October 2005

IPDA 40th Annual Conference CONTENTS Adelphi Hotel Liverpool December 5th and 6th, 2008 IPDA news and 2 Events Whose Development is it anyway? IPDA Cymru 3 Conference Report

IPDA Scotland 4 Seminar Report

IPDA Gifted and 5 Talented Seminar Report

See page 2 for further details IPDA Prize Winners 6 Conference 2007

IPDA Ireland Inaugural GTC survey on 10 Conference teachers’ views on achievement and St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra their own career Saturday April 26th 2008 plans Professional Development in the Masters Degrees 11 Digital Age For all Teachers?

Reviewing the Every 13 Child Matters Initiatives: CPD Opportunities for Schools and Higher Education See page 2 for further details Contact for newsletter contributions: Helen Mitchell at [email protected] IPDA news and events

IPDA IRELAND

inaugural one-day conference

Saturday April 26th 2008 St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland

Theme: Professional Development in the Digital Age

Speakers: Helen Mitchell (University of East London) Professor Bertram C. Bruce (University of Illinois) Anthony Russell (University of East Anglia) Anne Rath (University College Cork)

Workshops and presentations from North and South showcasing professional development models, technology in learning, e-Learning environments, teacher/action research, reflective practice and more

Further information:

Regina Murphy Arthur Rice Maureen Killeavy [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

IPDA 40TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Adelphi Hotel Liverpool December 5th and 6th, 2008

‘Whose Development is it anyway?’

Conference contributions of a paper, workshop- or poster can be submitted in relation to the following sub themes:  Making sense of professional practice  Associations and Agencies: their role in the development of educators  Developing the professional identity of teacher educators  Where is the relationship between research and professional development?  The impact of professional development: can it be meaningfully assessed?

Further details of how to book for the conference and how to submit contributions can be found on the IPDA web site:

Further details of the full conference programme will be posted on the IPDA web site

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 2 IPDA England It was agreed at the last committee meeting to set up IPDA England so that there is parity in the organisation and representation of the UK and republic of Ireland regional groups and their relationship to the main IPDA committee. Each region will now have its own committee, with a joint North – South committee in Ireland. IPDA England will be launched with a one day conference led by Anja Swennen from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam on 23rd and/or 24th June 2008. The conference will develop ideas presented by Anja in a keynote presentation at the IPDA conference 2007 and will focus upon exploring the pedagogy of teacher education for schools and higher education. Further details will be posted on the IPDA web site in April.

IPDA Cymru Conference Report 2008

The annual ipda IPDA Cymru conference was held at the Village Hotel, in Cardiff this year. Delegates included colleagues from schools, local authorities, higher education and police school police liaison officers. The GTCW sponsored some of the teacher delegates to attend. Presentations and discussion groups focused upon exploring issues around CPD and learning for all adults working in the education sector in Wales.

Steve Marshall, director of the department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills in the Welsh Assembly Government, opened the conference with a key note presentation ‘Visions for Transforming Schools’. The rationale for transformation that Steve presented was based upon the premise that education leads to the social and economic prosperity of the Welsh nation. He argued that the focus of transformation is about making a difference to individual learners, not just in terms of outcome, but in terms of well being and a capacity to live in a complex changing world.

‘Remodelling is about positioning ourselves as learners to be successful as individuals and community citizens…. In a way that assists us to close the attainment gap.’

In particular, Steve was concerned to address the apparent deterioration in the achievement of young people as they move through secondary education. He presented an outline of what the top performing school systems, as identified by PISA scores, consistently do well: 1. Get the right people to become teachers Attract and recruit more able people (top third of graduates), improve the status of teaching. 2. Develop these teachers into effective instructors Find ways to develop and change practice at the classroom level and provide feedback to practitioners about their practice at classroom level. 3. Target support so that every child is able to benefit from excellent instruction. Focus on interventions to improve instruction and embed a culture of continuous improvement.

Steve emphasised that “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers,” and noted that status, environment and opportunities to think and share ideas were essential to recruiting and maintaining teacher quality rather than simply equating this with salary.

Steve also referred to recent research about the brain and learning and the importance of feedback on learning and the quality of learning experiences in sculpting synaptic pathways as young people

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 3 develop. It would have been interesting to have had time to pursue some of these ideas further. Slides showing synaptic density in the early years, at 6/7 and at14 showed a move from random low density organisation, to highly dense and chaotic organisation to organised and consolidated pathways. One interpretation of these slides could be that during secondary school years pupils may not be able to attain to the level of expectations indicated in the primary years as a result of a high degree of complex re-organisation.

Dr Sue Lyle, Head of CPD at Swansea Metropolitan University, presented some questions to frame discussion in the group sessions. These questions addressed changes in the school workforce (up to 50% of school staff are not teaching staff), and the changing hierarchies and organisation of schools in relation to this. In particular Sue asked delegates to think about teaching assistants and the extent to which they are peripheral in terms of the nature and level of CPD opportunities available to them. Thinking about the location of individuals in the school workforce, who is central, who is peripheral and who has agency, was a key recurring theme in discussions throughout the day.

