INSET For NQTs: An inschool course for teachers in the primary school

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INSET for NQTs

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Introduction

Introduction

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INSET for NQTs

An in-school course for teachers in the Primary School

Neil Kitson

London and New York

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Introduction

First published 2000 by RoutledgeFalmer 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by RoutledgeFalmer 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001. RoutledgeFalmer is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2000 Neil Kitson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Kitson, Neil. INSET for NQTs: an inschool course for teachers in the primary school/ Neil Kitson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-415-22348-2 (pbk) 1. First year teachers – In-service training – Great Britain – Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Elementary school teachers – In-service training – Great Britain – Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title: INSET for newly qualiﬁed teachers. II. Title. LB2844.1.N4 K57 2000 372′.071′55–dc21 00-027472 ISBN 0-415-22348-2 ISBN 0-203-18778-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-18901-9 (Glassbook Format)

Introduction

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v

Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Standards for the Award of Qualiﬁed Teacher Status Questionnaire

vii 1

2

2 Assimilation and your new school

14

3 Handling acute situations: what do I do if . . . ?

16

4 Follow my leader: roles and responsibilities

19

5 Resources and their management

21

6 Information and communication systems

24

7 Consideration of the behaviour policy

27

8 Your school and inspection – the inspector calls

30

9 Special educational needs within schools

32

10 Preparing for assemblies

34

11 Examining the school ethos

37

12 Working with parents and carers

40

13 Preparing for parents’ evening

43

14 Assessing your aims as a teacher

45

15 Teaching – the learning relationship

48

16 Responding to your class

51

17 Teaching constructs and you as a teacher

55

18 Assessment, recording and reporting

58

19 Propelling learning

62

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Contents

20 Extending learning through planning

65

21 Assessment in action

67

22 Co-ordination

70

23 The role of the co-ordinator John O’Neill

72

24 The role of the co-ordinator auditing for development Tom Whiteside

83

25 Evaluating your own progress – the induction standards

92

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the following for permission to reprint copyright work: C. Day, et al. (1993) ‘School cultures’, in C. Day et al. (eds), Leadership and Curriculum in the Primary School, London: Paul Chapman; John O’Neill (1996) ‘The role of the co-ordinator’, in John O’Neill and Neil Kitson (eds), Effective Curriculum Management, London: Routledge; Tom Whiteside (1996) ‘The role of the co-ordinator auditing for development’, in John O’Neill and Neil Kitson (eds), Effective Curriculum Management, London: Routledge. We would also like to acknowledge the work of Barbara Garner for the ideas in Chapters 18–21 and to thank the staff and students, past and present, at Leicester University School of Education for their help in developing these materials.

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Introduction

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Introduction

This book has been produced to help newly qualiﬁed teachers make the most of their ﬁrst years in teaching. The materials lead the newly qualiﬁed teacher from the career entry proﬁle through a range of activities, which have been speciﬁcally designed to assist in getting to know the school, the children and yourself as a teacher. They are stand-alone materials which guide the newly qualiﬁed teacher and the Induction Tutor in the discussions that they might have. Each section has tasks and activities, the outcome of which is discussed with the Induction Tutor. To show progression the sheets can then be dated and signed by both the newly qualiﬁed teacher and the Induction Tutor.

Other professional development At the back of the pack are a series of forms which are for the evaluation of any other in-service provisions that you undertake during the years. This can range from staff development sessions after school, run by other school colleagues, through to long courses offered by external providers. All this will help make you a better teacher by reﬂecting on it, and using what you have learnt will make you better still! As teachers our skills are always developing. We learn new things and as classes and curriculum demands change, we need to know new things. These teaching proﬁles provide a record of your own development as a teacher. They are to be completed at the end of each term, with your Induction Tutor. Set the date by which you will have done them and stick to the date. Term One: Signature:

Date to be completed by ....................................................

Term Two: Signature:

Date to be completed by ....................................................

Term Three: Signature:

Date to be completed by ....................................................

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Standards for the Award of Qualified Teacher Status Questionnaire

To be completed by the end of Summer Term in the following colours: Term 1: RED Term 2: BLACK Term 3: BLUE Term 4: GREEN 4. EXCELLENT, 3. VERY GOOD, 2. GOOD, 1. ADEQUATE A. Knowledge and understanding 4. Primary a. understand the purposes, scope, structure and balance of the National Curriculum Orders as a whole and, within them, the place and scope of the primary phase, the key stages, the primary core and foundation subjects and RE; b. are aware of the breadth of content covered by the pupils’ National Curriculum across the primary core and foundation subjects and RE; c.

understand how pupils’ learning is affected by their physical, intellectual, emotional and social development;

d. for each core and specialist subject covered in their training: i. have, where applicable, a detailed range; ii. for RE specialists, have a detailed knowledge of the Model Syllabuses; iii. cope securely with subjectrelated questions which pupils raise;

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2.

1.

Comments/Example/ Not observed*

Standards Questionnaire

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4.

3.

2.

1.

3

Comments/Example/ Not observed*

iv. understand the progression from SCAA’s ‘Desirable Outcomes for Children’s Learning on Entering Compulsory Education’ to KS1, the progression from KS1 to KS2, and from KS2 to KS3; v. are aware of, and know how to access, recent inspection evidence; vi. know pupils’ most common misconceptions and mistakes in the subject; vii. have a secure knowledge and understanding of the content speciﬁed in the ITT National Curriculum for Information and Communications Technology in Subject Teaching; viii. are familiar with subject-speciﬁc health and safety requirements, where relevant, and plan lessons to avoid potential hazards; e.

for English, mathematics and science, have a secure knowledge and understanding of the subject content speciﬁed in the ITT National Curricula for primary English, mathematics and science;

f.

for any specialist subject(s), have a secure knowledge of the subject to at least a standard approximating a GCE Advanced level in those aspects of the subject taught at KS1 and KS2;

g. for any non-core, non-specialist subject covered in their training, have a secure knowledge to a standard equivalent to at least level 7 of the pupils’ National Curriculum. For RE, the required standard for non-specialist training is broadly equivalent to the end of Key Stage statements for Key Stage 4 in QCA’s Model Syllabuses for RE. www.routledgefalmer.com

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Standards Questionnaire

B. Additional standards relating to early years (nursery and reception) for trainees on 3–8 and 3–11 courses 4. a.

3.

2.

1.

Comments/Example/ Not observed*

have a detailed knowledge of SCAA’s Desirable Outcomes for Children’s Learning on Entering Compulsory Education;

b. have a knowledge of effective ways of working with parents and other carers; c.

have an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of other agencies with responsibility for the care of young children.

C. Planning, teaching, mathematics and class management This section details the standards which all those to be awarded Qualiﬁed Teacher Status must demonstrate, when assessed, in each subject that they have been trained to teach. For primary non-core, non-specialist subjects, trainees being assessed for Qualiﬁed Teacher Status must meet the required standards but with the support, if necessary, of a teacher experienced in the subject concerned. 4. 1. a.

Primary English, mathematics and science have a secure knowledge and understanding of, and know how and when to apply, the teaching and assessment methods speciﬁed in the ITT National Curricula for primary English, mathematics and science;

b. have a secure knowledge and understanding of, and know when to apply in relation to each subject, the teaching and assessment methods speciﬁed in the ITT National Curriculum for Information and Communications Technology in Subject Teaching.

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2.

1.

Comments/Example/ Not observed*

Standards Questionnaire

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4. 2.

Primary and Secondary specialist subjects Have a secure knowledge and understanding of, and know how and when to apply, in relation to their specialist subject, the teaching and assessment methods speciﬁed in the ITT National Curriculum for Information and Communications Technology in Subject Teaching.

3.

Secondary English, mathematics and science Have a secure knowledge and understanding of, and know how and when to apply, the teaching and assessment methods speciﬁed in the relevant ITT National Curriculum.

3.

2.

1.

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Comments/Example/ Not observed*

4.

