Bett 2016

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LEARN LIVE CPD Lesson observations: Judging or developing? The next four pages preview selected Learn Live CPD sessions at Bett 2016. To kick us off, Gary King looks at what makes effective CPD and the role of lesson observations in setting development goals In isolation, disconnected from CPD and used simply for “performance management” purposes, what is the point of a lesson observation at all? In this context it becomes a very poor tool to judge a teacher on a 30 or 60-minute snapshot in time. So, why grade a lesson on a scale from “inadequate” (4) through to “outstanding” (1) if the answer is simply so school leaders can easily put a “number” on whole-school teaching and learning? I believe that in order to become truly outstanding, schools need to develop a culture where all staff embrace the lesson observation as a supportive and developmental way to reflect upon and improve their own practice. I would also argue that the longer schools continue to put a number on individual lesson observations, a genuine, open, honest and supportive culture will carry on slipping away. It will take time for teachers to shake off the need to be graded and the associated negative accountability culture that inevitably comes with it – we are only human after all. If, however, there is an emerging culture or indeed one that already exists where lesson observations are used effectively as developmental tools, teachers will value the way in which they support their on-going professional development needs and therefore grow a school culture of trust and reflective practice. The power of change needs to be firmly in the hands of our teachers and not solely a top-down approach. Teachers need to become the driving force of a schools strategy using lesson observations as one element of a wider collection of highly effective tools that inform subsequent professional development. Ofsted’s new approach, including the removal of lesson grades from its inspections, has emphasised the importance of one crucial element – the quality of dialogue and feedback following the observation. For the teacher observed, this focuses heavily, perhaps, on the “one big thing” that will move their teaching forwards, making it a target to focus on without getting lost in an array of “woolly” comments or targets, which can all too often be the case. This can only be achieved if the observer understands what real learning and progress looks like and the realisation that there isn’t a preferred style of teaching that will achieve this by itself. It is important that lesson observation is explicitly linked to the whole school CPD programme and, of course, bespoke CPD for individual staff. Whether it be part of the whole school evaluation cycle, triad-based work or simply informal sharing of practice, teachers will have a vehicle to embrace innovation, take risks and not feel threatened by the “observation” (certainly not staying up all night planning and placing unnecessary stress upon themselves). As a leader of teaching, learning and CPD, I always feel pressure and a big responsibility in the sense that I question whether I am offering a model that will meet the needs of all staff within our school. Our new approach to professional development is built on staff voice, alongside an acute awareness of teaching and learning through rigorous triangulation of learning walks, work scrutiny, student voice and data analysis. Of course, it is inevitable that throughout the year this approach will need to be tweaked and modified, after all if we stand still we are already going backwards. The key is to have a professional development model that is fluid, and can quickly change with the rhythm of the school and not become a rigid one that is set for the whole year. It is crucial that any professional learning/ CPD model supports the on-going professional development needs of all staff, while representing value for money – this is simply common sense. However, the bigger question is how can this model truly support the ever-changing professional learning needs day-by-day, weekby-week and term-by-term to further sustain improvement? A three-point approach, encompassing wholeschool, faculty/subject-specific and individual needs (which are not mutually exclusive) can support all strands of a school’s development. Understanding and identifying development needs are fundamental to maintaining a sustained model of improvement. • Gary King is an assistant principal and former head of technology. He is director of teaching and learning and leads CPD at Tavistock College in Devon. He also leads teaching and learning-focused whole-school projects on ICT innovation, real-world learning across the curriculum and entrepreneurial learning projects with schools across Europe. Further information Innovative approaches to teaching and learning takes place at 1:30pm on Friday, January 22, in the Learn Live Secondary Theatre. Photo: iStock 20 SecEd
LEARN LIVE CPD A state secondary school with an ICT budget of £3.50 per-pupil, per-year? What can anyone learn from that? One word: creativity. Andy Chaplin explains how to create a modern learning environment in a school where an interactive whiteboard equals three years’ budget I am a consultant coordinator at a German Hauptschule. My main responsibility is to manage the English department’s implementation of a system whereby the children are taught according to ability, rather than the standard German way (in classes, or years). My other responsibility is to work with the head of IT to maximise the benefit of our computer and media systems. Frankly, school technology in Germany isn’t a big subject. Chalk is still king and blackboards still reign. Budgets are based on the number of pupils you have but are also linked to the overall attainment of the students in the school, which causes some real issues. The system here is broadly based on the comprehensive system, made up of what I’d term the high-flying schools, those in the middle then the more vocational category. Our school falls into the last category, which unfortunately means a very limited budget of around 1,200€ over the year for 250 students, working out to be around 5€ each. And that includes things like buying ink and toner! How do we get around this? A lot of creativity, for one thing. And we repair things a lot. Not long ago, I was taking capacitors out of motherboards and fixing them with a soldering iron. It forces you to be very hands-on. The chalk and talk system that we have to use means Germany isn’t producing the generation of innovators and tech-savvy people that the country’s tech giants need. We want to change that, and when you believe in technology in education but you are limited to a budget like ours, Bett is crucial. The first time I attended Bett was about seven or eight years ago and I remember thinking “this is the way forward”. I now come with a colleague and spend two days there looking at all the wonderful technologies and trying to figure out how to make it all work back in our school. The session I am delivering focuses on what can improve the learner experience. When you have got a very small budget, you become obsessed with researching things – the internet becomes your most important tool. Open source is another phrase that must It’s not what you spend, but how you spend it be used every day in our school. One of the very best parts of the job, apart from helping a student get better results than expected, is getting a low-cost improvement up and running. My favourite teacher from my school days was René Filho, my French teacher. He taught me that the teacher isn’t the solution to a student’s learning, he is the facilitator. As a pupil I didn’t get it, but it was a valuable lesson in later life. The success of what you do with technology comes down to teachers wanting to do something good and being prepared to give up their free time. It is one of the reasons why I like TeachMeets – people want to improve, share knowledge and learn from each other. “Transform” and “improve” become the key drivers – and transformation is needed here in Germany. We want edtech to be seen as important here. Good teaching materials and equipment don’t have to cost the earth and we have found that we can make purchases stretch. We are also very aware that creating things and building your own equipment has advantages – you can teach a lot by doing that and that learning curve is great for students. The talk that I am doing isn’t negative. There would be no point in me standing there for half an hour talking about our relative “poverty”. Ultimately, the message for me is that you can achieve a heck of a lot by thinking differently, and that is where the collaborations, networks and inspiration of an event like Bett that brings everyone together is just so essential. • Andy Chaplin is the English coordinator at the Hauptschule Am Fredenberg in Germany. Further information Introducing classroom technology on a zero budget takes place at 10:30am on Thursday, January 21, in the Learn Live Secondary Theatre. Photo: iStock SecEd 21
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