Linda Roberts (National coordinator for All Wales Police Core Education Programme) presented details of a training programme for police school liaison officers which enables them to take preventative action in relation to crime and disorder, and to promote positive citizenship. The training programme is accredited at Graduate Diploma level and provides police officers with an understanding of educational practice and methodology. The core programme taught in 97% of Welsh schools has units of work on drugs and substance misuse, social behaviour and community, safety, and a supplementary range of optional modules covering areas such as diversity and internet security. This reflects the multifaceted role of a police school liaison officer which includes law enforcement officer, counsellor, teacher, and point of contact between schools, young people, families and communities. The impact of the Graduate Diploma CPD programme upon police officers is extremely positive and wide reaching and demonstrates a very successful model for CPD in a complex multi-agency context.

Gary Brace Gary Brace, Chief Executive of GTCW presented a summary of development to date in relation to CPD for Teachers in Wales. Gary noted that there has been a move from seeing CPD as a course towards an entitlement for career development. Positive links have been made between GTCW, schools and teachers which enable CPD to work alongside performance management in the context of a professional development framework. The framework includes valuing reflection and brings together contributions from higher education and other partners. The framework encompasses career progression including milestones and a structure for chartered teacher status to identify stages of career development. Professional development and status has also been linked to Higher Education awards. The Chartered Teacher initiative is currently in a pilot phase and is expected to be introduced to all teachers in Wales in 2010. Further details of the GTCW proposals for CPD and the Professional Development Framework for Teachers in Wales may be obtained from the GTCW website: gtcw.org.uk

The afternoon session enabled the eighty participants from HEIs, LEAs, schools, government departments and other agencies involved in CPD to share experiences through workshops on ‘Leading and developing a flexible whole school workforce in primary and secondary schools’, ‘The developing role of the teaching assistant’, ‘CPD for a remodelled workforce’, and ‘HEIs: CPD opportunities and action’.

The conference organisers, Ken Jones and Sue Lyle, would like to thank IPDA committee members and other colleagues for their support in making the day such a success. We look forward to next year’s IPA Cymru annual conference.

IPDA Scotland Seminar Report March 2008

The second seminar held by ipda (Scotland) was a resounding success. The seminar was held in the Faculty of Education, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow on 6th March. Participants had the

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 4 opportunity to hear 4 speakers present their perspective on Teachers as Learners: Is CPD Hitting the Spot?

Tom Hamilton, Director of Educational Policy for the GTCS spoke about his vision. He was a little contentious and talked about the various Standards, and the idea of standards for leadership. He also raised the question of re-registration. Margaret Alcorn, National CPD coordinator talked about the various types of CPD available to teachers. Professor Donald Christie, convener of the collaborative research network on Learners, Learning and Teaching, part of the Applied Educational Research Scheme spoke about the team’s research into teacher CPD. Alex Alexandrou, independent academic, spoke of his research EIS learning reps and the positive effects of that partnership. Finally Vicki Hamilton, a learning rep herself, spoke of her perceptions of teachers’ CPD and suggested that we ask the students if teacher’s CPD was hitting the spot.

The proceedings were ably chaired by Veronica Rankin National Officer (Education and Equalities) of the EIS. Participants had the opportunity to debate where they felt they were in terms of CPD and to make suggestions for the way forward. They presented the results of their deliberations to the panel of speakers.

The evaluations of the seminar were very positive with a number of requests for further seminars along similar lines to encourage more in-depth reflection on CPD.

Ann Grieve. Convener ipda (Scotland)

IPDA Gifted and Talented Seminar Report October 2007

Background The importance of evidence-based policy and practice for G&T Education is axiomatic. A key source for such evidence is the HEI research community. Accordingly, IPDA held a seminar on 22 October to inform the dialogue between the DFCS [Department for Families, Children and Schools] and CfBT and the two major HEI research centres into G&T at Warwick and Brunel Universities. The seminar’s context was the rapid development of policy and related practices in the light of CfBT being awarded the government’s management contract for G&T Education and the related closure of NAGTY [National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth].

The seminar opened with two papers from Ruth Hewston of Warwick University, reporting on NAGTY’s research centre and Valsa Koshy of Brunel University’s Able Children’s Centre [BACE]. Ruth gave an overview of NAGTY’s research, stressing both its longitudinal enquiries, largely statistical and complementary strands with a case study focus using mainly qualitative research involving practitioner researchers. Valsa outlined developments in BACE’s Urban Scholars Programme the evidence from which suggests effective approaches to supporting disadvantaged G&T pupils in their progression to Higher Education: findings that are highly significant. After the presentations the seminar broke into small discussion groups. Below is a summary of their main recommendations in terms of research priorities linked to strengthening the dialogue between DFCS, CfBT and the G&T research community.

Recommendations for research into:

1. effective models for maximising the Aimhigher G&T cohort’s transition to Higher Education There is overwhelming evidence of the relative ineffectiveness of current programmes. 2. Effective pedagogy that provides the stimulus, engagement and learning outcomes that G&T children need to fulfil their potential. 3. Identification need for a robust, effective and efficient system for teachers to identify pupils who have outstanding gifts and talents. 4. Effectiveness of G&T support from Year 3-12, i.e. identification of groups who might currently be under-supported, e.g. Year 6 high achievers, pupils during primary/secondary transition

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 5 5. Pupils in the top two percentile nationally: adequacy/effectiveness of provision for this sub- group, i.e. in terms of their needs they require equivalent support to SSN pupils. 6. Assessment for Learning and Personalised Learning how effective does it meet the needs of G&T children. 7. Professional development provision that equips teachers to meet the G&T challenge. 8. Cultural factors: the whole educational experience of the pupils involving home/school/external influences and factors and relative impact of G&T school policy. 9. Impact of achievement and celebration: i.e. affective factors and ethos. The emotional side of the learning equation: the orientation element that research has highlighted as crucial in the context of teacher professional development. 10. Primary Transition review of effectiveness of the transition for G&T pupils. 11. Subject specific provision: maths and science: how effective is this, bearing in mind qualifications and experience of many teachers of maths and science. And, what models of effective professional development can be developed through Research and Development. 12. Identification and provision for the post 16 age range research drawing upon international provision into effective models for education of G&T students. 13. KS1/Foundation stage research needed into what G&T here involves, and what its impact is upon the subsequent development of G&T children in this age range. 14. Characteristic of lead teachers / leading edge schools and how this can be built into effective professional development programmes. 15. Independent learning and its role within the overall pattern of pupil education, with a focus on ICT.

