Glossary

Glossary

This glossary explains terms used in CPD - Continuing Professional Development. It is not intended to be exhaustive in educational terms, nor does it include an explanation of every word used in the case study extracts. Instead, it seeks to clarify meanings in order to remove potential barriers to understanding and help the reader to appreciate the messages intended more fully.

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Glossary of terms
TAC team	Now known as the Teacher Capacity Team.
Targeted comments	Help keep feedback manageable by focusing only on strengths but with sufficient advice to allow progression. 'Two stars and a wish' is one approach. It allows learners to build on prior learning and breaks the process of improvement into manageable steps.
Targets/targeting	The term used in the national curriculum guidelines for the statements that define the attainment expectations for pupils working at each Level. Some teachers have translated these into language that pupils can understand and used them to share criteria for success. 'Targeting' can also mean focusing on an individual pupil or a group, either to provide additional support or to set more challenging work and learning aims beyond pupils' current level of achievement. A third meaning relates to the process by which a school or department sets itself a target to improve attainment, such as ensuring an increased percentage of pupils attain a particular Level or a number of Standard Grade Credit or Higher Grade C awards.
TDA (Training and Development Agency for Schools)	The purpose of the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) is to raise standards by attracting able and committed people to teaching and by improving the quality of training for teachers and the wider school workforce.
Teacher Capacity Team	The Teacher Capacity Team is a joint initiative between the Scottish Government, COSLA and Scottish local authorities. It ensures a strategic focus remains on the overall aims of the agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century.
Teacher demonstration	A modelling exercise in which the teacher works through the different stages of an activity, emphasising the stages of the process and the criteria for success.
Teachers for Excellence	A web-based debate in 2006, supported by articles from leading educationalists and contributions from a wide range of interested parties, which confirmed the need to place high quality professional development for all educators at the centre of our planning for curricular reform.
Teaching in Scotland	The Teaching in Scotland website is designed to answer questions about training to be a teacher. It has useful information, details of the courses and links to relevant organisations.
Teaching Qualification (Primary Education)	The Teaching Qualification (Primary Education) is awarded when a person has passed the four-year course leading to the Bachelor of Education degree (BEd) or the one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, following a degree.
Teaching Qualification (Secondary Education)	The Teaching Qualification (Secondary Education) is awarded in a particular secondary school curriculum subject or subjects after the person has successfully completed a four-year course leading to a Bachelor of Education degree (BEd) in Music, Physical Education or Technological Education, or a combined degree (sometimes known as a concurrent degree), including studying a subject, studying education, and school experience, or a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course following a degree.
team leader	A team leader is someone who provides guidance, instruction, direction, leadership to a group of other individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a stated result.
TEI	Teacher Education Institution; a university with a faculty or school that trains new teachers.
TEI (Teacher Education Institutions)	TEI (Teacher Education Institutions).
TESS (Technology Education and Enterprise in Scotland 5-14)	LT Scotland project that aims to produce a range of support materials for home economics and design and technology subjects at S1 and S2.
Think time/thinking time	A strategy also referred to as wait time. Time given to learners to reflect critically or creatively on a question or problem, or to pose another question.
Think, pair and share	An activity to encourage higher-order thinking that involves pupils thinking individually, then pairing with a partner, then sharing ideas with the wider group. The sequence generally begins with the teacher posing an open-ended question, to which there may be a range of responses. Think time or wait time is followed by discussion with a partner. The pair then share pooled ideas with the whole class. The structure was first developed by Professor Frank Lyman at the University of Maryland in 1981, and subsequently adopted as a co-operative learning strategy.
Thinking books	A place to explore and play with ideas about subjects of personal interest.
Thought leaders	This is a programme to give Scottish educators access to world-class thinking in areas of CPD, leadership and online learning.
TIMSS (Trends in International Maths and Science Survey)	Scotland participates in this international survey in Mathematics and Science. In 2003 this included important content for students to have learned in mathematics and science, as well as describing important home and school contexts influencing achievement in these subjects. Staff can use this summative information at any local level to judge their performance relative to the national sample and to plan their next steps.
Tolerance	Tolerance is the acceptance of other people, ideas or things, which are different to one self, or ideas, which are different to one's own.
Tone question	In English language activities, a question that asks pupils to identify or comment on the writer's tone from the context of the piece being studied and the language used.
TP21	A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century: the agreement reached in 2001 between teachers, employers and the Scottish Government following recommendations made in the McCrone Report.
Traffic lighting	A means of self-evaluation that displays how well a pupil or student has understood a topic or activity based on the colours of a traffic light. Green means 'I can do this'; amber means 'I'm reasonably confident'; and red means 'I need assistance'. It is particularly effective when pupils are involved in establishing, or at least addressing, the criteria for success.
Traveller	As travellers are not a homogenous group, the term refers to a range of different groups including Scottish Gypsies/Travellers, Occupational Travellers, New (age) Travellers and Travellers from other parts of Britain or from Europe. Mobility is the main factor which contributes to difficulties in achieving at school. The Scottish Traveller Education Programme (STEP) aims to develop and support inclusive educational approaches for Gypsies and Travellers.
twilight session	An after-school CPD event.