CPD Team

On September 16^th 2010 the CPD Team Leadership Advisory Group met at Cosla for some very positive discussions around Leadership Development at school level as well as Professional Review and Development.  The meeting was attended by Charlie McAteer (Dumfries and Galloway), Gillian Hamilton (East Ayrshire), Margaret Alcorn (National CPD Team), Margaret Orr (National CPD Team) and Bob Cook (National CPD Team).  Also in attendance was Stephen Kyle from Cumnock Academy, whose description of East Ayrshire’s “project leadership in school” programme was hugely appreciated by the group.

Whast follows is abrief summary of the main points that were discussed.

 Leadership development at school level: Gillian and Stephen Kyle introduced reflection on this theme.

 The following 12 features emerged:

• leadership development as a model of learning with which we are familiar
• Importance of quality PRD experience in developing leaders at all levels
• Opportunity of systemic change eg pairing schools
• Authority role in leading initial drive
• Leadership themes relate to CfE (learning and teaching)
• GTCS professional recognition is in-built
• Structure of acting posts can facilitate leadership development
• Each and any school can develop their own leadership model
• Leadership development should show meaningful impact
• Leadership development within a culture of support for professional development
• Importance of headteacher role in leadership development in school
• Is the responsibility of local authority to focus on deficit model?

Professional Review and Development

Emerging themes from the discussion included: 

• Central to leadership development
• Coaching focus
• Skills required in self evaluation
• Authorities looking for systemic change
• Importance of getting it right for PRD of headteachers

 Next steps for the Advisory Group:

• Observation of leadership model at school level in Authority
• Principles of leadership development at school level
• Leadership/PRD as agenda for next CPD Managers’ Network meeting
• CPD Managers to advise on next steps on leadership development at local level

 If anyone would like to further discuss any of the above points, then please get in touch.

 Jim Keegans

Oct 2010

DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP IN A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

                                             IMPLICATIONS FOR PRD & CPD

Professional Review & Development and associated CPD is very topical and is currently a focus of discussion between the National CPD Team and the CPD Network. The team is also exploring the implications for PRD and CPD within the context of distributed leadership. This month’s article offers a perspective on the relationship between the two and one approach which is being trialled by the team to explore the impact of distributed leadership in establishing and sustaining a community of practice. .

If CfE in all its aspirations is to be successfully embedded into practice there is a clear need for all colleagues to be aware of their role and responsibilities and how a staff team complements each other to ensure that children and young people benefit holistically from the skills and experience which determine the quality of the learning experience.

In terms of distributed leadership there is a danger that it is a phrase which can be easily used but not necessarily understood in the same way by colleagues. If it is to be an influence to the good , colleagues must have a shared understanding and commitment to a culture which sees it as empowering staff rather than as a means of delegating unpalatable tasks. It can only operate effectively in a climate of trust and respect. Colleagues who are active in leadership roles focus their contribution on the development of practice which relates to the needs of the pupils in their particular school. Their contribution should be recognised as professional development in the colleague’s own CPD profile and also as a contribution to the professional development of others. This in turn provides a focus for PRD discussions and related ongoing CPD activity. The challenge in schools where children and young people are also accessing support from partner agencies is complex – where does the balance of distributed leadership lie ? What are the mutual benefits ?

The National CPD Team in collaboration with Kersland special school in Renfrewshire is exploring these themes in relation to defining a community of practice which recognises and values the impact of distributed leadership. The collaboration will also consider a model for PRD and CPD to support the approach . The National CPD team recognises that in a climate of inclusion these questions are also highly pertinent in a mainstream setting and will be engaging with colleagues to consider the related PRD and CPD implications.

As ever we would be delighted to hear from you : either in terms of the perspective which has been outlined or any approaches being undertaken in your school or authority.