IPDA Prize Winners from the Annual Conference 2007

IPDA prize winners Diane Powles and Lynn Attwood with Tony Bates (IPDA treasurer) and Alex Alexandrou (IPDA secretary)

IPDA Prizes 2007 The two main prizes are made up of a certificate, medal and a cheque for £100.

Erika Lovelady IPDA Prize

Lynn Attwood – is an employee of the Bath & North East Somerset Local Authority (LA) in the Parent Partnership Service section of Children’s Services. Lynn is enrolled on the Professional Master’s Programme (PMP) at Bath Spa University and has recently completed her final dissertation project. Lynn describes her master’s project and the journey to completion below.

What joy to be notified in November 2007 that I had won the Erika Lovelady Prize as a result of my MA Dissertation research project submitted to Bath Spa University! The research, entitled ‘An

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 6 evaluation of communication between educational professionals and parents and its impact on families and working in partnership with parents’ was based on parental and professional perceptions of communication, with examples drawn from health, social care and education, although set within the context of Special Educational Needs in Education.

To contextualize my own role for working with parents, I am employed as the Parent Partnership Service Co-ordinator/Manager for Bath & North East Somerset Council, having strategic and operational responsibility for a small Statutory service, whose remit under the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2001) is to offer information, advice and support to parents of children with Special Educational Needs who have concerns associated with their children’s education. This service is provided ‘in-house’ and operates at ‘arms length’ from the Local Authority by providing impartial information in line with local and national policy, from which parents may make appropriate and informed decisions about their children’s education. All Parent Partnership Services operate according to national and regional standards; they are subject to rigorous monitoring, evaluation and benchmarking of performance and must produce measurable outputs in compliance with the Five Outcomes under Every Child Matters: Change for Children (2004).

I line manage two part-time Local Authority colleagues, one of whom is the Independent Parental Supporter Training and Development Officer and the other an Administrative Officer as well as a team of volunteers - it being a Statutory requirement that the service is supported by trained volunteers, sufficient to meet local needs, known as Independent Parental Supporters. Volunteers provide independent support for parents, ranging from accompanying them at meetings to explaining policies and procedures around Special Educational Needs.

Parent Partnership Services have a responsibility to encourage schools and local authorities to work more effectively with parents. Empirical evidence and experiences reported by parents indicated that communication that is negative (or perceived to be) is a hindrance to forming effective partnerships and may have significant consequences for family life and children’s educational outcomes. The research was, therefore, designed to evaluate perceptions of communication between parents and professionals and the effects of poor communication with a view to significantly improving relationships between the parties and in improving children’s outcomes. Key findings included:

 Approximately half of all professionals and parents experience discomfort when meeting each other.  There was disparity between what parents considered important in meetings and what professionals thought parents considered important.  School professionals appeared unaware of all the principles required for helping relationships and the significance of such principles in forming partnership with parents.  Over three quarters of all professionals admitted to having caused offence, while a quarter of parents expressed dissatisfaction with professional sensitivity.  Half of all professionals considered that parents were equal partners with regards to Special Educational Needs, but parents generally disagreed with this.  All school professionals acknowledged the importance of working in partnership, although few receive formal training in how to undertake this activity.  Effective partnerships with parents indicated an improvement in children’s outcomes: 28% behaviour and discipline, 17% attitudes, 56% educational outcomes and 11% examination preparation, SEN Reviews and interpersonal skills.  All parent interview respondents and most of their children had been detrimentally affected by negative communication.

The results identified a need for reflective practice and training of professionals engaged in working in partnership with parents in:

 Effective social communication skills.  The core ethical values and characteristics of Rogerian (Rogers, 1967) counselling relationships.

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 7 My employer consented to the research being conducted within the County, and granted 15 days study leave and a further 4 days in which to conduct interviews; all research activity in excess of these days was undertaken in my own time and the project was self-financed. Having decided to conduct a strategic change project of medium size (as opposed to the usual small-scale size required for MAs), I anticipated the completed research would go to the November 2007 examination board.

Soon after registering for the MA Dissertation during summer 2006, I was diagnosed with pneumonia (having been unwell for some months previously); this resulted in three months away from work, followed by a phased return, during which time little progress was made on the project. In January 2007, a milder episode of pneumonia resulted in a further two week period of sick leave before any significant progress could be made on the project.

