Professionalism in Teaching

Anne McGachey HMIGTC Scotland conference May 2009

Context - the challenges of :

consolidating and building on strengths addressing known weaknesses

but also globalisation scarcity and sustainability moving up the ‘value chain’ changing demographic balance increasing health inequalities impact of technology demand for quality and customisation employers’ need for generic and ‘soft-skills’

Future world (1)

Child aged 3 may still be at school in 2025

Teacher starting out in 2009may still be teaching in 2051…andbeyond.

Improving Scottish Education2005-2008

“This drive for enhanced professionalism relies upon brave and effective leadership which engages the abilities and determination of a strong and reflective teaching profession.”

National Seminar 2008

Curriculum for Excellence:a key to success is the creativity and ingenuity of teachers across Scotland

Improving Scottish Education2005-2008

“We have to place professional development, covering both subject content and pedagogy, at the centre of our approach to change.”

Improving Scottish Education2005-2008

“Self-evaluation should not be seen simply as more effective monitoring by managers but as the commitment of a staff team to reflect and improve. The increasing extent to which teachers are sharing, analysing and comparing each other’s practice, although still limited, is encouraging.”

The ISE reports

Based on huge body of evidence

Give overviews of performance

Comment on broad themes across sectors

Indicate capacity for improvement

Suggest key areas for future action, including HMIE focus

Scottish education: continuing challenges

The need to ensure a consistently high standard of general education as an expectation for all young people.

As part of that general education, developing both intellectual depth and personal attributes in our young people and addressing with greater determination the need to raise standards across the board, particularly in literacy, numeracy and science.

Improving progression in learning, especially across transitions and across all sectors.

Maintaining a strong focus on preparing young people for positive destinations when they leave school.

Improving Scottish Education 2005-2008

“Formally accredited attainment and broader forms of achievement are sometimes portrayed as alternatives. They are not. Both are essential to the future success of individuals and of our society and economy as a whole.”

ISE 2: Looking ahead

create more space for imaginative teaching develop and recognise wider achievement improve basic skills – literacy and numeracy address the needs of all, especially the most

vulnerable avoid academic/vocational trap further improve leadership ensure that self-evaluation leads to improvement

Improving Scottish education, HMIE 2006

Promoting Achievement for All Recognise that attainment and achievement are not

alternatives – both arise from a rich educational experience.

Use curriculum reform to engage learners in deeper, challenging learning – to increase achievement and particularly to improve standards of literacy, numeracy and science

Look at ways of recognising achievement which will reflect the purposes of the curriculum.

“Curriculum for Excellence embodies a new way of working. It recognises that sustained and meaningful improvement should, to a significant extent, be shaped and owned by those who will put it into practice.”

(Improving Scottish Education 2005-2008)

A flexible, local,

curriculum so that

young people become

successful learners

confident individuals

effective contributors

responsible citizens.

Scottish education: what are our strengths?Early education continues to be strong overallPrimary and secondary schools are generally well led, have a

good ethos and offer a broad curriculum. Pupils make good progress at pre-school and early stages of primary.

While maintaining a focus on established expectations in knowledge and skills, more schools are giving emphasis to broadening achievement.

The strengths in the education system reflect the professional commitment and competence of teachers, lecturers and support staff.

Aspects of leadership are improving in schools, colleges and pre-school centres.

Scottish education: continuing challenges

The need to ensure a consistently high standard of general education as an expectation for all young people.

As part of that general education, developing both intellectual depth and personal attributes in our young people and addressing with greater determination the need to raise standards across the board, particularly in literacy, numeracy and science.

Improving progression in learning, especially across transitions and across all sectors.

Maintaining a strong focus on preparing young people for positive destinations when they leave school.

ISE 2 Professionalism ……. have a very significant opportunity to use their

professional judgement and ingenuity as they translate the new broad guidance into practice.

Professionals

All those engaged in supporting an individual’s learning from pre-school to continuing education…………..part of a continuous and collective endeavour.

The need for self-evaluation to be embraced by all staff as the basis for improvement.

The need to rethink approaches to professional development and to build leadership capacity at all levels.

Scottish education: continuing challenges

Where are we with self-evaluation?

Self-evaluation is well embedded in most schools and pre-school centres.

The Scottish approach of internal self-evaluation and external inspection has worked well.

Now we need to move up a gear.

“In too many cases, self-evaluation can become almost an end in itself’.

‘….need to ensure that self-evaluation leads to improvements.’

Improving Scottish education, HMIE 2006

Journey to Excellence

Encapsulates key drivers for improvement

Exemplifies them in a range of contexts

Provides practical advice on approaches

For EAs, leaders at all

levels and individual staff

Appreciative Inquiry What is working well around here?What were seriously brilliant moments?