I have worked in a wide range of roles in education, starting as a Geography teacher and becoming, in turn, a Guidance Teacher, Assistant Head Teacher and then Guidance Adviser for the former Strathclyde Region. In 1996 I entered the Directorate in West Dunbartonshire Council, eventually leaving as Director of Education and Cultural Services in 1996.

Since then I have undertaken a variety of consultancy assignments, working with various councils, including a spell as Interim Head of Education with Stirling Council. I have also worked in International Education on the SCIPD  Programme and have facilitated visits to study school leadership in Ontario. I am currently the course co-ordinator for the SCSSA In-Service Programme and have joined the National CPD Team on a part time basis.
My interests include all aspects of CPD and specifically capacity building and leadership development. My role at present is to lead on the Team’s initiative that will support authorities in enhancing the Professional Review and Development process for staff in schools and developing the linkages between PRD, teachers’ (and others’) CPD and outcomes for children in the classroom.

New members of the team, Bob Cook and Catriona Oates, are leading on an initiative to enhance the PRD experience for school staff.  As well as being an area critical to capacity building and leadership development, PRD is, or should be, a celebration of the impact of our new professional learning  and an opportunity to have an in depth professional conversation about our career development and learning needs as we adjust to the demands of Curriculum for Excellence.  It should be a process which we value, which we find supportive and energising and which puts us in control of our development as skilled and informed professionals.  We know this is the experience for many; it should be the experience for all.

The aim is to build upon the findings and case studies contained in the CPD Team’s Draft Paper of 2008 on Professional Review and Development – PRD Study 2008

Catriona and Bob have so far met with 15 of the 18 councils who have come ‘on board’ with this initiative.  An online survey will shortly be available to assess people’s experiences of PRD, both as reviewee and reviewer. 

The next phase will be to support developments at authority level which will feed into a two day seminar in early 2011, by which time we hope to be clear about how we can make a real difference to the professional learning of school staff and the classroom experience for young people.

Bob Cook would like to make the PRD paper from earlier this year to be more publicly available for his work on PRD. The paper is here PRD FINAL 2010[1].

I attended the launch of the Dyslexia Toolkit at Moray House on the 1 June. Michael Russell officially launched the Toolkit and Sir Jackie Stewart spoke to the benefits which he anticipated it would give to teachers in their understanding of dyslexia .
The CPD Network had a prior sighting of the toolkit at the successful “On Our Doorstep” event in March which highlighted sources of CPD for teachers from a range of partner and associated agencies.
The toolkit provides a very comprehensive overview not only of features of dyslexia but of stages in language development which will be of interest and use to all teachers. It also makes vey helpful links to the stages and phases articulated in Curriculum for Excellence.

As with the best of on-line resources it is flexible and can be used on an individual or collegiate basis. It is also differentiated to respond to the needs of colleagues in terms of their particular stage of professional knowledge and development.

The Toolkit can be sourced on the Framework for Inclusion website at http://frameworkforinclusion.org

Thanks to everyone who has been spreading the word about CPDStepin, the new GLOW group for supply teachers and unemployed teachers, and a big welcome to those who have already become part of the group. If you’d like to join in, but haven’t yet done so, then find out how here.

I was very pleased to do a Hot Seat for the CPDStepin community earlier this week, and really enjoyed talking to those who logged in. It was a small number, but the quality was immense!

From that conversation, it seems there is a problem for many supply/unemployed teachers in accessing support for their Professional Review and Development.  In an ideal world this should be part of an evolving relationship based on good personal knowledge of the teacher’s qualities, skills and priorities. This of course is very difficult when you are offered a number of short contracts in a wide range of schools.

So, if you are in this situation, what can you do?

