Trends in NQF Development

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Professor Graham Donaldson CBUniversity of Glasgow

• Former head of Scottish education inspectorate (HMIE) and Chief Professional Advisor on Education to Scottish Government

• Current President of Standing International Conference of Inspectorates (SICI)

• Report on teacher education called ‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’ made 50 recommendations all of which have been accepted in full by the Scottish Government

• OECD international ‘expert’ – reviews of Australian and Portuguese education

• Professor of education at the University of Glasgow

• Consultant on education

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Increasingly Powerful Drivers• School education is one of the most important and

contested policy areas for governments across the world.

• Evidence of relative performance internationally has become a key driver of policy.

• Human capital in the form of a highly educated population is seen as a key determinant of social justice and economic success.

• The pace and character of social, economic and technological change has profound implications for how we conceive education in the future.

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

The Challenge

Developing a vision and a strategy to address ‘wicked issues’

and to engage positively with a very uncertain future

AND

Taking action to make this happen

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Successful Learners in the 21st Century

• Persistent, resilient, able to manage impulse• Can change, adapt, transfer skills• Deep knowledge• Skills to access information, as well as retain it• Have learned how to learn• Strong interpersonal/ intrapersonal skills• Responsible, global citizens • Strong core skills

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Search for Success

• Early focus on expansion of provision

• 1957 Sputnik - Alphabet soup curriculum reform

• Standards movement - measurement mania

• School effectiveness

• Professional conspiracies – competition & inspection

• Teachers Matter - “It’s the teacher, stupid”

• A new synthesis?

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

• States and individuals need high levels of education for future economic, social and personal wellbeing

• Innovation is integral to educational quality - create the future not recreate the past

• Models of governance and change need to be dynamic and promote alignment

↓RETHINK APPROACH TO AND RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

TEACHING / LEADERSHIP / CURRICULUM / INSPECTION

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Lessons from High-Performing Systems

• Clarity of purpose – values and curriculum • High expectations of achievement • Enabling all young people to achieve their potential• Emphasis on early learning• High quality teachers• Culture of professional learning• High quality leadership at all levels• Outward looking with a strong culture of innovation• Intelligent accountability• Reflective and self-evaluative

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

How much do teachers matter?• Overall, the research results indicate that raising teacher

quality is vital for improving student achievement, and is perhaps the policy direction most likely to lead to substantial gains in school performance (OECD)

• Students of the most effective teachers have learning gains four times greater than the learning gains of the least effective teachers ( Sanders and Rivers 1996)

The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers

(McKinsey & Co 2007)

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

We need teachers who -

• have high-levels of expertise – subject, pedagogy and theory

• have secure values – personal and professional accountability for the wellbeing of all young people

• take prime responsibility for their own development • use and contribute to the collective understanding of

successful teaching and learning • see professional learning as an integral part of

educational change• engage in well-planned and well-researched innovation.

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

How do we do it?• Select and develop high quality people

• A continuum of teacher learning - framework of standards

• Alignment and partnership

• Professional review and development

• Coaching and mentoring

• Optimum use of ICT for professional learning.

• Masters-level study is the norm• Relentless focus on impact on young people’s learning.

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Role of NTQF

• Capture characteristics of high quality teacher

• Common language of quality

• Key reference point for teacher education – pre and post qualification

• Incentive for career-long professional growth

• Basis for evaluating progress

• Credibility as a learned profession

• Dynamic contribution to embedded innovation

• Contributes to aligned policy and practice

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Possible NTQF Structures

• Set of broad domains

• Key elements within each domain

• Exemplification of behaviours

• Differentiation by career stage

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Three NTQF Structures

Scotland

• 3 Domains - Professional Knowledge and Understanding / Professional Skills and Abilities /Professional Values and Personal Commitment

• Professional Standards within each domain – each with an illustration of practice

• Separate sets of standards for initial teacher education / full registration / Chartered Teacher / Headship

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Three NTQF Structures

Australia

• 3 Domains of teaching – Professional Knowledge / Professional Practice / Professional Engagement

• 7 standards across these domains

• Focus areas and descriptors for each standard

• Characterised at 4 career stages – Graduate / Proficient / Highly Accomplished / Lead

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Three NTQF Structures

Northern Ireland

• 3 broad headings (domains) – Professional Values and Practice / Professional Knowledge and Understanding / Professional Skills and Application

• 27 Competence statements sub-divided into aspects

• Exemplified at 4 career stages – initial / Induction / Early Professional Development / CPD, Collaborative Practice and School Improvement.

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Common Areas

• Knowledge of subject matter

• Pedagogy – subject and transversal

• Dispositions – values in relation to learning and wellbeing of all young people

• Professional development including reflection/self evaluation

• Wider responsibilities – to colleagues and educational policy and development – distributed leadership

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Wicked Issues

• Specificity – behavioural competence / more integrative standards

• Contested views on education and role of the teacher

• Dispositions – integral or ideological imposition

• Static / dynamic contribution

• Simplicity / complexity / comprehensiveness

• Ownership and language

• Legacy / inertia

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Big Messages• Teachers matter• Build on the past but do not be imprisoned by it• Hearts and minds / authenticity• Coherence and alignment• Culture of aspiration, reflection and optimism• Confident and respected profession: demanding

selection/clear standards/focus on all students• More professional engagement in educational development

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

NTQF Development

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Professor Graham Donaldson CBUniversity of Glasgow

Implications

• Be clear about quality

• Examine values

• Signal responsibility for all young people, irrespective of background, ethnicity or ability

• Much more than classroom practice

• Responsibility for impact on learning

• Promote reflection and self evaluation

• All stages in a career

• Promote team ethos

• Leadership

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE

Possible Steps

• Overview paper – compelling vision / authenticity / guiding principles

• Determine framework – domains, standards, illustrations, stages

• Systems analysis – prerequisites, dependencies and consequentials

• Engagement – hearts and minds

• Clear adoption strategy

TEACHINGSCOTLAND’S FUTURE