Occasional papers

The Contribution of Chartered Teachers: Advice and Guidance

This paper considers four issues: 

• What can we ask of chartered teachers, and how can schools support them to make a positive impact on pupils' learning?
• What principles are helpful in considering what contribution a chartered teacher will make?
• What CPD is appropriate for teachers who have achieved Chartered Teacher status?
• How will chartered teachers demonstrate that they are maintaining the Standard in the years ahead?

CPD for curriculum manager/principle teachers: advice and guidance

This paper considers three issues:

1. What are the new demands on, and expectations of, these posts compared to more traditional, familiar, subject-based principal teacher posts?
2. What are the CPD needs to which these demands and expectations give rise in relation to:
   • preparing for change
   • transitional needs
   • longer-term needs?
3. How can these CPD needs be met?

CPD Team Visits to Local Authorities 2005 to 2006

This paper:

• reports on findings from visits to all local authorities undertaken over the period January 2005 to June 2006
• identifies some of the issues and themes which emerged from these visits
• reports on the good practice, innovations and initiatives observed during these visits
• suggests further areas for action at school, authority and national level, and for the CPD team itself.

Headteacher Appointment Procedures

This paper considers three issues:

• What procedures do local authorities currently use in appointing headteachers to schools within their areas?
• What issues arise from the procedures adopted?
• How might these issues be addressed?

CPD for Supply Teachers

Supply teachers may be categorised in four different ways according to the kinds of contract they have; in turn, the different kinds of contract often have implications for the nature of the work that they do, and for the professional development that supply teachers feel they need.

This paper:

• outlines the difficulties faced by supply teachers in accessing CPD
• proposes some principles that could underlie solutions to these difficulties.

A paper developed by colleagues in Angus Council is also included, showing how these principles may work out in practice.

Fleshing out the Standards

Today, there is a clear growing acknowledgement that an essential element in school improvement is the professional development of teachers. The best school improvement plan will fail to deliver if teachers are not fully engaged, and feeling confident and competent in their ability to implement it. The right CPD, offered at the right time, can remotivate and re-energise jaded staff, can keep already motivated staff engaged and reflective and can release high levels of energy and innovation. It can support school leaders in ensuring that the culture of the school is positive and reflects that of a learning community, and that teachers feel valued. We must strive to identify and deliver high quality professional development that meets the needs of all teachers, regardless of location, experience or aspiration.

This occasional paper considers the following:

• How can we make better sense of CPD for teachers?
• How can we develop better access to CPD for busy teachers?
• How can we shift teachers from course-centred thinking?
• How can we assist CPD co-ordinators and reviewers?
• How can we develop comprehensive and genuinely developmental programmes for teachers at each stage of their career?

Professional Review and Development: report on focus groups and visits

The aim of the CPD team is to lead and support the development of world-class CPD in Scotland. This paper is the fifth in a series of occasional publications which aim to enrich ongoing discussion, to clarify concerns, to identify possible solutions and to suggest future action. 

This paper considers four issues:

1. What experience of the PRD process do teaching staff report?
2. Which part of the process is seen as valuable?
3. In what way can the quality of the experience be improved?
4. In what ways can the PRD process act as a contributory factor in changing the culture of schools?

Teachers for Excellence

Margaret Alcorn, national CPD Co-ordinator, gives her view of the professional development implications which might arise from the development of teachers for excellence. These papers were first posted on the Teachers for Excellence discussion forum, which took place between December 2006 and February 2007.

• Part 1: What does a teacher for excellence need to know and be able to do?
• Part 2: The four stages of CPD

A CPD Framework for Teachers in Years 2-6

In 2005 the National CPD Team invited four local authorities to participate in a project to consider the CPD needs of teachers in years 2-6 of their careers. The authorities involved were Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. They were invited to participate as they had each identified this as an area for development in their strategic planning for CPD. Later, Edinburgh City Council expressed an interest in enhancing their existing CPD provision and was invited to join the project, and two other authorities, East Renfrewshire and Dumfries and Galloway, also contributed to the learning.

This papers aims to:

1.      outline the CPD needs of teachers in the early stages of their careers
2.      describe some of the challenges in providing CPD opportunities for this group
3.      provide examples of interesting practice
4.      discuss issues which might influence CPD for teachers in years 2-6