Primary and secondary for all subjects Planning a. Plan their teaching to achieve progression in pupil’s learning through: i. identifying clear teaching objectives and content, appropriate to the subject matter and the pupils being taught, and specifying how these will be taught and assessed; ii. setting tasks for whole class, individual and group work, including homework, which challenge pupils and ensure high levels of pupil interest; iii. setting appropriate and demanding expectations for pupil’s learning, motivation and presentation of work; iv. setting clear targets for pupils’ learning, building on prior attainment, and ensuring that pupils are aware of the substance and purpose of what they are asked to do; www.routledgefalmer.com

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Standards Questionnaire

4. v. identifying pupils who: • have special educational needs, including speciﬁc learning difﬁculties; • are very able; • are not yet ﬂuent in English; and knowing where to get help in order to give positive and targeted support; b. provide clear structures for lessons, and for sequences of lessons, in the short, medium and longer term, which maintain pace, motivation and challenge for pupils; c.

make effective use of assessment information on pupils’ attainment and progress in their teaching and in planning future lessons and sequences of lessons;

d. plan opportunities to contribute to pupils’ personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; e.

where applicable, ensure coverage of the relevant examination syllabuses and National Curriculum programmes of study.

Teaching and class management f. ensure effective teaching of whole classes, and of groups and individuals within the whole class setting, so that teaching objectives are met, and best use is made of available teaching time; g. monitor and intervene when teaching to ensure sound learning and discipline; h. establish and maintain a purposeful working atmosphere;

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2.

1.

Comments/Example/ Not observed*

Standards Questionnaire

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4. i.

set high expectations for pupils’ behaviour, establishing and maintaining a good standard of discipline through well-focused teaching and through positive and productive relationship;

j.

establish a safe environment which supports learning and in which pupils feel secure and conﬁdent;

3.

2.

1.

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Comments/Example/ Not observed*

k. use teaching methods which sustain the momentum of pupils’ work and keep all pupils engaged through: i. stimulating intellectual curiosity, communicating enthusiasm for the subject being taught, fostering pupils’ enthusiasm and maintaining pupils’ motivation; ii. matching the approaches used to the subject matter and the pupils being taught; iii. structuring information well, including outlining content and aims, signalling transitions and summarizing key points as the lesson progresses; iv. clear presentation of content around a set of key ideas, using appropriate subject-speciﬁc vocabulary and well-chosen illustrations and examples; v. clear instruction and demonstration, and accurate well-paced explanation; vi. effective questioning which matches the pace and direction of the lesson and ensures that pupils take part; vii. careful attention to pupils’ errors and misconceptions, and helping to remedy them; viii. listening carefully to pupils, analysing their responses and responding constructively in order to take pupils’ learning forward; www.routledgefalmer.com

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Standards Questionnaire

4. ix.

selecting and making good use of textbooks, ICT and other learning resources which enable teaching objectives to be met; x. providing opportunities for pupils to consolidate their knowledge and maximizing opportunities, both in the classroom and through setting well-focused homework, to reinforce and develop what has been learnt. xi. exploiting opportunities to improve pupils’ basic skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT, and the individual and collaborative study skills needed for effective learning, including information retrieval from libraries, tests and other sources; xii. exploiting opportunities to contribute to the quality of pupils’ wider educational development, including their personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; xiii. setting high expectations for all providing opportunities to develop pupils’ wider understanding by relating their learning to real and workrelated examples; l.

are familiar with the Code of Practice on the identiﬁcation and assessment of special educational needs and, as part of their responsibilities under the Code, implement and keep records on individual education plans (IEPs) for pupils at stage 2 of the Code and above;

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2.

1.

Comments/Example/ Not observed*

Standards Questionnaire

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4.

3.

2.

1.

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Comments/Example/ Not observed*

m. ensure that pupils acquire and consolidate knowledge, skills and understanding in the subject; n. evaluate their own teaching critically and use this to improve their effectiveness. 5.

a.

Additional standards relating to early years (nursery and reception) for trainees on 3–8 and 3–11 courses plan activities which take account of pupils’ needs and their developing physical, intellectual, emotional and social abilities, and which engage their interest;

b. provide structured learning opportunities which advance pupils’: i. personal and social development; ii. communication skills; iii. knowledge and understanding of the world; iv. physical development; v. creative development; c.

use teaching approaches and activities which develop pupils’ language and provide the foundations for literacy;

d. use teaching approaches and activities which develop pupils’ mathematical understanding and provide the foundations for numeracy; e.

encourage pupils to think and talk about their learning and to develop self-control and independence;

f.

encourage pupils to concentrate and persevere in their learning for sustained periods, to listen attentively and to talk about their experiences in small and large groups;

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Standards Questionnaire

4.

3.

2.

1.

Comments/Example/ Not observed*

g. use teaching approaches and activities which involve planned adult intervention, which offer opportunities for ﬁrst-hand experience and co-operation, and which use play and talk as a vehicle for learning; h. manage, with support from an experienced specialist teacher if necessary, the work of parents and other adults in the classroom to enhance learning opportunities for pupils. D. Monitoring, assessment, recording, reporting and accountability This section details the standards which all those to be awarded Qualiﬁed Teacher Status must demonstrate, when assessed, in each subject that they have been trained to teach. For primary non-core, non-specialist subjects, trainees being assessed for Qualiﬁed Teacher Status must meet the required standards but with the support, if necessary, of a teacher experienced in the subject concerned. 4. a.

assess how well learning objectives have been achieved and use this assessment to improve speciﬁc aspects of teaching;

b. mark and monitor pupils’ assigned classwork and homework, providing constructive oral and written feedback, and setting targets for pupils’ progress; c.

assess and record each pupil’s progress systematically, including through focused observation, questioning, testing and marking, and use these records to: i. check that pupils have understood and completed the work set; ii. monitor strengths and weaknesses; iii. inform planning;

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3.

2.

1.

Comments/Example/ Not observed*

Standards Questionnaire

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4.

3.

2.

1.

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Comments/Example/ Not observed*

iv. check that pupils continue to make demonstrable progress in their acquisition of the knowledge, skills and understanding of the subject; d. are familiar with the statutory assessment and reporting requirements and know how to prepare and present informative reports to parents; e.

where applicable, understand the expected demands of pupils in relation to each relevant level description or end of key stage description, and, in addition, for those on 11–16 or 18 and 14–19 courses, the demands of the syllabuses and course requirements for GCSE, other KS4 courses, and, where applicable, post-16 courses;

f.

where applicable, understand and know how to implement the assessment requirements of current qualiﬁcations for pupils aged 14–19;

g. recognize the level at which a pupil is achieving, and assess pupils consistently against attainment targets, where applicable, if necessary with guidance from an experienced teacher; h. understand and know how national, local, comparative and school data, including National Curriculum test data, where applicable, can be used to set clear targets for pupils’ achievement; i.

use different kinds of assessment appropriately for different purposes, including National Curriculum and other standardized tests, and baseline assessment where relevant.

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Standards Questionnaire

4. Primary and secondary a. have a working knowledge and understanding of: i. teachers’ professional duties as set out in the current School Teachers; Pay and Conditions document, issued under the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Act 1991; ii. teachers’ legal liabilities and responsibilities relating to: • the Race Relations Act 1976; • the Sex Discrimination Act 1975; • Section 7 and Section 8 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; • teachers’ common law duty to ensure that pupils are healthy and safe on school premises and when leading activities off the school site, such as educational visits, school outings or ﬁeld trips; • what is reasonable for the purposes of safeguarding or promoting children’s welfare (Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989); • the role of the education service in protecting children from abuse (currently set out in DfEE Circular 10/95 and the Home Ofﬁce, Department of Health, DfEE and Welsh Ofﬁce Guidance Working Together: A guide to arrangements for inter-agency co-operation for the protection of children from abuse 1991); • appropriate physical contact with pupils (currently set out in DfEE Circular 10/95); • appropriate physical restraint of pupils (Section 4 of the Education Act 1997 and DfEE Circular 9/94); www.routledgefalmer.com

3.

2.

1.

Comments/Example/ Not observed*

Standards Questionnaire

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4.

3.

2.

1.

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Comments/Example/ Not observed*

• detention of pupils on disciplinary grounds (Section 5 of the Education Act 1997); b. have established, during work in schools, effective working relationships with professional colleagues including, where applicable, associate staff; c.

set a good example to the pupils they teach, through their presentation and their personal and professional conduct;

d. are committed to ensuring that every pupil is given the opportunity to achieve their potential and meet the high expectations set for them; e.

understand the need to take responsibility for their own professional development and to keep up to date with research and developments in pedagogy and in the subjects they teach;

f.

understand their professional responsibilities in relation to school policies and practices, including those concerned with pastoral and personal safety matters, including bullying;

g. recognize that learning takes place inside and outside the school context, and understand the need to liaise effectively with parents and other carers and with agencies with responsibility for pupils’ education and welfare; h. are aware of the role and purpose of school bodies. By permission of the Teacher Training Association.

