CPD guidance

Issue 27

A new emphasis has been placed on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for all teachers in Scotland. Although CPD is now a statutory element of a teacher's working life, research by the GTCS identified a demand from teachers for further advice and guidance. Here we introduce some of the guidance GTCS can provide to help teachers with CPD.

Escalators

Your guide to everything CPD

GTCS has launched guidance for teachers looking to engage effectively in the process of CPD. As many teachers can testify, effective CPD whilst seeking to keep your professional practice up-to-date and stimulating, also encourages you to be an inspired teacher who will in turn inspire learners.

GTCS has responded to calls for support by developing a set of CPD guidelines, the process of doing so being informed throughout by teachers' knowledge and experiences as revealed in GTCS research.

GTCS also recently launched the upgraded version of its Standard for Full Registration (SFR) which describes the qualities and capabilities that all registered teachers in Scotland are required to demonstrate in their professional practice. A significant addition to the start of this document is the statement that the SFR is 'a baseline professional standard that applies to all teachers throughout their career'. Hence, it is no coincidence that the new CPD guidelines should be issued at this time. If all teachers are to maintain and enhance their professional practice in order to work at, or above, the requirements of the SFR, then they will need to be making effective use of their CPD in order to do that. To this end, the new CPD guidelines not only make explicit the professional benefits of CPD and how to make CPD have an impact, but also make the very important link to the Standard for Full Registration.

The profile of CPD

Teachers in Scotland, through their commitment to lifelong learning and personal development and enquiry, embark on a professional journey which involves them in continuing professional development, a journey in which they must take an active role in setting the direction. This is why the change in the status of CPD for teachers in A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century is so important. The agreement based on the report, an agreement between teachers, employers and the Scottish Executive, raised the profile of teacher professional development in Scotland significantly and permanently. This agreement made continuing professional development an integral part of your career as a teacher, not just as a requirement, but as your right.

Inspired teachers, inspire learners

CPD is what you do to keep your professional practice fresh, up-to-date and stimulating. When your practice has these qualities you are more likely to inspire and teach effectively so enabling pupils to achieve their best. At the same time, effective CPD encourages you to be more motivated and inspired, giving you the reward of greater professional satisfaction. The more teachers who feel this way, the greater the positive impact will be on the ethos in schools and in on the profession.

Professional responsibility

Apart from raising the profile of CPD, A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century changed expectations about the status of CPD. Historically the teaching profession, like most others, has recognised the need for training in order to keep abreast with new initiatives and methodology.

In the past, 'in-service training' as it was known was mainly driven by school, local authority and national needs. In contrast, A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century emphasised that CPD must also address your individual needs as a teacher. It expresses this very clearly by:

  • giving you the right to an annual Professional Review and Development (PRD) interview focusing on your strengths and areas for development;
  • making this the basis of your annual CPD plan, agreed in collaboration with senior colleagues;
  • requiring you to undertake 35 hours of CPD per year, based on a mix of personal and school/local authority/SCIS/national needs; and
  • supporting the concept of the reflective practitioner by introducing the CPD portfolio to record and reflect upon your CPD experiences.

If you are now very much in the driving seat for your CPD, it becomes your responsibility to focus your attention on maintaining and enhancing the qualities and capabilities that describe your professional practice. These are described in the Standard for Full Registration (SFR) which has become, since May 2007, the baseline professional standard which applies to all teachers throughout their careers.

The SFR exists not just as a measure of competence to show that a probationer has shown the qualities to become a fully registered teacher; it is a framework against which to measure yourself throughout your career. As such it gives you a very robust basis for reference as you take on the professional responsibility of planning and participating in your CPD.

 

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Latest comment...

would like to knowthe GTCS view on this scenario. I agree with Steve its a last option!