a powerful means of engaging with Curriculum for Excellence.  In this initiative, selected schools are offering an open door to senior leaders to share how they have led a whole school approach to global citizenship.  The school visit will be one part of a process of self-evaluation and planning by participants to take forward similar developments in their own context.  It will also be a stimulus for the development of professional learning communities amongst the participants.  For more information please contact m.farrell@ltscotland.org.uk

In the paper below, written in 2006, I gave my view of the professional development implications which might arise from the development of curriculum for excellence. The paper outlines five essential elements that are present in excellent teaching. Although described separately, they are of course closely linked and interdependent. Taken together, I believe, they describe a model for developing teachers for excellence.

The paper is now four years old, but much of the argument is still relevant and, I hope, helpful in developing good models of teacher CPD.

Following on from the very well received “Learning from each other” event, the team has been consulting with colleagues from a range of agencies and stakeholders on the potential of extending the Learning Rounds model to involve partners in  collegiate CPD activity. The focus would be to consider how best to develop partnership working to deliver on the expectations within CfE, ASL,GIR and MCMC. As always the observations will take place within a learning environment which could be early years, special or mainstream and the principles which underpin the LR approach would equally apply.

The team is hosting a seminar on the 19th January which will explore the potential of the model with a view to trialling it during January and February of next year.

If this is of interest to you we would love to have you on board ! Please get in touch margaret0@cosla.gov.uk

It is fair to say that the noticeboards at Stirling Management Centre on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th November weren’t displaying their usual lists of meetings. Yes, Scotlands’ Colleges were there,  NAR people were there along with a few more seasoned regulars but one event stood out from the others:  Hoo tae luik guid glaikit. This was a two day creative hothouse to give CPD leaders and managers from local authorities the opportunity to  “makeover” their online communities, with the help of the National CPD team and Glow development officers.

Con Morris orchestrated the session, outlining in his introduction the drivers behind the “Glaikit” concept: not just tightening purse-strings but also the massive potential there is in Glow as learning and sharing platform, and how having it brings a  responsibility to use it for sharing at every level especially nationally.

Anna Rossvoll from Aberdeenshire gave a local authority perspective on Glow communities which then lead into groups establishing their priorities and principles for online communities , before getting down to some practical work, expertly supported by the Glow development officers, Katie Barrowman, Sarah Burton, Alan Hamilton,Charlie Love, and of course each other!

As the day evolved, a really useful “makeover sample book” started filling up with useful short “how – to guides”  on using web parts in Glow. A thought-provoking discussion on levels of participation online – the #Glaikit Lurkers Debate began to  probe our understandings and beliefs on communities, sharing, participation and responsibility( collegiality), and spilled over into Twitter, where some people were following our hashtag with interest and joined the debate.

Progress was shared via the trusted puggy machine at the end of Friday afternoon, and before departure people were invited to share their intentions for their communities in the dedicated glaikit i-share area, which will be revisited.

Despite a wild and windy day in North Ayrshire , Jim Keegans and I enjoyed a very warm sesssion with primary head teacher colleagues  on the 28 October. At the invitation of Gary Johnstone , QIM we shared some thinking and prompted discussion on the appropriateness of a coaching approach to support the PRD process. Colleagues were very participative and the reflections and observations which emanated from the group activities and discussions provided very interesting feedback for the authority and enhanced our own thinking on these topical themes .

Edinburgh City organised a very innovative CPD experience for head teachers , deputes and principal teachers on the 5 November . For the first time the senior management teams were given the opportunity to reflect on the strengths of the sector as a whole and to identify how, collegiately, they could continue to develop capacity within and across the specialist areas to deliver on Curriculum for Excellence. It was my pleasure and privilege to facillitate the session. The richness of the discussions and the enhanced awareness which colleagues gleaned from the opportunity provided immediate professional development which has sown the seeds for ongoing collaboration on a system wide level.
The challenges facing school and service leaders is significant but the realisation that there is a shared agenda and the opportunity to explore solutions with colleagues makes it less daunting !

The National CPD Team are delighted to be supporting Shetland Islands Council, EIS and Shetland College in a CPD session about Senior Phase in CfE – Partnership Working

Tony Finn (GTCS) and Roddy Henry (HMIE) will be the main speakers. Margaret Alcorn will be one of the panellists alongside Helen Budge (Head of Schools, Shetland Islands Council), George Smith (Director Shetland College UHI), Jacqui Murray (SQA – CfE Liaison Manager), Katie Barrowman (LTScotland Glow Team),

I will be facilitating the CPDMeet at the event.

It takes place on Tuesday 26^th October at 4.30. If you want to attend in person see the EIS webpage here. If you want to sign up for the online version, see the CPDMeet 15 page on Glow

We look forward to seeing you there!

I was delighted to be invited to talk to Gaelic colleagues at the national conference in Inverness. Here are the challenges Mary MacMillan and I set.

Seo na dùbhlain a gheall mi fhèin agus Con dhuibh aig “An t- Alltan 2010”. 

• Gheibh sibh an taisbeanadh agus ceangalaichean aig http://bit.ly/cpdlinks
• Tadhail air an duilleig seo air buidheann Glow An t-Alltan 2010 airson:
  • pàirt a ghabhail ann an CPDMeet Gàidhlig
  • aon  buidheann/neach ainmeachadh a b’urrainn CPD a’ tabhainn.  Cuiridh sinne fios thuca gus an tèid an ainm air CPDFind. 
  • aon rud a cho-roinn.
  • beagan innse mu do dheidhinn fhèin agus do dhealbh a chur suas!

Mòran taing agus tha sinn an dòchas cluinntinn bhuaibh agus coimhearsneachd air-loidhne a leudachadh.

Màiri

Each member of the National CPD Team has committed to sharing 5 ‘things’ about their SLF experience on the CPDCentral professional community on Glow. We would love you to join us!

You don’t have to share 5 items, just one will do. Why is it called I-share? Because we ask you to share an intention, an issue, an idea, an insight or an item of interesting practice, all beginning with ‘I’.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to the I-share form here

2. You may have to enter your Glow username and password

3. Complete the details and attach stuff if you like

4. Use the hashtag #slf10 in the keywords section please

5. You can see the latest shared items in the Share Section of CPDCentral

Thanks

PS Loads of colleagues have already added themselves to the About Us section, so while you’re on why not introduce yourself with a wee photo?