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Assimilation and your new school

At ﬁrst it will all seem rather strange and rather daunting. The buildings are strange and you can’t ﬁnd your way about and not only are you trying to get to know all of the children in the class but you are also trying to get to grips with all of the adults who are around. But don’t worry, you will soon begin to feel at home. You will by now have your class, your classroom and you will be beginning to ﬁnd your way around the school. This is made up of the buildings and the systems that are in place to make sure that it all runs smoothly. Just as you need to know your way around the buildings, you will also need to know your way around the systems. This activity has been designed to help you begin to do this. As you work with your Induction Tutor going through the points in the activity, so you will be ﬁnding out about the school in which you will be working.

Assimilation and your new school

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Activity 1 The two most important people in a school are not the head and the deputy head. They just think that they are. The really important people are the caretaker and the school secretary!

Task 1 Without asking for help try and write down all of the staff that work in the school. Start with a list leaving gaps if you know that there are people engaged in tasks but you are unsure of their names. Don’t forget that there is more to a school than the teaching staff. Task 2 Now write down what additional support is available within the school. These might be parents, governors or people from the community who come into school. When you have drawn up your lists discuss them with your Induction Tutor. Has anyone been left out? If they have, who are they and what are their roles within the school and how do they relate to the work that you do? It might be a good idea to seek out these people and introduce yourself to them. Having a good overview of the staff in the school will make you a more effective teacher.

Your signature

............................................................................

Induction Tutor signature

............................................................................

Date

............................................................................

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Handling acute situations What do I do if . . . ?

Life in school would be very dull if everything went according to plan. With so many people doing so many different things there are occasions when the unexpected does occur. These events, while outside your control, are nevertheless part of the work and are the class teacher’s responsibility. So it is quite a good idea to develop a simple checklist of strategies that you can employ for those unexpected happenings!

Activity 2 Task 1 Below is a list of questions relating to ﬁrst aid and other issues which you might need to deal with. Answer as many as you can from what you know about the school and then talk to your Induction Tutor about your answers. Get your Induction Tutor to help you ﬁll in the gaps.

When a parent is concerned about the progress of a child in your class what should you do?

There are some children whose behaviour causes concern. If you have such a child in your class, what should you do?

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Handling acute situations

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If the problem is acute, then what is the recognized procedure?

If a child comes in late in the morning what should you do?

Where is the ﬁrst aid kit held?

Who on the staff is the registered ﬁrst aider?

If a child is sick/ill in class, what is the procedure?

If you need additional stock or you run out of things, where do you get what you need?

Where do you get reading books from?

What happens if it is a wet playtime?

If you are unable to get to school because, for example, you are unwell, whom should you contact?

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Handling acute situations

You have decided that you would like to ask for parent helpers to help in the class. How do you go about organizing this?

A trip out of school with the children would be an ideal addition to the work that you are doing this term. How do you go about setting it up? Who do you ask?

Your signature

............................................................................

Induction Tutor signature

............................................................................

Date

............................................................................

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Follow my leader Roles and responsibilities

With so many areas of the curriculum needing to be co-ordinated and monitored you will ﬁnd that your school will have members of staff who take on the responsibility for some element of this work. If you are in a small school you may well ﬁnd that you have already been given some area of responsibility. Some schools have taken the notion of curriculum leadership further with every teacher having some level of curriculum co-ordination and senior members of staff taking on additional responsibility for things such as assessment, co-ordination of a year group, curriculum development throughout the school, etc.

Activity 3 This activity has been designed to enable you to become more familiar with the structure of your school and to help you ﬁnd out where you can go for help and advice in relation to the subjects of the National Curriculum. Task 1 Find out the members of staff who are the co-ordinators in your school for the following subjects: •

English/Literacy: ..........................................................................................................

•

Maths/Numeracy: ........................................................................................................

•

History: ...........................................................................................................................

•

Geography: ....................................................................................................................

•

Music: .............................................................................................................................

•

Art: ..................................................................................................................................

•

PE: ...................................................................................................................................

•

RE: ...................................................................................................................................

•

Science: ...........................................................................................................................

•

Design Technology: ......................................................................................................

•

Information Communication Technology: .............................................................. www.routledgefalmer.com

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Roles and responsibilities

Task 2 Consider the list of subjects that go to make up the National Curriculum. As teachers we would like to be expert in all of the areas but we can only enhance our expertise in small stages. We will only ever develop our skills if we set ourselves attainable goals. Looking at the list of curriculum areas, choose one of them that you feel that you would like to know more about or would like to develop further. It could be one from your target setting done in your career entry proﬁle. Write down the subject:

Target setting Write down three things that you would like to be more proﬁcient at within that curriculum area. 1

2

3

Make an arrangement to meet with the co-ordinator for your chosen subject and talk through the three targets that you have set for yourself. Give yourself a date when you will review your progress. Keep them simple and manageable and also keep the time scale realistic. When you have done this, discuss it with your Induction Tutor.

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Resources and their management

Having been in your new school for some time now you will be beginning to ﬁnd out where things are and how to get hold of things that you need for teaching. All schools have a lot of equipment and teaching and learning resources. You may well be in a school where these are centrally held, in which case they will be easily accessed and used. On the other hand, it may be that the resources that you need are held in classrooms around the school. Whatever the circumstances in your school, the most important thing is for you to know what is available and where you can ﬁnd the resources you require.

Activity 4 Task 1 The aim of this task is for you to begin to ﬁnd out what resources are held in school and where they can be found. You may well need to talk to the subject’s co-ordinators in order to complete this.

Where are the English/language extension resources held?

How do you get hold of these when you need them for your class?

How are the maths resources held within the school?

Are they held in individual classes or is there a central resource?

Where are the resources for the following held? Length Number

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Resources and their management

Weight Volume Where are the science resources held?

What will be the science theme that you will be covering during the next term/year?

What type of resources will you want to use?

Make a checklist of what you will be needing and then talk to the science co-ordinator as to where you will be able to get these from.

Where in the school are the history resources kept?

Are there any items that you can use in the class?

How can you get hold of the pictures and posters that you may need?

What other resources are available to you?

Does the school have a range of geography resources?

How are they organized?

Who do you ask to ﬁnd out about what is available?

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Where are the instruments that you may need for teaching music kept?

Are there tuned and pitched instruments as well as precision instruments?

Think of the range of art equipment that is available in school.

Use the headings listed below and try to make a list of what is available. There may well be gaps, as not all schools will have all the equipment. Clay/clay tools/kiln Threads/wool Card A range of good quality brushes Fabric/fabric paints and dyes Collage materials All schools have PVA glue but where are the different types of glues and adhesive kept?

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Information and communication systems

You will have found by now that there is a great deal of information passed between teachers within the school. This can be about a wide range of things and will cover information relating to individual children, information relating to procedures and events, information about teachers’ courses and a wide range of organizational issues from playground duties to school library times. If all of this wasn’t enough, this information will be presented around the school in a bewildering number of places. It is, however, important for you as a teacher within the school, to know how to access the information that you require and at the same time how you can communicate effectively with colleagues, parents and children. The aim of this activity is to familiarize you with the range of communication networks within your school.

Activity 5 Task 1 In the following task you will need to answer the following questions.

On children How is the information about children communicated between teachers?

What type of information is communicated between teachers about children?

Who has access to that information?

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Information and communication systems

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On policies Every school will have a range of policies relating to the curriculum. What policies does your school have?

Where are they located within the school?

General How is information generally transmitted to the staff within the school?

Is there a formal as well as an informal structure?

What is the difference between these in terms of the type of information that is carried by each method?

For what types of information would you use the following methods of communication? letters notes messages via the school secretary notice boards around the school The staff room notice board Look at the main notice board in the staff room (it may well be that there is only one). It will no doubt carry a wide range of news and information. It is important that you as a member of staff have easy access to that information. What are the main categories of information that are carried on the notice board? It may be that these areas are already divided by headings. If this is so, then does the information match the headings that have been given?

