Developing Great Teaching: Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development

Abstract

The 2014 DfE consultation on A world-class teaching profession stated that “Feedback from the profession has consistently indicated that too many of the development opportunities on offer are of variable quality”.1 “Too often ‘CPD’ is viewed narrowly as attending courses or listening to stale talks accompanied by endless slides… Teacher development is not always adequately focussed on the specific needs of pupils, nor is it always sustained and practice-based.”2 “There is currently too little robust evidence on the impact of different types of professional development for teachers.”3 These comments on the quality of CPD in England broadly chime with the findings from the OECD TALIS 2013 survey, which states that teachers here report higher than average participation in courses and workshops (75%) and in-service training in outside organizations (22%), but lower than average participation in more in-depth activities, such as research or formal qualifications – and less time spent overall. It was in this context that the government announced its intention in 2015 to support the creation of an independent College of Teaching, as well as to offer a new fund “which will support high quality, evidence-based professional development programmes, led by the Teaching Schools network and rigorously evaluated for impact.”4 It also proposed a new ‘What Works Clearinghouse’-style online platform for knowledge sharing and new non-mandatory standards for teachers’ professional development. This paper draws on the emerging findings from the ongoing umbrella review of evidence on effective professional development for teachers being undertaken by CUREE, UCL IOE and Durham University to indicate implications for future policy around teacher professional development and learning (CPDL).