CPD planning – How to provide the professional development your staff need
Schools now have unprecedented flexibility when it comes to planning CPD, says Nicola Brooks – so how should you go about it…?
Teaching is the one career where you can spend all day concentrating on other people’s development at the expense of your own.
There are many barriers preventing teachers from focusing on their own CPD – not least time, money and anxieties around setting cover. Prioritising ourselves in this way isn’t selfish, however, but rather an investment in every child we teach.
Learn informally
As a profession, we’re gradually becoming more workload-aware, with the result that there’s less demand to extend the school day for CPD delivery. Teachers are great collaborators, however – so why not provide a structure for the professional dialogue teachers engage in naturally?
This could take the form of ‘breakfast briefings’, or breaktime drop-ins where colleagues can pick up a quick strategy (and a biscuit). Putting out flipcharts or Post-it notes on which colleagues can quickly scribble responses to questions and prompts can be a great way of generating ideas. Collate and scan the responses, and you’ll have a ready-made item for your next teaching and learning bulletin.
Another option is a termly ‘bring and share’ lunch, where attendees exchange and discuss interesting blogs or articles.
Consider also reviewing your use of directed meeting time. Are such sessions used to further staff knowledge and skills, or are they for sharing notices?
Meeting time is precious, so look at how operational information can be distributed using email or messaging platforms, allowing staff meetings to focus more on CPD. Be sure to record, share and catalogue your professional learning, so that governors and non-teaching staff can access it too.
Use what you have
We’ve all heard the expression ‘The best CPD is in the classroom next door’. Professional learning needn’t involve pricey courses in fancy hotels when there’s already a range of expertise all around you.
Try setting yourself the challenge of keeping all of your school’s CPD internal for one half term. Invest time in collaborative activities, such as joint lesson planning or instructional coaching, allowing extra time to observe. Look at ways of providing staff with personalised pathways or a choice of options.
If you’re concerned about accountability, think creatively about how staff can evidence their learning. An end of year celebratory teachmeet, a ‘speed dating’ swap and share session or podcast recording can all be more effective and inspiring than requesting written accounts.
Longer-term, you could review which classrooms teachers are assigned to, giving careful thought as to which colleagues might benefit from being clustered together – particularly important if you have several ECTs.
Invest carefully
We live in a golden age of online professional learning, spanning Twitter to Mastodon and Slack to Instagram. Yet as great as the internet is, don’t forget the brilliant support offer that’s available to you locally, such as Teaching School Hubs and Research Schools. These provide access to high quality, low cost CPD rooted in local context – perfect for when time and money is tight.
Membership of professional organisations can also enhance your school offer, be they individual subject bodies or associations such as the Chartered College of Teaching. Teachers are busy people, so promote your offer with a visual display in the staffroom. Providing QR codes for staff to scan and one-page overviews they can take away will boost engagement.
Investing in ourselves isn’t a luxury, but vital for keeping our teaching up to date. The next time your thoughts turn towards learning, why not take a moment to reflect on how you can maximise your own?
Nicola Brooks is a professional development co-ordinator for Reach South Academy Trust, and a founding fellow and network lead for the Chartered College of Teaching