Furthermore, over Christmas 2006, our eldest daughter became engaged and our youngest daughter decided to apply for University. During the time spent on the research project, there were other episodes of ill health while wedding preparations gathered apace. Work was attended, but living some 21 miles from the office, where the journey averages an hour each way, a typical working day amounted to 10 hours, before peaks in service demand necessitated additional hours. Fortunately, the work-based Professional Masters Programme is designed to take into account the pressures and commitments of adult learners and was flexible in that it accommodated an inconsistent work flow, interspersed with intense activity, according to my personal circumstances at the time. This resulted in my Supervisor, Doctor Steven Coombs (at Bath Spa University) receiving several drafts at once in order to achieve project milestones specified on the revised Project Schedule; he was always supportive, with timely advice and provided the option of a deferment (more than once) which I declined.

Finally, the critical month of September 2007 arrived. On the 15th our eldest daughter was married; on the 16th our youngest daughter went to University and on 24th, the project was finally submitted to Bath Spa University, having completed final revisions on the week following the wedding. My experiences are (hopefully!) not typical, and I would encourage anyone reading this to remain undeterred by unplanned ‘life events’ (including good ones like weddings!) and to remain focused on the final goal. Of course, I was pleased to achieve the MA, but winning the Erika Lovelady prize made it all worthwhile!

E-mail: [email protected]

Symposium Books IPDA Prize

Diane Powles – University of Wales, Newport Diane Powles gained the best MA Ed and Linked Named Awards marks, including an A15 Distinction for her dissertation. Diane is a Nurse Educator with Gwent NHS Trust, currently on secondment as a Senior Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Glamorgan. Diane utlines her project beow:

Pre-registration student nurses rely on clinical mentors to support, supervise, teach and assess them in the clinical setting. The role of the mentor is crucial in ensuring students are fit for practice and purpose at the point of registration. Empirical evidence suggests that mentors experience difficulties in coping with this multifaceted role and as a consequence students’ clinical experiences are variable. The implementation of the All Wales Initiative, Fitness for Practice in 2002 sought to ensure equity and quality of experience for student nurses across Wales. This encompassed the statutory preparation of mentors.

This study aimed to explore newly qualified nurses’ perceptions of role of the mentor in preparing them for clinical practice at the point of registration. The study was a descriptive survey adopting

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 8 a mixed method approach, using questionnaires and interviews. The sample (n=16) comprised of newly qualified nurses within a local South East Wales NHS Trust.

The findings indicated that in general student nurses perceived the role of the mentor to be effective in preparing them for practice. However they also revealed that clinical experiences varied depending on the enthusiasm, knowledge and commitment of the mentor. All respondents considered that time spent with their mentor was an influencing factor in the development of their clinical skills. This study indicates the selection, preparation and continued support for pre-registration mentors is pivotal for the development of competent and confident nurses at the point of registration.

Two individuals received IPDA Commendations because we felt their work should be recognised. The IPDA Commendations is made up of a Certificate and a cheque for £25.

IPDA Commendation: Elaine Minett – MA (Ed) Student at the University of Chichester

Comme ci or comme ça? Models of delivery of Modern Foreign Languages in primary schools: a comparative study

This study was carried out from August 2006-July 2007 in the lead-up to the introduction of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) into primary schools by 2010, part of the National Languages Strategy for England: Languages for All: Languages for Life (DfES, 2002a). As there is no single recommended model of delivery of primary MFL, schools are experimenting with various types of provision which fit generally into three main categories: visiting specialists from outside the school, semi-specialists who regularly teach in the school but also assume responsibility for all MFL teaching, and non-specialist class teachers. The first and last of these models are reasonably well- established in primary schools, but there is perhaps less information available about the role of the semi-specialist. These three models of delivery by teachers with varying degrees of expertise and experience, in both the foreign language and primary practice, were examined with a view to informing headteachers and decision-makers of the best route into provision of the MFL entitlement. Underpinning this research is the understanding that primary MFL is inherently primary: this initiative should therefore reflect the primary school ethos. Although revealing the advantages and disadvantages of each mode of delivery, this study also highlights the importance of individual teachers and the contribution they make to the success of each model.

IPDA Commendation: Irene Haining – University of Strathclyde

Young bilingual learners in monolingual classrooms: a pathway to excellence

This work describes a project undertaken in a primary school where few bilingual learners shared their home language with classmates. It investigates the educational experiences of bilingual children in the early stages of primary school and identifies ways in which a school can improve the effectiveness of provision for bilingual learners. The study identifies practical difficulties in supporting isolated learners in maintaining their home language, even in a context which was supportive and inclusive.

The wide literature review considers two main areas; recent theories of learning and teaching, and theories relating to the use of language to learn, a concept particularly important for bilingual students. The study is practitioner action research, with elements of case study and ethnographical

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 9 methods. The key issues emerging from the research considered the educational experiences who are at stage 1 of language acquisition; whether pupils are achieving their potential in the monolingual curriculum; how the school shows that it values home languages and promotes bilingual skills.

The work reflects in detail how education and professional development has contributed to tackling the very real social issue of bilingual learners in monolingual classrooms, a topic of currency in today’s climate. It engages with concepts of pupil difference, and practices of social justice, inclusion, and the countering of discrimination and promotion of personal well being. The investigation produced recommendations for improvements in practical arrangements for new arrival, working with parents unfamiliar with the education system and for support for reading in the early stages of the primary school.

GTCE Survey reveals teachers’ views on achievement and their own career plans

The General Teaching Council for England today publishes two reports on findings from its 2007 teacher survey. The first report focuses on teachers’ views on continuing professional development and their own career plans. The second explores teachers’ experience of working to improve pupil achievement and their judgements on how achievement should be recognised and measured. A third report, with the views of a sample of Black and Minority Ethnic teachers will be published later this month.

