4. The Professional Development Framework and Standards
Initial Teacher Education
The standards and competences which apply to trainee teachers and which they must achieve before leaving University and initial registration with GTCS are included in a benchmark statement which can be found at:
The Standard for Initial Teacher Education in Scotlandhttp://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/iteScotland/introduction.asp
Recently there has been a review of Initial Teacher Education again prompted by the McCrone Agreement. Two reports have been produced:
The Report of the 'First Stage Review' of ITE can be found at:
while the Stage 2 Review documentation can be downloaded from:
The Ministerial response to the Stage 2 Review is obtainable at:
Standard for Full Registration
All beginning teachers in Scotland are guaranteed an induction year with support and professional development provided by the employing authority and the school. Beginning teachers have to satisfy the Standard for Full Registration (SfR) by the end of this induction year. The GTCS website has lots of information about the Induction experience and the expectations associated with meeting the SfR. Download the 'Achieving the Standard for Full Registration - Guidance for New Teachers and Schools' (PDF Format) at this site.
Chartered Teacher
At the Teaching in Scotland website, there is a lot of information about career development for teachers and associated CPD.
Here are some frequently asked questions relating to charter teacher
Headship
The Standard for Headship was reviewed and consulted upon in 2005 and the new Standard was published in November that year, it can be downloaded at:
Early in 2006, a paper initiating a consultation period on how teachers might meet the requirements of the Standard for Headship by alternative routes (routes other than the Scottish Qualification for Headship[SQH]) was published.
A national CPD Coordinator has been appointed, currently Margaret Alcorn since May 2004, and she with her team have been consulting widely throughout the country on a range of CPD issues and developments.
A series of papers have been produced by Margaret and her team and have been widely distributed to EAs and schools.
The papers in this series are:
- Occasional Paper 1: The Contribution of Chartered Teachers
- Occasional Paper 2: Headteacher Appointment procedures
- Occasional Paper 3: CPD Team Visits to Local Authorities January - June 2005
- Occasional paper 4: Fleshing Out the Standards
- Occasional Paper 5: Professional Review and Development
- Occasional Paper 6: CPD for 'Curriculum Manager' Principal Teachers.
They are obtainable from COSLA:
EA views on the Standards development
Demanding programmes for Chartered Teacher and Headship (SQH) - the West Lothian perspective
Impact of Award Bearing CPDImpact of Award Bearing CPD
Colin Hutcheon, West Lothian
"It depends on the individual I suppose and what their aspirations are and their ambitions career-wise, that's why they might prefer to go down the SQH route. An SQH course is very demanding and I think, although quite a few people have gone through it in West Lothian, there's not huge numbers and I think it is something that people think long and hard about before embarking on, because it is a demanding course..."There remains an emphasis on non-award bearing CPD as outlined by West Lothian above with its new emphasis on an enquiry-based approach to development planning for schools and teachers.
While some EAs have traditionally supported some award bearing courses for professional development in Guidance and Additional Suppoort for Learning, they do not support CT and teachers must fund this themselves. Of course there is a significant financial reward associated with CT acquisition. Non-award bearing CPD in the context of the additional hours has required planning and definition of what qualifies as appropriate CPD and there remains the question of balancing individual and organisational needs and wants, suggesting that there is an increasing need for appropriate approaches to identifying CPD needs and meeting them in as equitable a fashion as possible within the constraints of EA/school plans and policies and within the available CPD budgets increasingly devolved to schools.
Journal of Inservice Education vol 25 no 1 1999
Archie Green outlines the different approaches to recording of non award bearing CPD
Archie Green, Scalloway
"We started with our own version when it wasn't clear what people were going to classify as CPD. Basically, I had a look at it and decided this would go and that would go and the next thing. We made sure there were things like reading included. I think it's very important that staff are encouraged..."Related to the increase in CPD hourage for all teachers and the Standards framework are the new structures of management and responsibility within schools including new posts of responsibility such as the new Principal Teacher posts in Primary schools. Additionally the links between ITE, the profession and employers need to reflect curricular change too and CPD will need to reflect such developments. Listen to an EA Head of Service and then a Headteacher's perspective on this including the recognition that there will be many teachers who do not aspire to promoted posts nor Chartered Teacher who need to be catered for within school in the light of curricular and structural developments. This might suggest that the timing is opportune to reinvigorate the role of CPD co-ordinators in schools and to move towards experimentation with the concept of 'learning organisations'?
John McCarney head of service outlines the need for teacher education and development to recognise the new structures
John McCarney, East Ayrshire
"Teaching, as a profession, is changing radically. Initial Teacher Education needs to tie up much more closely with Local Authorities in terms of its structures and how it operates. It needs to reflect the fact that the curricular change is ongoing and will be ongoing now for a number of years. We don't have the traditional type of curriculum that we used to have say 10 or 15 years ago..."
Neal McGowan, Banchory Academy
"I think you just need to look at the CPD opportunities, which are advertised in the national press, and it's all around Chartered Teacher; it's all around Scottish Qualification for Headship. Now, much as that's to be applauded and I think it's right that we've got a Chartered Teacher scheme in place and that we are now looking at the formal training of Head Teachers, not everyone is going to be a Chartered Teacher; not everyone is going to be Head Teacher; not everyone would want to be a Head Teacher or a Chartered Teacher..."CPD and the importance of career development and meeting needs and aspirations and motivating staff
Colin MacLean head of Auchinleck outlines the CPD challenges
Colin MacLean, Auchinleck Academy
"I would like to encourage other young staff to become Principal Teachers because it's become less than fashionable. The number of staff who opt for... who wish to be interviewed for Principal Teacher of subject has been diminishing. So, although we're encouraging staff to develop as Chartered Teachers, I would like to give them a balance of choices, and through our CPD programme, to make them aware of what's involved in becoming a Chartered Teacher..."Gordon Bell head of Cumnock outlines the ways in which development will progress for staff
Gordon Bell, Cumnock Academy
"There are a great bunch of probationers coming through and I'm terribly pleased when I'm interviewing people that I've got such a choice to pick quality staff. You're saying to yourself at the end of an interview, "I wish I could take them all", in some cases..."
Gordon Bell, Cumnock Academy
"I think the expectations of the new staff are certainly my expectations of all staff. They've come into school with an expectation that their career is going to be in education and it's part of their job to have a full part in the development of courses within the school. Clearly, to support them to do that has an effect on CPD..."
Building Capacity, Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