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Information and communication systems

Can you ﬁnd information relating to the following? The oldest notice

Courses for teachers

National Curriculum information

Information from the teachers’ unions

Information from the Local Authority

Information relating to medical issues of concern

Information from OFSTED

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Consideration of the behaviour policy

The way in which children behave around the school has a signiﬁcant effect upon what goes on within individual classrooms. You will no doubt have been in a variety of different schools and have been aware of the different cultures and ethos of the schools. Once a pattern of behaviour has been established, then new children coming into the school tend to assume the dominant patterns of behaviour that already exist. As a teacher new to the school it is also very important for you to be aware of what is expected of the children in terms of how they are required to behave. All schools would like their children to be quiet, obedient and carry out the tasks that have been set. In order for schools to attain the consistency of approach to children’s behaviour necessary for the effective running of the school, the governors are required to have in place a behaviour policy for the school. By understanding this and then integrating the elements into your own practice you will be able to offer the children consistency and a secure pattern of behaviour which will help establish a positive learning relationship within your class.

Activity 6 Task 1 The ﬁrst part of this activity requires you to locate the behaviour policy for your school. It is important that you familiarize yourself with this document, so locate it and then spend some time reading it.

What are the key issues that underpin the policy? Does the behaviour policy locate the responsibility for behaviour within each individual class or is there a collective responsibility?

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Consideration of behaviour policy

How does the behaviour in your classroom relate to behaviour in other parts of the school?

Whose responsibility is poor behaviour around the school?

What are the procedures for administering discipline?

Is there a clear set of guidelines or is it left up to each individual teacher?

Task 2 If you were asked to come up with a list of rules or whatever you might wish to call them for your class, what would these be? Then put in what you think the children’s rule might be. If you feel comfortable enough with the children it is a very worthwhile activity to ask them what they think the rule of the class should be and even if they can suggest what the rules of the class are at present. This gives you, their teacher, a very good insight into how they view the ethos and underlying structure of the class and of the school.

Your ‘rules’

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The children’s ‘rules’

Consideration of behaviour policy

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Use additional paper if necessary.

Task 3 With your Induction Tutor discuss the areas of agreement and those that do not match. What do these tell us about the way that children see what goes on in school/class? What are the implications of these for your classroom practice? Using the above information from the ‘rules’ section of this task and the policy statement for the school, what would you see as being the key points for the development of good learning within your class? When you have considered this share your thoughts with your Induction Tutor.

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Your school and inspection The inspector calls

Inspectors from the Ofﬁce for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspect all schools at least once every six years. The role of the inspectors is to offer an independent overview of the school’s performance in relation to schools nationally and to see if the school is offering value for money. Before they visit they will look at a range of documentation relating to a variety of school policies and other information so that they can build up an accurate background of the school. When they visit they will observe lessons, talk to teachers, governors, parents and children and match their observations to a set of criteria. At the end of the visit they will give a verbal report of what they saw and some time after the visit they will produce a written report. This will not only include what they have found but it will also set out points for development. These may be elements of practice and management, which were especially good or, conversely, areas which need to be developed and improved. Either way, the information can be useful to the school in helping it to serve the children more effectively.

Activity 7 In order to carry out this task you will need to talk to your Induction Tutor, and to other members of staff. Find out when your school underwent its last OFSTED inspection. Ask the head teacher if you can have a look at the report that was given to the school. This is a public document so anyone can look at it. It will even be available on the Internet so you can also get it from there.

Where do you think the school’s strengths lie?

From the report identify the key issues for action.

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Your school and inspection

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In the same way that we can set targets for children’s learning so targets can be set for school development. What are the school’s targets which have resulted from the identiﬁcation of the key issues?

What are the implications of the above for your work in the school?

In what ways will you be expected to be involved?

When you have considered this you will need to discuss the issues with your Induction Tutor.

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Special educational needs within schools

It has often been said that there are as many children with special needs as there are children in any given class and in one way this can be true. Every individual is different, whether they are left-handed or scared of heights so to this extent it can be said that all children have special or individual needs. More often when talking about special needs within the school context we are referring to speciﬁc needs that can affect the child’s ability to learn. This task has been set up to enable you to ﬁnd out more about the special needs provision within your school, to enable you to understand the help and services available for the children in your class.

Activity 8 Task 1 Who is the special needs co-ordinator for your school? (They are sometimes referred to as SEN-COs)

Locate and read the special needs policy for the school. Arrange to meet the SEN-CO in order to address the following questions: How many children in your class have been identiﬁed as having special needs?

How have their needs been categorized?

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Special educational needs

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What additional help has been provided for those children?

What does it mean when a child in your class is said to have a ‘statement’?

How is that statement arrived at?

What is the role of the Educational Psychologist and who is it for your school?

What are the types of support available generally for children with special needs in your school?

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Preparing for assemblies

Assemblies seem to be there in every school and all too often cause more anxiety than they deserve. Yet they do not all have to be like the following example. I remember when I was a newly qualiﬁed teacher it was expected that we should all do a class assembly. These things were tame enough. Normally there was a bit of reading, a bit of a play that couldn’t be heard followed by a song. If it was one of the Key Stage 1 classes then who knows, maybe they’d hold up a picture or two of ‘something bright and beautiful’. The pattern was nearly always the same. When it came to the second term I realized that what we were all engaged in was a sort of appraisal. This was one of the few times that any other teacher knew what was going on in our class. So I decided just for fun to use all the PE apparatus for our next assembly. The children had made up a play about holidays so these frames became the bus they went on, or they huddled under the ladders as if it was a shelter on the prom. Not being able to ﬁnd anything in the usual school music books that ﬁtted with what we were doing I wrote a couple of simple songs for the children to learn. It was great fun and the children loved it. None of the usual shouting in the hall. None of the anxiety that I had noticed in other colleagues. On the day the children were wonderful. They spoke, they sang, they charmed and I felt suitably satisﬁed. I looked round at the faces of the other teachers who smiled appreciatively and received more than one nod of approval from the head teacher. There was however one teacher who looked displeased. Her face was ashen and her feverish eyes burned into me. I couldn’t for the life of me work out what I could have possibly done to reap such displeasure. And then it dawned on me. It was her turn next week! It was then I realized that if we’re not careful we lose sight of the real purpose of the occasion. It should not be a measure of the teacher’s accomplishment rather it should be a celebration of our success as a class. This may or may not be something that you recognize but at some point, sooner or later in your career you will have to ‘do’ an assembly. As a teacher you will have the responsibility for organizing this. The following task has been designed in order to help you plan what you might do. And, above all, how to help the class celebrate their success.

Preparing for assemblies

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Activity 9 Task 1 What do you feel are the three most important things that should be present in a class assembly? 1 2 3 Why do you feel these are important?

Task 2 In order to complete this task you will need to work with your Induction Tutor.

When are the general assemblies held during the week?

If there are any, when are the hymn practices?

When are the class assemblies?

How often are you expected to be responsible for one?

What is expected from them?

What form do they usually take?

How long should they last?

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Preparing for assemblies

Do parents usually attend these assemblies?

If you want to include special songs, who do you contact in order that the other children in the school might be taught them?

Task 3 Check list for assemblies Complete this and talk it through with your Induction Tutor.

Date for your class’s next assembly.

Possible themes

Use of songs?

What about the use of additional music – is there a CD player/cassette player available?

Where can you get additional resources if needed?

How long before the assembly should you begin to get it ready?

Who in the school can you turn to for advice?

Just one more tip: if you need to use any equipment make sure that you try it out beforehand. You’ll be amazed how perverse inanimate objects can be! Your signature

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Examining the school ethos

Have you ever noticed how every school that you go into feels different? They all have the same job to do and have more or less the same equipment with which to do it, yet there is a signiﬁcant difference between any two schools. This is still true even if they are only down the road from each other. This difference is bound up with the way that the individuals feel about each other and about their surroundings. It is often referred to as the ‘school ethos’. We could take just one small area of school life, display, for example, and see this has a real effect on the way that the school feels both to those who are new to the school and to those who are there day in, day out. If the displays are bright and fresh, if they are interesting and draw you to them, if there is a feeling of warmth and interest in what is going on and valuing individuals’ contributions, then those who work within the school will feel valued and supported. They are more likely to feel positive about the school and about themselves as a member of that community. If, on the other hand, the displays around the school are old and tatty, if there is a general feeling that the place is unkempt, then one might not have such a positive feeling towards the school community. Now this is a gross overgeneralization. Clearly there are countless schools where the displays are not going to be featured in Child Education but where the children feel very safe, valued and cared for and conversely there are schools that have immaculate displays on every wall and yet the children and the teachers are viewed as cogs in some educational machine. The term ethos covers a great many things and it is not possible to consider all of them here, but it is an important issue to look at in your present school and to begin to reﬂect upon how it functions.