• “Own” the problem yourself. It is very unlikely that anyone will knock on your door offering PRD, so you’re going to have to try to find ways to track it down yourself
• Do your best to identify a “host” school – somewhere you will be welcomed by the staff and given permission to join in school activities such as In-Service etc.  Use personal contacts, old college friends, long-lost relatives. If this doesn’t work, then contact your authority CPD manager and ask if they can help. Details of who these managers are can be found on CPDScotland.
• If this strategy works, you may still have a problem finding someone in the school who will give the necessary time commitment to support your professional learning. You might start with the  Probation Manager, or any colleague who you find has coaching experience.
• If none of these strategies work, don’t give up. Get together with a local colleague on CPDStepin, and arrange some peer review.

If you have any other strategies that have worked for you, please share them on CPDStepin!

There is more information on CPD for Supply/Unemployed teachers in the guidance issued by the team last year.

The “On Our Doorstep” event on the 17 March at Stirling Management Centre provided an opportunity for 37 colleagues to reflect on the potential of partners  in providing CPD for all teachers from sources which may previously have not been  seen as relevant unless working in specialist services.
The presentation from the independent sector outlined their model of CPD and partnership working ; the school library service was profiled as a  source of collaborative working in addressing , for example , literacy across the curriculum; psychological services was presented as another viable resource for all teachers , particularly highlighting the source of reference materials available on line ; a CD Rom produced by Social Work  Services for We Can & Must Do Better for Looked After Children is full of information and suggestions on how to deal with a range of issues which are not unique to children who are looked after; guidance being finalised by the Allied Health Professionals in partnership with Education rehearses examples of collaborative working in schools which has relevance for all staff.

The information and approaches suggested by the contributors has relevance to all the key agendas impacting on the profession – CfE : GIRFEC & ASL. We would encourage colleagues to explore these avenues which provides teachers with independent access to CPD as well as providing focus for collegiate discussion.

As a result of a discussion in a Dumfries and Galloway Glow group about teacher self-evaluation, I had the pleasure of an invite from Elspeth Penny (CPD manager) to a wee twilight session in Dumfries on the subject of CPD Tools for CfE yesterday.

Colleagues, 25 in total, were based across 2 sites, Lochside Educational Centre and Langholm Academy. The link was made using a videoconferencing  technology (PolyCom I think) which is currently being rolled out across many local schools. It seemed to cope remarkably well with a fast-moving Prezi and my singing!

The focus of the CPD sessions was largely on CPDReflect as a Swiss army-knife for PRD but we managed to maraude through CPDFind, Twitter, Teachmeets, CPDShorts and discussion on the types and sources of CPD. Dumfries and Galloway use an online CPD catalogue (CPD Solutions)

It was heartening to arrive and find that all of the colleagues had Glow user IDs which allowed me to eschew my usual “here’s the link to the CPDLinks blogpost”. Instead we were able to build, on the fly, a Glow page which hosts our follow-up activities. The event started with Glow and will continue on Glow as I hope to be able to keep in touch with the impact of the session and offer ongoing support through the Glow site we built.

You will recall that last year in January 2008, the First Minister announced that the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) was to become a “self-regulating, profession-led body.”

Between April and June 2009 the Scottish Government issued a consultation seeking views on the functions and governance arrangements for an independent GTCS. I now attach a link to a document containing both the analysis of the consultation and the official Scottish Government response which indicates the way forward for the GTCS.

The key question in the consultation for us in the CPD world was of course Question 4 which explored the role of the GTCS in relation to CPD. In response to the issues raised, the SG is “not minded to significantly amend the functions of the GTCS to give the Council an overall lead in this area”.

However the GTCS will be asked to take lead responsibility in relation to the  development and subsequent management of a system of re-accreditation of teachers. The Government suggests this fits well with GTCS overarching responsibility to ensure that the teaching profession provides the highest possible quality of education for children in Scotland’s schools, and will help embed a culture of ongoing professional development throughout the profession.

The GTCS will set the requirements for entry into the profession, set the standards that all teachers must work to, while taking on a new responsibility for helping teachers ensure their skills remain up to date.

There is more information on re-registration and how it might work in the document.

The CPD Team would love to hear your thoughts on this!