developing people, improving young lives  

MTL: Challenges, Opportunities and Progress

Dr Michael DayExecutive Director for Training

Training and Development Agency for Schools

Professor Chris HusbandsInstitute of Education

Board MemberTraining and Development Agency for Schools

UCET Conference: 8 November 2008

The case for MTL: develop world class teachers

• Improved Induction• Strengthened EPD• Enhanced professional status

Leading to

• Improved life chances for all children

The case for MTL: NQTs start in schools with areas for development(graphs from Martin and Chris)

The case for MTL: Improving induction

• NQTs enter the profession with a range of professional learning needs

• Some schools, LAs and HE work closely together meet these needs

• In spite of this, quality of induction is variable and quality of support for professional learning declines after induction year

• MTL will provide a vehicle for much greater appropriateness and consistency

Growing confidence and increased responsibilities but identity, efficacy and effectiveness at risk for 20%

High levels of commitment to teaching (85%) and developing efficacy (60%)

Professional identity varies over a teacher’s length of time in their career:

So need to build on the enthusiasm of the first few years and embed this into longer term professional learning

0-3 yrs24-30 yrs

16-23 yrs

8-15 yrs

4-7 yrs

31yrs+

The case for MTL: teacher status and development

THE MTL IS A KEY LEVER IN OUR TRANSFORMATION TO A WORLD CLASS SYSTEM

Chief focus of system

• Tackling underperformance

• Transparency• Spreading best

practice

• World class performance

• Continuous learning

Role of Government

• Prescribing • Justifying

• Regulating• Capacity-building

• Enabling• Incentivising

Relationship between Government and profession

• Top-down• Antagonistic

• Negotiated• Pragmatic

• Strategic partnership • Shared moral purpose

Role of profession

• Implementing• Evidence-accepting

• Accommodating• Evidence-based

• Leading • Evidence-driven

Central professional challenge

• Adopting minimum standards

• Adopting best practice

• Achieving high reliability

• Fostering innovation

Awful Adequate Good Great

MTL

MTL: Principles

•The Children’s lan committed to “make teaching a masters-level profession…by introducing a new qualification” for early tenure teachers

•Our ambition is to develop an innovative, structured, masters-level programme aimed initially mainly at early-tenure teachers that is focused on raising standards and tackling the attainment gap.

•The ultimate aim is to enhance professionalism so that every teacher has the skills, knowledge, understanding and attributes to teach consistently excellent lessons and to reduce the high degree of within-school variation.

Principle 1: The MTL must focus on creating capable, high quality professionals

Principle 2: The MTL must have a strong and coherent core which progressively deepens, broadens and builds upon ITT to take the teacher to a higher level pedagogical mastery within the first few years of teaching

Principle 3: The MTL must be practice based programme which develops a continuous learning mindset

Principle 4: The MTL must be developed and delivered jointly by HEIs and schools

Outcomes from national consultation

Writing Group

Second national consultation

Writing group

Outcomes:National Framework for MTL

Specification for training of MTL coaches

Using outcomes of MTL consultation

Who • experts in content, design, assessment & delivery of teacher learning• identified by key stakeholders What: National framework for MTL:• high level learning outcomes for content area• principles of design, delivery & assessmentWhen:• 21 – 23 October 2008

Who • schools, HEIs, LAs, Subject Assns, DCSF, TDA• identified by key stakeholdersWhat:• to review outcomes of writing group & contribute further expertise When•4 – 25 November 2008

What: • refine frameworkWhen• 26 to 27 November 2008

Outcomes of MTL consultation: design

• each teacher’s individual starting point and professional needs, and the needs of the school and its context

• the development of skills in reflection, analysis, enquiry and advanced professional practice

• the provision of learning opportunities that progressively broaden and deepen professional knowledge, skills and understanding in a staged process

• a balance between a core entitlement and personalised provision

Outcomes of MTL consultation: collaboration for teaching and learning

• the coach and tutor should share some roles and responsibilities for developing teacher learning, such as planning with the teacher a personalised route through the MTL programme

• Role for subject associations and others (Strategies etc)

Outcomes of MTL consultation: content

Content area 1 • teaching and learning• assessment for learning

Content area 2• subject knowledge for teaching • curriculum development

Content area 3 • how children and young people develop, how they learn and management of their

behaviour• inclusion, including SEN, EAL

Content area 4 • leadership and management• working collaboratively, in and beyond the classroom

Possible vehicles for professional learning: the professional case/investigation

• Build learning around a series of professional cases/investigations• Each case defines a ‘real life’ professional issue which calls for the exercise of

knowledge, understanding, skill and judgement, across content areas. • Some cases defined as part of a core programme, some designed within

schools by coaches

Professional Learning Phases in MTL

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

Developing Broadening and embedding

Deepening

Some (of many) key issues to resolve

• How to quality assurance the school and HEI components• How to ensure teachers have a say in selection of their MTL

provider• How to build in ‘modules’ from a range of specialist providers• How to bring together MTL students to create learning sets• How to create effective clusters of schools, particularly primary

schools to create capacity for coaches and HEI tutors • How to ensure HEIs have the capacity to provide sufficient high

quality tutors and expertise• How to identify sufficient high quality teachers to be trained as

coaches

Contracting for MTL

Development Phase

• Will contract with a consortium of NW HEIs, and HEIs selected in other regions to deliver MTL to National Challenge Schools, to develop the MTL Programme.

Delivery Phase

• Will grant fund places once MTL starts in September 2009