International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
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Teachers must have an understanding of, and always act within, the statutory frameworks which set out
their professional duties and responsibilities.
The Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2012)
By the end of their training programme the standards are used to determine a level of competence. Each student
teacher is given a final assessed grade against Ofsted guidance criteria that indicates whether they are
outstanding (Grade 1), good (Grade 2), require improvement (Grade 3) or below standard (Grade 4). The
university then determines targets for students’ period of induction, where schools then become responsible for
the continuing professional development of the beginning teacher.
The Teachers' Standards set the baseline expectations for all teachers' practice. They are intended to make it
easier for teachers and headteachers to assess teacher performance and support continuing professional
development. However, whilst these Standards form a baseline at YSJU we are committed to developing
outstanding student teachers who expertise is not confined to meeting this narrow criteria.
THE GOVERNMENT AGENDA – SCHOOL DIRECT
Since the Coalition Government took office in 2010 the Department for Education, led by Secretary of State for
Education Michael Gove, has indicated its intention to shift teacher training into schools with the new
programme of School Direct.
In the Department for Education White Paper for Schools, The Importance of Teaching (Department for
Education, 2010) the government outlined their commitment to raising the status of the teaching profession by
recruiting high quality recruits to train to teach and by giving schools increased control over teacher training.
The paper outlined three key areas for which teachers need to be very well equipped; subject knowledge and
academic preparation, overall literacy and numeracy, and personal and interpersonal skills. In a speech given by
Gove (June 2010) he reinforced his view expressed in the White Paper that ‘teaching is a craft and it is best
learnt as an apprentice observing a Master craftsman or woman’. He outlined that this would be achieved
through the development of a national network of new Teaching Schools to lead and develop teacher
development including initial teacher training.
With the aid of government funding this network of Teaching Schools has grown in the last few years with ‘lead’
Teaching Schools developing wider Alliances with partnership schools. One of their key roles is to provide
teacher training, for example School Direct programmes. The original intention was for these Alliances to then
employ those they trained but this clause was soon modified to suggest they ‘should’ employ them. Teaching
Schools or Alliances that offer School Direct teacher training programmes are required to work with an
accredited provider (e.g. university) which has the authority to recommend for QTS. Whilst funding for School
Direct places goes directly to the Teaching School, which is part of the government’s intention to give schools
more control, the quality assurance responsibilities for the training programme still lie with the provider.
Unsurprisingly, this has led to new negotiating processes to establish who will be responsible for different areas
of the teacher training programme; how these will be rigorously quality assured and how funding should be
apportioned. Existing partnership agreements have been revised, many new partnership agreements drawn up
and new partnerships have been developed accordingly.
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