Report one – teachers’ careers Teachers’ access to good quality continuing professional development continues to improve, the survey finds. For the third year in succession, the proportion of teachers who say that their development needs have been met (in full or in part) has risen – from 77 per cent in 2004 to 83 per cent in 2007. However not all groups of teachers have fared equally well – for example 37 per cent of supply teachers say their development needs have not been met.

Teachers’ plans to move into leadership or headship have not changed significantly since 2006. Then and now, the proportion of teachers who say they expect to become a head teacher in the next five years remains at six per cent. But this figure includes all teachers, even the most junior, and the proportion of those saying they expect to move into leadership positions is more encouraging, at 31 per cent. Efforts by the National College for School Leadership to promote headship are bearing fruit. Nine per cent of respondents say they plan to take the National Professional Qualification for Headship in the next five years – equivalent to 45,000 teachers.

The male bias in school leadership looks set to continue. More than four in ten (41 per cent) of men compared with 29 per cent of women anticipate moving into leadership positions and nearly twice as many men (15 versus eight per cent) plan to take the National Professional Qualification for Headship.

The demographic profile of the teaching profession is unbalanced, with more than 50 per cent of teachers aged 45+. This makes retention a serious issue for schools and local authorities as these more experienced teachers, often in senior positions as school leaders, move towards retirement. Over a quarter of senior teachers* responding to a question on retirement say they are likely or highly likely plan to retire in the next five years, as do half of all serving head teachers who stated their intentions.

Commenting on the career findings GTC Chief Executive Keith Bartley says:

“We have substantial numbers of teachers who are interested in moving into leadership positions in schools. It is vital that we make a renewed effort to understand and invest in the support that they need to succeed. We then have to help more of them to step up further to headship. Concerns about work life balance and administrative overload are key

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 10 factors deterring senior teachers from taking the next step and yet once in role, head teachers say the job is immensely rewarding. We will continue to support the National College of School Leadership’s succession planning strategy.

“Along the way, we must ensure that we capitalise on the experience of that substantial group of senior and experienced teachers who will be retiring in the next five years. We know that they find it professionally rewarding to share the depth of their learning with less experienced colleagues and we cannot afford to let that expertise leach away.”

Report two – pupil achievement For the 2007 survey, the GTC chose to focus on teachers’ views and experience of pupil achievement and strategies for tackling underachievement. The survey found that teachers do not take a narrow view of attainment, as measured by national tests. Instead they want to see more emphasis on creativity, becoming a life long learner and on becoming active citizens. Seventy per cent said that schools give too much emphasis to national test-focused achievement, with primary teachers particularly likely to take this view. Teachers identify a very broad range of factors which can impact on pupil achievement. Gender, ethnicity, class, family background and income are all cited. Higher or lower parental expectations are seen as key. Nine out of ten teachers with experience of working with parents to help them support their child’s learning said the effort had a beneficial impact on achievement.

Writing in the Foreword to this report, Sarah Stephens, GTC Director of Policy points out that many of the factors that can affect achievement are well known but says “We cannot assume that a pupil will under attain, just because he or she is a member of a group that has been shown statistically to be at risk of doing so…..Schools are key determinants in the paths that individual pupils take and .. teachers are crucial to confirming or interrupting those paths.”

On the finding that more than half of teachers responding to the survey said league tables had a negative impact on achievement, Keith Bartley said:

“The evidence is clear that tests in themselves do not raise achievement. The GTC believes the time has come not only for a radical overhaul of league tables but of the assessment regime as a whole. We need more valid forms of assessment that draw on teachers’ judgement and expertise and promote – not just measure – learning. Of course schools must remain accountable to parents and the public and we have recommended both to Government and to the children, schools and families select committee a system of sample testing that would retain accountability, reduce the testing demands made of pupils and free up curriculum time for learning.”

* Heads of department, year and key stage The survey was carried out by research agencies ORC and LC Research Associates and was completed by 2,489 teachers in spring 2007. The survey reports can be found at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/research/tsurvey/survey07/

Contact Susan Limb on 020 7023 3907/07929 149 427 or Fiona Johnson on 020 7023 3943/07788 101 600

Masters Degrees for All Teachers?

In a recent speech setting out his vision for education the prime minister made it clear that he wants the UK to have a ‘world class’ educational system worthy of the twenty first century. He believes that we should aspire to first match and then exceed what he thinks is the best.

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 11 Gordon Brown provides us with his list of top performers. It includes Finland where, he tell us, not only do almost all children reach the required standard of literacy by age 11 and ten people apply for every place available on teacher training courses but every teacher has a masters degree. This is the second time recently that the prime minister has referred to the high qualifications of teachers in Finland.

The speech is confusing in places. It is as though people with different views had been asked to write parts of it. At one point he reverts to an earlier interpretation of Gifted and Talented which was that every child has gifts and every child has talents and seems to be suggesting that this should be the foundation of policy. We must, he says ‘unlock all the talents of all’. This, of course, fits in with the Every Child Matters agenda and with other points that he makes elsewhere about personalisation. But then he says that the present G&T scheme shall be expanded even although it is not easy to discern any cogent, coherent or comprehensive approach to the business of selecting the ‘top 5%’. Schools differ widely in how they set about selection and many teachers are unwilling to negatively label 95% of children as non-gifted and non-talented.