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Examining the school ethos

Activity 10 Task 1 Consider these issues in relation to your school’s ethos.

Can you think of three ways in which the school shows that the children are valued?

How effective do you think these are?

What else could be done?

As a member of staff think of three ways in which the school demonstrates that you are valued.

What around the school demonstrates its ethos?

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Examining the school ethos

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How does the school present itself to the world beyond its gates?

What do the outside of the school and the grounds say about your school?

When you have considered these, talk to your Induction Tutor about them and see to what extent he/she shares your view of the school.

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Working with parents and carers

As a teacher of young children you are engaged in a teaching partnership. As such, the process of development of the individual child includes the teacher, the parents and the wider school community. In fact, when you consider the hours that a child spends with you in school as compared to the time spent at home, your contribution is far less than those who look after the child outside of school. In order for this alliance to be truly effective parents need to be made to feel a part of the learning relationship rather than excluded from it. Young children on entering school will have been taught a vast amount by their parents. They will have been taught how to speak, to walk, to eat, to interact with others and as teachers we are in danger of discounting the fantastic job that parents have done. We need to celebrate the children’s achievements and build upon them as they move into their next phase of learning which will include us as teachers. The next task is aimed at helping you to reﬂect on how you might interact with parents within the school context.

Activity 11 Task 1 As a teacher you have a new class. All down one side of the room is an external window. Every morning the parents congregate outside the window and frequently wave through it to their children. One child in the class (Ruth) is having signiﬁcant problems in settling in and the attentions of her parent in the morning is leaving her in a distressed state. This makes life very stressful for both you as a teacher and others in the class and is not the nice relaxed start that you had planned. As the teacher of this class what could you do to try to encourage the parents not to congregate outside the window and how could you help Ruth and her mother cope with the mornings in school? Write a brief action plan for yourself considering such issues as: • • • •

professional distance; setting of boundaries; being tactful; being assertive and conﬁdent about explanations.

Working with parents and carers

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Task 2 Parents need to talk to teachers. They need to share signiﬁcant information relating to the child’s welfare, they need to gain information about what is going on in school and some will feel the need to engage with the class teacher on a personal level. While contact with parents is something to be encouraged, one needs to be aware of the appropriateness of such engagement. Look at the cameo set out below. It will give you a clearer idea as to how this might operate in practice. Over the past few weeks you have noticed that a few of the parents have taken longer and longer to settle the children into the class. This also now seems to be a time when signiﬁcant information is passed between you and some of them. On one particularly hectic morning Martin’s mother decides that she wants an in-depth chat because she is worried about his progress and the impending end of Key Stage tests (SATS). Write down what you should say to Martin’s mother. Consider the following points: • • •

be assertive and conﬁdent about your explanation; make opportunities for quality time with individual parents; it is important to build up opportunities for contact with parents. When you have done this share your thoughts with your Induction Tutor.

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Working with parents and carers

Task 3 Consider the following in relation to the teacher’s relationship with parents.

Why is it important to establish and maintain professional boundaries?

How can these be achieved and maintained?

What can you do as a teacher to keep a professional distance?

How can you as a teacher encourage contact with parents?

What should you do if you want to contact an individual parent?

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Preparing for parents’ evening

I remember my second parents’ evening very well. Because of the numbers in the school it meant that I had a vertically grouped class and the children were with me for two years. This particular parent came in and asked me about his daughter and as I had taught her last year as well I knew her pretty well, so I began to go through the curriculum pointing out the areas of strength and weakness. The parent listened patiently and when I had ﬁnished said ‘Well, that is very interesting’, and then produced a set of index cards from his pocket and reported back in great detail what I had said last year about her progress.

Meetings with parents are not normally as difﬁcult as that teacher found it but they do cause teachers anxiety. It is a very unusual situation and it needs to be handled in a professional and responsible manner. When taking part in a parents’ evening it is important to be prepared. You want to show the children’s work off to its best advantage so consider the overall impression of the room. Think about where the waiting parents will sit and what there will be on display for them to look at. When meeting parents at a parents’ evening: • • • •

speak with conviction; always have evidence to substantiate your claims; be honest about the child; refer the parents to the head teacher if necessary.

Activity 12 Task 1 I’ve been dreading parents’ evening. On a one to one I’m OK – it’s just the big meeting that frightens me. The parents seem to know so much about what’s going on and about what they should be able to do. How am I going to be able to come across as an expert? I certainly don’t feel authoritative so how can I pretend that I know what I’m doing? I still think the best thing to do is to tell the parents what they want to hear. This young teacher clearly feels uncomfortable about the forthcoming parents’ evening.

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Preparing for parents’ evening

Write down in about 200 words your advice to them. Also try putting together a checklist of strategies and guidance. When you have done this talk it through with your Induction Tutor. Are there areas that you have missed out? Are you being approachable and supportive enough?

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Assessing your aims as a teacher

As teachers we all hold values and beliefs. Indeed, we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t. All of these affect our behaviour and responses both inside and outside the classroom. Actually identifying these and seeing how they affect our practice is difﬁcult through classroom observation but reﬂective teachers are able to add additional insight to their work almost by adding a commentary. By looking back at what we did within the classroom it is possible to see more clearly what was going on and what was inﬂuencing these processes. This activity has been designed in order to help you identify the general aims which you hold for the children’s learning. Once you have done this it will be possible to look back and relate them to current practice. Through the process of reﬂection we can gain insight into our practice. These aims are not ﬁxed and will change with time, so don’t worry, there is no right answer.

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Assessing your aims as a teacher

Activity 13 Task 1 On a sheet of paper write down what you feel are your top ten aims for the development of children’s learning. Once you have done this, try to list them in order with the most important at the top of the list working down through the others. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Now write down brieﬂy how you feel your aims for the children’s learning are reﬂected in the way that you organize the classroom and interact with the children.

When you have done this ask your Induction Tutor to write his/her own list. 1 2

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Assessing your aims as a teacher

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3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Where are the similarities and differences?

Neither of the lists is the correct answer; they just relate to two different people so what is the signiﬁcance of any similarities and differences between the lists?

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Teaching The learning relationship

Being a teacher in a school is to be part of a very complex web of relationships. The most obvious relationship is between the teacher and the child but there are a great many others besides. There is the child’s relationship with the work they are engaged in, the teacher’s relationship to others working within the school, the children’s relationships towards each other, the child’s relationship to the curriculum, the teacher’s relationship to the broader social and political constructs that they work within, and so on. As teachers we may well often feel that we are working in isolation but we are not. Teaching makes great demands upon us as individuals, drawing upon our personal qualities, our skills, knowledge and abilities.

Activity 14 Task 1 The aim of this activity is to identify the demands that teaching places upon us as individuals. The box shown below has been divided into two sections. In the left-hand column make a list of the aims you have for yourself as a teacher (you can copy this from the previous activity). In the right-hand column make a list of the personal qualities, skills, knowledge and abilities that are needed to implement these aims. It may be worth referring to your Career Entry Proﬁle to help you with this.

Aims you have as a teacher

1.

2.

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Personal qualities, skills, knowledge and abilities that are needed to implement these aims

Teaching – the learning relationship

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With your Induction Tutor talk through the personal qualities, skills, knowledge and abilities that are needed to implement the aims.

Which of these will be easy for you and which will be more difﬁcult? Easy 1 2 3 4

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Teaching – the learning relationship

5 Challenging 1 2 3 4 5 Target setting With the two of you working together, try to identify the steps that could be taken in order to help you meet your particular challenges. Make sure that the steps are manageable so that you know you will be able to achieve them and give yourself a timescale so that you know when you are to try to attain them. Target

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Responding to your class

All the children in your class will be very different. They are all different and have their own needs, likes and dislikes. To some extent it would be fair to say that all children have individual needs and as teachers we respond to children in different ways. In the same way we get on with some adults better than others, we relate to some children in a more positive manner than others.

Activity 15 Task 1 This activity has been designed to explore the way in which you as a teacher respond to members of your class.

On the chart below write down the names of all the children in your class. Don’t refer to the register or your class list (even that imaginary one in your head!): just try to put the names down as they come to you.