Discover – reflect on the best of the past and the present.Dream – Use the findings and stories from the Discover phase to create a compelling, memorable and ambitious picture of the desired future.Design – Agree the rules that will govern action from now on to reach the goal.Deliver – Commit to what has to happen next and who will do it

1,2

Change! TASK 3

John Macbeath

“Future success will require an education system which is itself responsive and flexible and which is open to new ideas.”

Improving Scottish education, HMIE 2006

New approaches to inspection

Inspection now takes the school’s self-evaluation as its starting point.

Why do we inspect the way we do?

Start with self-evaluation

provide clear and consistent assurance

increased opportunities for professional dialogue proportionate

less intrusive and less stressful

greater user involvement

concise reports in plain English

focus on what matters for all young people

Use a variety of evidence

Involve all stakeholders

be open use teachers’ self-evaluation

Track pupils’ progress

use ICT, get data rich Feed back to each teacher

classroom practice pupils’ work forward plans

Focus on improving outcomes

for pupils

A classroom-perceiving approach – evaluation for improvement

THE BIG CHALLENGES

Current Success – risk avoidance

Culture – ambition and intelligent innovation

Attitude - open

Learning – connectedness

Leadership - distributed

Perceptual Traps

Back to the future

Tilting at windmills

Someone will stop me

Professional isolation

Inspection gives assurance AND builds capacity

scrutiny AND self-evaluation

challenging AND inspiring

processes AND outcomes

Principles of inspection

Inspection ‘with’ more than ‘to’.

Supporting innovation.

Disseminating good practice.

Taking forward Curriculum for Excellence.

Professional discussion.

Who said?

’’We need to internalise this idea of excellence. Not many people spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.”

HM Inspectorate of Education

Who saidWho said…………??

“As a young man, my fondest dream was to become a geographer. However, while working in the customs office I thought deeply about the matter and concluded it was too difficult a subject. With some reluctance I then turned to physics as a substitute.”

Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein

The results of some research conducted in a group of American High Schools revealed some surprising answers to this question. The top 10 responses were as listed below.A good teacher is someone who -

1. Is interested in you

2. Is patient and willing to listen

3. Is fair, but strict for you

4. Challenges you

5. Explains things well

6. Has a sense of humour

7. Is informal in manner

8. Is interested in the subject

9. Is of neat appearance

10. Smells nice

What makes a good teacher?

Improving Scottish Education2005-2008

“The key to developing capacities, raising standards and meeting the needs of all learners lies of course in consistent, high quality learning and teaching. It remains true that differences within schools are generally greater than those between schools.”

Learning and Teaching

Teaching for effective learning sharing the aims of lessons, summarising

range and appropriateness of teaching approaches - variety, balance

clarity of teacher's exposition and explanation

appropriate use of questions – closed and open-ended

scope and quality of discussion and interaction between pupils and between pupils and teacher

Learning and Teaching

Pupil's learning experiences pupils' motivation and interest

pupils' progress in courses, pace of lessons

scope for pupils to exercise choice, take responsibility

scope for active learning, investigating (fieldwork) and problem-solving

scope for co-operative work in pairs or groups

scope for independent learning (ICT?)

Learning and Teaching

Meeting pupils' learning needs tasks, activities, resources matched to needs of individuals

assessment information used to inform future targets

purposes of activities relevant to pupils' experiences and interests

pace of work matched to individual pupils

appropriate challenges for more able

contributions made by learning support staff

Learning and Teaching

“Assessment is for Learning” range of approaches - formal & informal

integral to course plans - pupils aware of strategy

balance between summative and formative

regular feedback to pupils on progress, next steps

criteria for assessment shared with pupils and understood

use of pupil self-evaluation to set future targets

effective recording of assessment information - shared with pupils, reported to parents

The big ten classroom factors?• having a positive attitude • the development of a pleasant social /

psychological climate in the classroom • having high expectations of what pupils

can achieve • lesson clarity • effective time management • strong lesson structuring • the use of a variety of teaching methods • using and incorporating pupils’ ideas • using appropriate and varied questioning

[Reynolds]

Two new publications

THE QUALITY INITIATIVE IN SCOTTISH SCHOOLS How good is our school? How good can it be?

IMPROVEDTEACHING

EFFECTIVE INNOVATION

IMPROVED LEARNING

Shared criteria

A challenge for HMIE

ambitious

meet our need to give assurance – Scotland Performs

support Curriculum for Excellence - provide a spur to innovation and improvement - look for and highlight success

report our findings clearly to schools, parents and other stakeholders

keep our focus on children and young people.

focus on learning and outcomes for children

be aspirational

be open and reflective

create the learning links

Focus on children and young peopleSo that young people are:• safe• nurtured• healthy• successful in achieving• active• respected and responsible• included

With a moral dimension

We need to build on our strengths to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and uncertain future.

www.hmie.gov.uk