Assertions and examples from other countries are prominent in the speech and we are also given a selection of inspiring school mottos (Gordon Brown’s own school motto was ‘I will try my utmost’). But the message for CPD is that professional learning is going to receive considerable attention if teachers and schools are to deliver the vision. We are told that:

 the best education systems recruit the best people into teaching - the top 5 per cent in South Korea, the top 10 per cent in Finland, the top 30 per cent in Singapore and Hong Kong;  in excellent schools, the teachers receive continuous training and professional development which updates their skills and expertise - and there is strong leadership from good head- teachers who have autonomy to lead their schools.

And just in case we do not get the message that CPD will be carrying a lot on its shoulders we are also told that: ‘in Chicago, Boston and New York, education leaders take a systematic and relentless approach to tackling failing schools.’

We have, he says, ‘moved our education system from below average to above average. But we have to do more than that. Our ambition must be nothing less than to be world class in education and to move to the top of the global education league.’

He goes on:

‘And so it is time to say: not just that we will aim high, but that we can no longer tolerate failure, that no longer will it be acceptable for any child to fall behind, no longer acceptable for any school to fail its pupils, no longer acceptable for young people to drop out of education without good qualifications without us acting.

No more toleration of second best in Britain.

No more toleration of second best for Britain.’

We will, he tells us, ‘put an end to failure.’

There will be a ‘systematic plan of ever tougher measures for eradicating failure starting with:

 annual improvement targets for all schools that fall below the threshold;  new incentives for the best teachers to teach in toughest schools - including expanding 'Teach First' and 'Teach Next' to have the best possible teacher intake;  good schools brought in to help poorer schools under improvement networks run 'by schools, for schools', as the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust motto puts it;

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 12  warning notices to trigger intervention powers, including new interim executive boards to take over the school management;’.

The prime minister continues the policy of his predecessor by threatening ‘complete closure or takeover by a successful neighbouring school in a trust or federation, or transfer to academy status, including the option of take over by an independent school.’

Clearly this is a speech that emerges from a deeply rooted personal passion and the policy outlines that will follow from it will have considerable force. We are expected to be not only above average but also all together at the top of the global educational league table. We are expected to maximise the gifts and talents of all and also to be intolerant of failure. There is, he tells us, ‘no room at the bottom’.

He wants to see a cultural transformation of education. This means focussing on classroom standards and monitoring examination standards rigorously, reforming the qualifications system and mobilising ‘universities and businesses behind school improvement.’

There are likely to be a number of levers for this cultural change but most prominent among them will be the intention to ‘raise still further the status and standards of teaching’.

‘Research is’, he says ‘absolutely conclusive about teaching standards. If you take a group of fifty teachers, a child taught by one of the best ten will learn at twice the speed of the child taught by one of the worst ten. Teaching quality is that important.’

His goal is: ‘to have a world-class teaching profession for all our pupils within a generation.’

‘And we will promote greater opportunities for teachers to undertake professional training and development, linked to performance assessment.’

‘This is my belief: that world-class performance comes from consistent brilliance from teachers in every classroom; professionals who seek continuous improvement, who teach better lessons tomorrow than they did yesterday because they are learning all the time; who when a pupil falls behind don't assume it is a lack of ability but instead ask - "how could I teach that material better to enable my pupil to master it?"

This is the challenge for teachers. We will assist them in rising to it.’

Cliff Jones November 2007

Reviewing the Every Child Matters Initiatives: CPD Opportunities for Schools and Higher Education

The Origins of Every Child Matters The Every Child Matters (ECM) initiative of the UK government represents arguably the biggest change to the organisation of provision for children since the 1944 Education Act. The changes of structure, culture and working practices affect all those who work with young people from 0-19. ECM arose from the death of the young Victoria Climbie in 2000 at the hands of those close to her. The subsequent Laming Report strongly criticised the fragmentation of services and the lack of accountability across the various government departments and agencies. This is something that had repeatedly happened in many similar cases throughout the preceding decades and, in effect, the Climbie debacle was the final straw! It is worth teasing out the potential impact of such fragmentation of children’s support services. UCET recently published a report reviewing ECM

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 13 policy with Kirk and Broadhead (2007) spelling out the serious repercussions of a lack of inter- agency cooperation and coordination.

The DfES Green Paper (2003) set out a wider picture of deprivation and inequality identifying growing gaps in achievement, disengagement with education, social exclusion and an increased risk of offending. The ECM policy considers the potential social and economic benefits of bringing convergence across all of the organizations that make up Children’s Services across the Local Authorities (LAs) in England and has required them to restructure so as to enable the integration of education and social services provision.

Underpinning these many changes to Children’s Services was an acknowledgement of the need for community involvement with the needs of the child; for agencies working together to meet those needs, and for an emphasis on early intervention. ECM, in essence, sets out to address key aspects of child development and protection: being healthy; staying safe; enjoying and achieving; making a positive contribution; economic wellbeing (see http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/).

The ECM Act of Parliament was followed by the ‘Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners’ (DfES, 2004). Out of these major reforms arose the wider workforce in schools, which is seen as a significant sub-set of the total Children’s Workforce. Since 2005 most Local Authorities in England have been reformed such that previous divisions between social services and education have been amalgamated into a common Children’s Services Directorate.

The DfES wider workforce initiative saw the creation of an independent National Remodelling Team (NRT) to reform working practices and services in schools. However, the NRT has recently been restructured and amalgamated into the Training and Development Agency (TDA) for schools under their new remit of being the TDA’s Development Directorate (http://www.tda.gov.uk/remodelling.aspx), which is responsible for implementing two major initiatives: The National Agreement and Extended Schools.