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Responding to your class

Now spend some time considering the order in which you listed them. Who did you put ﬁrst?

Which were the names that you found hardest to remember?

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Responding to your class

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Were there any children that you forgot to put on your list?

What does the order tell you about which children are more memorable than others? What do you think are the reasons for this?

How far is this a reﬂection of those you get on well with, children with speciﬁc problems, those you would like to forget and those that you ﬁnd it hard to remember?

What are the differences between sex, race, social class and ability?

When you have done this share your ﬁndings and your comments with your Induction Tutor.

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Responding to your class

Consider the implications for you as a classroom teacher.

What effect do you think this has on your practice?

What steps should be undertaken in the light of what you have found out?

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Teaching constructs and you as a teacher

When we look at the world around us we often group things together in a way that makes sense for us. These groupings will often have things in common which are speciﬁc to us, and by looking at the similarities we can begin to understand how we see the world and what is important to us. These connections are known as constructs and because they relate to your own personal view of the world they are called personal constructs. They can relate to physical, intellectual, social, behavioural or cultural characteristics and much more besides.

Activity 16 Task 1 The ﬁrst thing that you must do is write down the name of three of your friends.

What do the ﬁrst two have in common that the third does not share? e.g. A and B can cook but C can’t.

What do the second two have in common that the ﬁrst does not share? e.g. B and C like Indian food but A doesn’t.

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Teaching constructs

What do the ﬁrst and third have in common that the second does not share? e.g. A and C frequently have friends round for meals but B doesn’t.

What you have done now is identify very crudely some of your constructs for your friends. It tells you a little about what you see as being important about your friends, what you value about them. In the examples it can be seen that food would appear to be a rather signiﬁcant construct! The same can be done for the children in your class. By considering how they are grouped together we can learn a lot about the personal constructs that you employ as a teacher. To do this, go back to the previous activity and look at the class list that you drew up. Look at each neighbouring pair of names and write down a word or phrase that shows how those pupils are most alike. When you have done that write down another word or phrase which shows how they are different. Names ......................................................

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Use an additional sheet if you need to. When you have done this for each pair in the class, look at the range of characteristics that you have identiﬁed. Show the completed list to your Induction Tutor and talk about the characteristics by which you distinguish between the children. Are there any additional qualities that the children have which you have not identiﬁed and which perhaps you do not use? Are there a variety of constructs which relate to such things as: • • • •

academic ability; physical attributes; behaviour; other?

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Assessment, recording and reporting

Historically, the word ‘assessment’ has been taken from the business world and imposed upon the teaching profession. A careful look at the dictionary deﬁnitions will support this. In a 1960s’ dictionary, to assess was to ‘ﬁx amount of (tax); to tax or ﬁne; to ﬁx the value of proﬁts of/for (tax); to estimate.’ In a 1980s’ dictionary, to assess became ‘to estimate the size or quality of; to ﬁx the amount of/for (tax), and impose it on a person or community.’ When the National Curriculum was introduced in 1990, levels and tests were ﬁxed and imposed nationally, thus becoming assessments. Such emphasis has been placed on achievement of these levels, that the teacher’s ‘estimation of the quality of learning’, previously called professional judgement, has been replaced by the use of the word assessment. Assessment as the ability to ‘estimate the quality of’, is of enormous importance and must continue to be seen as professional judgement. What then is your role? Perhaps the 1960s’ deﬁnition of an assessor as ‘one who shares another’s dignity’, (i.e. shares a fair and digniﬁed judgement) and the late 1980s’ deﬁnition of an assessor as ‘a person to act as adviser to a judge’ ought to indicate the sensitive and crucial role teachers have in assessment processes. A wide variety of skills are needed in the classroom if judgements are to be professional. The course aims to develop your skills through the assessment, recording and reporting processes, both of your own learning and of children’s learning.

Activity 17 This activity has been designed to see how well you understand the terms commonly used when talking about assessing, recording and reporting (ARR). On the left-hand side of the box opposite is a list of common terms relating to ARR. Fill in the description box on the right for as many as you can. When you have done this share it with your Induction Tutor. If there are any gaps in the chart use the books listed below to ﬁnd out more about speciﬁc terms. (There is a useful guide to these terms at the end of this chapter, but do as much as you can without referring to it!)

Assessment, recording and reporting

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Terms used Term

What it means

ARR Assessor Professional judgement On-entry assessment Baseline assessment Formative assessment On-going assessment Summative assessment Assessment criteria DOCLs PoS ATs Level descriptions KSl tests KS2 tests Quality interactions

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Assessment, recording and reporting

Now look at the deﬁnitions of the terms to see how close you were.

Guide to terms used ARR assessor professional judgement on-entry assessment baseline assessment

formative assessment on-going assessment

summative assessment assessment criteria DOCLs PoS ATs

level descriptions

KSl tests KS2 tests quality interactions

Assessment/Recording/Reporting one who advises/assesses quality of learning/ teaching estimation of the quality of learning/teaching based on sound criteria and experience information usually gathered prior to child starting nursery or reception class information gathered for start point of planning; or information which can be used for what will be planned next information gathered in early stages of introducing new tasks which informs planning information gathered continuously throughout implementation of tasks, estimates quality of learning/teaching, recognizes abilities/needs, informs planning summary of quality of learning/teaching at conclusion of planned criteria long-/short-term aims/learning objectives or intentions Desirable Outcomes for Children’s Learning pre-KS1 Programmes of Study outlines in National Curricula for use as long-term assessment criteria Attainment Targets listing all PoS in a particular area of curriculum and outlining overall targets to be achieved within a Key Stage descriptions of elements of an attainment target (descriptors) which constitute a level having been achieved; used to describe summative assessment national summative tests for 7-year-olds (Y2) national summative tests for 11-year-olds (Y6) well-focused skills in the teaching/learning process which lead to quality teaching and learning

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References These books can help you understand more about assessment. Blenkin, G. and Kelly, A. (eds) (1992) Assessment in Early Childhood Education. London: Paul Chapman. Conner, C. (1991) Assessment and Testing in the Primary School. Lewes: Falmer Press. Cullingfort, C. (1997) Assessment Versus Evaluation. London: Cassell. Drummond, M.-J. (1993) Assessing Children’s Learning. London: David Fulton. Gipps, C., Brown, M., McCullam, B. and McAlister, S. (1995) Intuition or Evidence? Teachers and National Assessment Q7-year-olds. Buckingham: Open University Press. Gipps, C. and Murphy, P. (1994) A Fair Test? Assessment, Achievement and Equity. Buckingham: Open University Press. Gipps, C. and Stobart, G. (1993) Assessment: A Teacher’s Guide to the Issues. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Harding, J. and Meldon-Smith, L. (1996) How to Make Observations and Assessments. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Moyles, J.R. (ed.) (1995) Beginning Teaching: Beginning Learning in the Primary School. Buckingham: Open University Press. (Chapters 3, 6 and 12 by Linda Hargreaves, Janet Moyles and Morag Hunter-Carsch, respectively.) Wragg, E. (1994) An Introduction to Classroom Observation. London: Routledge.

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Propelling learning

Figure 19.1 sets out a progressive view of assessment. It starts with the child entering schooling and, through constant rotation of the model, the learning of the child is constantly progressing and developing. Spend a few minutes looking at Figure 19.1 and then consider the questions set out below.

Activity 18 Task 1 The aim of this chapter is to get you to think about the assessment that you are using as a part of your teaching. It will happen in many different ways and on many different occasions but assessment should always be there to inform and to help move the learning on.

When you look at Figure 19.1, where is most of the assessment occurring?

Which forms of assessment are you most familiar with in your work?

Can you give three examples of how your assessment is informing your planning and, as a result, your teaching?

Think of a piece of work that you have recently completed with your class. How far can you match what you have done with the stages of the model?

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Propelling learning

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Where might you wish to develop your planning/assessment/reporting?

Target setting The model of planning can be adapted to your own work. What changes might you make to your own work in order to extend and propel the children’s learning?

When might you introduce them?

What steps will you need to go through in order to achieve this end result or change?

What will the effect be on the organization and management of the children’s learning?

When you have completed this section share your thoughts with your Induction Tutor.

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Propelling learning

ON-ENTRY ASSESSMENT Information collected prior to children entering nursery or reception classes.

BASELINE ASSESSMENT Starting point. Finding out what children know in planned area through quality interaction

REPORTING Findings used to report on progress

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R

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SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT A summary or final professional judgement on what children have actually learned. Evidence in records, and assessment criteria achievements

PLANNING & ASSESSMENT CRITERIA Long-term/short-term Aims/learning objectives

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT Informs planning about rates of progress likely through judgements made from quality interactions at early stages of new activity

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R Q1

Q.I. quality interactions

ON-GOING ASSESSMENT Constant, on-going quality interaction in monitoring of progress/what lead children are actually doing, which leads to regular addressing of needs through planning & differentiation

R Records of learning

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THE MAINTENANCE MEN!

QUALITY INTERACTIONS observation/listening/questioning skills reflecting/evaluating/appraising skills discussion/communication skills role/relationship skills teaching/marking skills testing/diagnostic skills

RECORDS OF LEARNING Notes kept on observations/discussions Records of marks/records of work covered Examples of work/comparisons of then, now Examples of work/comparisons with others Photos/recordings Child’s ability to explain/demonstrate Performance Records of achievement Test results

Figure 19.1 The assessment process propeller of learning

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Extending learning through planning

At all stages during your ﬁrst few years of teaching, your learning and your understanding of children’s learning will go hand in hand. •

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You will be learning to apply the assessment process propeller of learning to the work you do with children in schools. You will record and report on progress. You will be expected via a wide range of requirements to reﬂect, evaluate, assess, record and report on your own learning and progress. Induction Tutors and Mentors will be in the process of reﬂecting on, evaluating, assessing, recording and reporting on your progress.

Now let’s look at the tools needed for successful assessment.

Planning and assessment criteria These can be long-term/short-term aims/learning intentions. Planning and assessment criteria are crucial to any focused learning programme across the curriculum.

Quality interactions These are skills for effective teaching/learning intentions. Quality interactions underpin sound planning, teaching and learning processes in the classroom and in respect of your own learning. You will be expected to develop your existing skills for classroom use. Your action planning based on your career entry proﬁle will be at the heart of this, as will your increasing understanding of the National Curriculum and the many steps which lead to progression in learning.

Records of learning Records provide evidence of learning to support your professional judgements, as well as summative assessments, in the classroom. Your record-keeping will not only inform you of the children’s learning and development but will provide you with a valuable resource with which to evaluate your own progression.

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Extending learning through planning

Reporting Reporting in schools informs children and other interested parties about children’s progress. Reporting on the children’s progress to other members of staff within the school and beyond and reporting to parents and carers will be a constant process and will draw upon the records of evidence that you have produced. The quality of the reporting will be linked to the quality of the recording that you have been able to do. Where will you be developing your knowledge, skill and understanding of assessment? •

• • • • • • •

developing/improving the quality of your interactions in the classroom to aid professional judgements and to improve the quality of your teaching and children’s learning; seeking baseline assessments in order to make long-term plans; establishing assessment criteria for plans. Planning learning/aims/intention for short-term plans; involving yourself in formative assessments from interactions in the early stages of implementing your plans; regularly evaluating and recording reﬂections on children’s learning/progress. Reporting to children on their efforts. making on-going assessments throughout the practice from quality interactions which inform you of needs; making summative assessments from your records and reporting to other staff and parents; reporting to parents if opportunity arises (parents’ evenings).

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Assessment in action

Here is an example of the ARR process and the interactive skills involved in assessing what children are actually learning and doing in a lesson/activity/shortterm plan, taken from the SCAA booklet on Teacher Assessment in KS2.

Learning objectives • • •

To collect and record data, using tallies. To record frequencies. To produce and interpret a block graph representing data collected and answer questions on it.

Activity • • •

Two 45-minute lessons with a Y3 class. Collecting data from each other about favourite foods using tally chart. Finding the frequency/drawing a block graph. Preparing set of written questions based on the data for other children to ﬁnd out.

Assessment Observation of the children collecting and recording their data (interactive skills) by listening to their questions and by looking at their (on-going) written recording. Did children set out their tally charts systematically, clearly and accurately? Talking with the children about their work; looking for how well children interpreted the data from tally charts to produce a block graphic and interpreted the data from block graphs. Questioning the children about the data and listening to their responses. Could the children use the data to answer questions? Marking of ﬁnished work, checking the correct use of vocabulary and the ability to interpret and represent data accurately; looking for how well children collected the data, recorded the data and posed questions about the data they had collected. (Note the quality interaction whereby the teacher is very focused on learning outcomes.)

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Assessment in action

Evidence of children’s attainment (summative) The children could gather data, record accurately, ﬁnd some frequencies and draw representations of the data. However, some found it difﬁcult to pose questions or interpret questions of others.

Recording (baseline) Teacher makes notes on children who found it difﬁcult to interpret data so that he/she would remember to speak with them during the next lesson on this topic.

Next steps (baseline formative) In next lesson on data-handling, teacher will provide further opportunities to interpret/pose questions (giving greater range of data for further interpretation and questioning). (Note the value of what the teacher now knows (without a test). What children can/cannot do forms a meaningful baseline for the next time data handling is planned.)

Activity 19 So far you will have encountered a range of forms of assessment. This activity will help identify those that you are familiar with and those that you will need to ﬁnd out more about. Identify those areas of assessment that you are familiar with and give an example from your teaching. When you have done this, there will probably be a series of gaps. As you talk with your Induction Tutor about the work that you have done, consider when you might be expected to encounter these other forms of assessment and how these might best be accomplished.

Example Developing/improving the quality of your interactions in the classroom to aid professional judgements and to improve the quality of your teaching and children’s learning Seeking baseline assessments in order to make long-term plans Establishing assessment criteria (PoS) (DOCLs) for plans. Planning learning/ aims/intention for shortterm plans www.routledgefalmer.com

Have you done it?

Evidence

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Example

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Evidence

Involving yourself in formative assessments from interactions in the early stages of implementing your plans Regularly evaluating and recording reﬂections on children’s learning/ progress. Reporting to children on their efforts Making on-going assessments throughout the practice from quality interactions which inform you of needs Making summative assessments from your records and reporting to other staff and parents Reporting to parents if opportunity arises (parents’ evenings)

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Co-ordination

Towards the role of co-ordinator Having been in school for almost a year you will either have a co-ordination role or will be considering a co-ordination role. ‘We are of the view that it should be part of the ordinary duties of virtually every primary school teacher to act as coordinator in some aspect of primary school work.’ (Science and Arts Committee of the House of Commons, 1986, Achievement in Primary Schools). In recent years the role of the subject or curriculum co-ordinator in the primary school has emerged as an essential element in the management of a quality learning experience for all. However, the various models of the role of the co-ordinator which have been developed during the last decade, certainly in the minds of practitioners in schools, are often viewed almost as ﬂights of fancy. Seen through nostalgic eyes they may appear to belong to a former age of comparatively generous funding of a national education service, when it was optimistically assumed that time and resources would be in sufﬁcient supply to enable co-ordinators to support the work of less conﬁdent colleagues as and when necessary. Or, alternatively, these models are dismissed as purely academic constructs which represent unrealistic and unattainable demands on the skills and persistence of co-ordinators, and which fail to reﬂect the very real difﬁculties of observing and attempting to support colleagues at the point of delivery – in their classrooms. Many of these models prescribe the notion of an idealized teaching and learning environment while the reality is all too often characterized by lack of resources and distinct lack of time. Time for evaluation and appraisal of the subject and time for acting as the in-house expert who possesses the conﬁdence and motivation to lead by example are, in most schools, far from the norm. There is no one checklist of co-ordinator responsibilities. To attempt to provide one would be doomed to failure if only because any such list could not take into account the full range of professional and social environments in which primary teachers work. Chapters 23 and 24 are taken from Effective Curriculum Management by John O’Neill and Neil Kitson and begin to develop a greater understanding of the management role of subject co-ordinator. John O’Neill in Chapter 23 examines the development of theoretical models for the role of the co-ordinator, identiﬁes how these conﬂict with the realities of everyday practice for many practitioners, and suggests how the role might be redeﬁned.

Co-ordination

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Tom Whiteside in Chapter 24 introduces some empirical data to illuminate current co-ordinator experiences in terms of awareness and conﬁdence about their role. This is linked to evidence drawn from other research projects into the realities of the co-ordinator role. Having read both chapters, complete the exercises and discuss the issues raised with your Induction Tutor.