Another newly created major agency responsible for developing children’s services is the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) (http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/), which funds the new Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) qualification (allegedly equivalent to normal UK qualified teacher status in England). The CWDC has also pioneered the goal of achieving an Integrated Qualifications Framework (IQF), so as to provide clear progression routes across existing professional barriers in Children’s Services.

ECM: Implications for Schools As the Every Child Matters agenda gathers momentum and schools come to terms with new concepts such as ‘wraparound provision’ and ‘extended schools’ and a rapidly expanded workforce, CPD co-ordinators need to take a fresh look at what might be the needs of such a disparate workforce as well as those who may have intermittent contact with the school or pupils with particular needs. Such ECM-related issues set out five key challenges for educational CPD co-ordinators, at a time when many other government initiatives loom large in strategic plans.

1. To understand the sheer diversity of all those different professional groups working directly or indirectly with schools and colleges and the wide range of needs of all those different players.

2. The need for school staff to ‘buy in’ to the need for training in ECM and share the common values it represents. In the last 10 years we have seen school staff development and funding dominated by key Government initiatives such as the literacy strategy, with much less emphasis placed upon non-core areas of school life.

3. To identify the expertise that exists within the LA and the school. A key issue for many LAs and schools will be the question, ‘who trains the trainers?’ Few teachers in schools will

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 14 have a background in health and social work, and Local Authorities, particularly small ones, may well be hard-pressed to provide the specialist input.

4. The issue of resources; principally costs associated with professional time. Schools need to ensure that all of their staff is fully prepared and trained to meet the ECM agenda.

5. Finally, the issue of acknowledging staff skills and competences and identifying flexible career accreditation routes that enable worker progression. At present there is a plethora of diverse and unrelated qualifications for all those working with or professionally connected to children schools. And even with the implementation of the IQF (Integrated Qualifications Framework) (CWDC, 2006) initiative, it might still be difficult for schools to meet ECM needs and invest in appropriate qualification routes such as the Foundation Degree for TAs.

ECM: Implications for HE As staff development in the school sector has to change, so too does the work of Higher Education (HE) CPD managers and tutors, who are principally concerned with providing high quality CPD provision.

Some of the issues and challenges of HE mirror those in schools, but a recent ESCalate funded research project was conducted via telephone interviews with key members of the CWDC, CWN, GTCE, GSCC & NMC agencies that identified a range of key aspects (Coombs & Calvert, 2007) for which institutions need to be aware. The key issues identified were as follows:

1. The need to provide smooth transition across the current vocational and academic qualifications divide, i.e. between the academic degree levels and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) (Coombs, 2006). Whilst there is rough equivalency between these levels, there is no automatic progression and a standard system of accreditation of prior learning (APL) across this education and training sector divide.

2. Linked to this is the concern for postgraduate accredited professional learning which emphases the academic notion of criticality amongst professionals, an element which has been strongly supported by Ofsted (2004) as having a direct impact on school improvement. This CPD imperative is an essential prerequisite for the ‘thinking professional’ who must be able to respond flexibly and cross the existing professional boundaries of the Children’s Workforce in order to achieve the goal of an Integrated Children’s Services support team.

3. Central to the creation of meaningful career progression routes for the Children’s Workforce is the establishment of an IQF (Integrated Qualifications Framework). This would seek to rationalise the multiplicity of qualifications, ease progression, and transfer in and across the various professional sectors and lead to recognition for both generic and specific skills at a range of levels (8 are planned from level 2 to HE and professional level qualifications). The CWDC intends to implement the IQF by 2010, although this deadline is optimistic given the nature and scale of the task required.

4. The additional task in relation to ECM and inter-agency working will be the creation of ‘transfer courses’ to enable parts of the workforce to be equally recognised in other professions.

5. One of the main challenges is to reduce the plethora of diverse qualifications and encourage awarding bodies to seek mutual recognition of prior learning and/or experience (APL/APEL).

6. A further factor which might affect HE is the likelihood that the primary focus of the IQF may well be to prioritise upon developing the lower levels of qualifications initially. This means NVQ levels 2 and 3 and progression onto Foundation Degrees (FDs).

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 15 7. It would be sensible for HEI providers interested in ECM at postgraduate level to draw in as many professions as possible to courses and modules focusing on leadership and management roles in the context of multi-agency work.

Our research also identified that funding ‘is not very joined up at the moment’ (Monica Farthing, TDA). A clear example of this is the TDA funding of PPD, which is additional funding to promote MA-level engagement to support the drive for school improvement. This funding can only be drawn down for state recognised qualified teachers in England registered on ‘PPD approved’ courses. This means that there is little incentive for courses such as the MA in Improvement, Development and Change at York St John University to widen its intake to take on a range of ECM professionals: unless, of course, they pay the full cost recovery fee, which brings in issues of equity and parity of access for colleagues working in disparate groups across Children’s Services. Clearly, the benefits for master’s level training for professionals engaged with children is well understood, as the recent Government white paper The Children’s Plan (DCSF, 2007) states:

Over the next three years (we will) make teaching a Masters level profession by working with the social partnership to introduce a new qualification building on the recently agreed performance management measures (Para: 21, p.12).

UCET has argued strongly that the TDA funding approach that concentrates upon the exclusivity of recruiting only qualified teachers onto HEI Masters programmes is not in keeping with the wider Government policy drive towards meeting ECM and the needs of inter-agency working and training. Clearly, we need a common CPD funding platform for inter-professional development and multi-agency working that enables the institutional convergence of professional training opportunities. Such an inter-professional development CPD training fund was recently proposed in October 2007 by UCET to the newly formed government Department for Children, Skills and Families (DCSF) that partly replaces the old DfES.

Another interesting issue identified by our research project is the need to meet the requirements of the various sector skills agreements. Employers are looking for ‘bite-size learning’ meaning that many existing postgraduate courses would need to be broken down to provide more short sharp intensive stand-alone courses, i.e. an extension of the modular system already resident in many HEIs.

Linked to this issue is the relationship between vocational courses (e.g. NVQs) with their levels of competency and practical feel, compared to the more critical models of participant engagement that are commonly expected in most HE postgraduate provision. One good example is higher level vocational qualifications such as the NPQH for senior school leaders that can be accredited into CPD master’s programmes. However, the criticality of postgraduate provision might sit uneasily in some instances with more instrumental models of training geared up to ensure competent ‘delivery’ of a service or provision without regard to developing a critical disposition on behalf of the learner. That is a shame because such critical thinking skills and dispositions also help to underpin the learner’s ability to transfer and exchange core knowledge into new working areas and applications – vital for the future Children’s Workforce. A critically disposed workforce is potentially one where professionals continually critique work-based processes and, hence, question and reflect upon the merits and practices they are engaged in. Such work-based intellectualism and a natural critique of one’s own practice are clearly beneficial to society. It might have encouraged professionals to more readily question decisions and fixed institutional protocols and therefore cross traditional working boundaries so as to intervene and save children’s lives such as that of Victoria Climbie.

Recognising relevant qualifications and experience (APL/APEL) is clearly going to be a further challenge to HE. HEIs consider such matters individually and generally this can be up to a maximum of one third of a Master’s programme. As new professionals and their roles become more diverse and complex, this too might make calibration more difficult to achieve. APL/APEL are central to the notion of workforce mobility. This is complicated by the fact that the IQF is country- specific and yet there is a call for cross-recognition of AP(E)L throughout the UK, if not the EU.

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 16 Finally, our research identified the issue of cross-sector recognition agreements. It can already be difficult for IQF-type progression within any one sector or specialism, but for cross-sector recognition it will be necessary to bring together commissioning agents such as local and regional stakeholders, employers, HEIs, service users and the CWDC, not to mention the specific regulatory bodies covering the entire range of Children’s Services professions.

Conclusions and recommendations One might be forgiven for thinking that the challenges of ECM are overwhelming. It is true that there will be pressure at every level and in every sector to arrive at ‘joined up’ provision, whether it be the providing of services or training. It is; however, important that we remind ourselves that it is the Government that has embarked on this ten-year strategy, which is still very much in its infancy. Such a radical shake-up requires new approaches and new understandings and it is important that those charged with providing training are aware of some of the important issues raised in this article.

We make the following recommendations for developing the IQF at postgraduate levels:

1. That the government, in the form of the DCSF, makes available and co-ordinates similar funding sources across all professional agencies (i.e. CWDC, TDA, GSCC, PCTs etc) affected by delivering the IQF such that a common training platform leads to professional convergence of CPD services offered across all the divers sectors. 2. This should first start at the postgraduate level of the IQF, as this influences the operational and strategic decisions of middle and senior professionals that lead children’s services. 3. There is a serious need to develop capacity-building funds across HEIs and the other professional bodies and groups that need to design and deliver new provision for the IQF, including the regional and national agreements required for APL/APEL. One way to achieve such IQF curriculum development is to offer ring-fenced IQF development grants via influential stakeholders such as HEFCE, which can also offer both the quality assurance and take-up of the sector as a whole.

References Coombs, S. (2006) Designing Higher Education CPD for the Integrated Qualifications Framework: Being bold, virtuous and pragmatic. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Professional Development Association at the University of Stirling Management Centre in Stirling, Scotland, 1-2 Dec., 2006. Coombs, S. & Calvert, M. (2007) Developing higher education professional development for the new children’s services integrated qualifications framework. Paper presented at the annual international conference of the International Professional Development Association (IPDA) at the Ramada Hotel, in Belfast, N. Ireland, 30th Nov – 1st Dec., 2007.CWDC (2006) Clear Progression: Towards and integrated qualifications framework, CWDC implementation plan 1st November, 2006. (http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/pdf/IQF/IQF_Implementation_Plan_1Nov06.pdf). DCSF (2007) The Children’s Plan: Building brighter futures - Summary, UK government TSO. DfES (2003) Every Child Matters, DfES, UK government, HMSO cm 5860. DfES (2004) Five year strategy for children and learners, DfES, UK government, HMSO cm 6272. Ofsted (2004) Making a difference: The impact of award-bearing in-service training on school improvement. HMI 1765. (http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/index.cfm? fuseaction=pubs.summary&id=3493). UCET (2007) Every child matters and teacher education: A Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) position paper (No. 17), edited by Kirk, G. & Broadhead, P.

Contact information

IPDA Newsletter October 2005 17 Dr Steven Coombs [email protected] Dr Mike Calvert [email protected]

Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the support of ESCalate for funding the research and particularly Janie McKie, ESCalate Project Researcher, University of Stirling.

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