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The role of the co-ordinator John O’Neill

Introduction The ﬁrst review (Dearing 1993) of the National Curriculum provides a timely perspective on the constraints which can be placed on the teaching and learning process by unconﬁdent management at school level: In the event, we have created an over-elaborate system which distorts the nature of the different subjects, which serves to fragment teaching and learning in that teachers are planning work from the statements of attainment, and which has at times reduced the assessment process to a meaningless ticking of myriad boxes. (Dearing 1993, p. 61) A quality curriculum depends on teachers having the time and encouragement to engage in discussion about the values on which it should be based, the appropriate balance between content and process, and how to ensure consistency in terms of access, continuity and coverage. Throughout the existence of the National Curriculum, the role of the subject co-ordinator as someone able to provide support, guidance and reassurance for the work of colleagues has remained a seductive model of effective primary school curriculum management (DfE 1992a), yet without any clear idea of where the role of the classroom teacher ends and that of the co-ordinator begins. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the extent to which such a model can work in practice. In doing so, we focus on three key areas: • • •

the contexts within which co-ordinators work; the role of the co-ordinator; and tensions and opportunities in role management.

The contexts within which co-ordinators work The issue is that simple models of the role struggle to reﬂect the range of different school contexts within which co-ordinators work. It is possible to argue that any deﬁnition of the role of the co-ordinator will prove inappropriate and, indeed, ineffectual, unless it is modiﬁed and adapted to meet the particular needs of the school in question. For example, if you have worked in more than one school you will know that norms and behaviours, ways of working with colleagues and

The role of the co-ordinator

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the terms in which teaching and learning are discussed vary considerably. At a very basic level, in some schools it is acceptable to admit that you are struggling with a particular topic, class, child, parent or colleague. In other schools, teachers work in isolation and such issues are never aired publicly. In yet others, success is celebrated with colleagues on a regular basis. Every primary school is in many ways, therefore, unique. A supply teacher, for example, working in two apparently similar schools serving adjoining catchment areas, after a brief time in each school, would be able to list an almost inﬁnite number of differences concerning ‘the way they do things over there’. Equally, a group of student teachers, having completed their ﬁrst teaching practice, routinely exchange anecdotes and compile their own pecking order of the ‘best’ schools to work in. Many of their judgements are based on the levels of encouragement, support and advice they received from staff in their host schools, to enable them to ‘ﬁt in’. A related process takes place, in many instances, amongst teachers who come together from different schools either for INSET, school cluster group work, or moderation processes. You will know, from your own experience, that the initial sessions are invariably halting, tentative affairs whilst individual teachers work out what is expected of them, the extent to which it is acceptable to disagree with colleagues, how much of your school’s work you can legitimately share with others, and so on, until or unless mutual trust and openness can be established: there was a wall of suspicion, the tremendous lack of conﬁdence that prevented people making a contribution and we have changed. There is no doubt about it. (Teacher’s comment, quoted in Galton et al. 1991, p. 88) This collective hesitancy is about the move away from a working environment where people are familiar with the values, norms and behaviour patterns which are expected of them in their day-to-day working routines. And it is the familiarity of working routines and expectations which provides security for teachers within the classroom and co-ordinators throughout the school. In the 2000s, the difﬁculty for primary school teachers is that the National Curriculum has undermined perceptions about the way in which the curriculum should be planned, delivered and assessed (Alexander et al. 1992) within individual schools and, in a very real sense, caused all teachers to question their personal educational values and professional judgement. The notion that curriculum co-ordinators can help overcome many of the anxieties of classroom teachers and provide some level of professional certainty and leadership through their subject expertise is an attractive but incomplete perspective for, as Nias et al. (1989) reveal, the culture of the school as a whole is a more likely source of the support, reassurance and challenging models of good practice needed by individual teachers. Nias et al., in their study of ﬁve ‘successful’ primary schools, identify a culture of collaboration which is perceived to provide a personally secure yet professionally demanding context within which the management of learning could take place. The key elements of the culture are set out below: •

individuals take strength from the notion that they are valued both as people and for the unique contribution they make to the work of others;

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•

belonging to a group and working as a team help create a sense of interdependence; a feeling of personal and professional security leads to open expression of emotions and opinions; shared values and goals create a high degree of trust in others; and a willingness to be ﬂexible and adaptable enables staff to cope with uncertainty and crisis.

• • •

It encourages a sense of team pride and so of hard work, and it facilitates relaxed, spontaneous co-operation over teaching and other professional responsibilities. (Nias et al. 1989, p. 53) Unfortunately, this cameo of the primary school working environment may not be the norm for many readers and, clearly, a fully collaborative culture is only one of a range of contexts within which teachers work and co-ordinators are expected to function. The model of management cultures (Figure 23.1) developed by Day et al. (1993) provides a more complete picture of the challenges which coordinators are likely to face in carrying out their role. Individualism In a fully collaborative culture individuals, both as classroom teachers and coordinators, are likely to feel part of a closely knit team of professionals, with a clear idea of where they are going in terms of curriculum development. At the opposite end of the continuum, individualism characterizes the working context for both teacher and co-ordinator:

Culture of separation

Culture of connection

Culture of integration

Balkanization

Individualism

Comfortable collaboration

Fully collaborative culture

Contrived collaboration

MANAGEMENT CULTURES

Figure 23.1 School cultures Source: Day, C. et al. (1993), Leadership and Curriculum in the Primary School, London: Paul Chapman

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In this school there is a sense of professional isolation, habitual patterns of working alone, no feedback to teachers on their effectiveness from outside the classroom, safe, non-risk taking forms of teaching. (Day et al. 1993, p. 9) Here, the opportunities for the co-ordinator to observe and inﬂuence colleagues’ practice are likely to be minimal. Cultures of separation are highly resistant to the reductions in teacher autonomy demanded by central government interventions such as: • • • •

school development planning; teacher appraisal; OFSTED inspections; and the National Curriculum.

These cultures constitute a debilitating constraint on the ability of the co-ordinator to promote meaningful change and development. Balkanization For curriculum co-ordinators, balkanized cultures might usefully be characterized in terms of disputes over • •

access to ﬁnancial and material resources, and the relative status of core and foundation subjects;

and a questioning of the need for • •

detailed cross-curricular planning, and rigorous approaches to ensuring curriculum continuity between classes and across key stages.

In balkanized cultures, co-ordinators are likely to work only with groups of likeminded colleagues and to create pockets of common practice rather than whole school approaches. Comfortable collaboration Where comfortable collaboration exists co-ordinators undertake a limited role by offering advice and suggestions on request. Their support for colleagues is nonthreatening, avoids the open questioning of existing practice and is a supportive rather than a true leadership role. Comfortable collaboration, in many senses, offers a veneer of professional co-operation without challenging colleagues to move beyond merely adequate levels of classroom management. In these sorts of cultures the role of the co-ordinator is valued within the school in terms of the ability to organize and maintain resources, to produce policy documents and schemes of work to satisfy external demands and to reinforce the status quo.

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Contrived collegiality Contrived collegiality, at one level, also presents a veneer of efﬁciency and effectiveness, primarily to outside observers, who may well see a lot of ‘activity’ on the part of co-ordinators but are unlikely to uncover many changes in practice as a result: It may be recognised by sets of formal, bureaucratic procedures which increase attention given to joint planning and consultation. (Ibid., p. 10) Given the size and complexity of the National Curriculum, particularly in small primary schools, it is tempting for teachers to concentrate on issues of curriculum implementation rather than engage in reﬂection and debate about how to adapt a curriculum area to ﬁt within a framework of existing school values or the extent to which statutory curriculum requirements challenge accepted teaching and learning styles. Thus, in cultures of contrived collegiality, development planning, appraisal, the use of directed time and policy development are amongst those aspects of curriculum management where external requirements are complied with but which contribute little to meaningful changes in the quality of teaching and learning. Hargreaves (1994, p. 208) suggests that forms of contrived collegiality are manifested: in terms of teachers not meeting when they should, of meeting when there is no business to discuss [. . .]. The inﬂexibility of mandated collegiality makes it difﬁcult for programs to be adjusted to the purposes and practicalities of particular school and classroom settings. It overrides teachers’ professionalism and the discretionary judgement which comprises it. And it diverts teachers’ efforts and energies into simulated compliance with administrative demands that are inﬂexible and inappropriate for the settings in which they work. Although describing experience in North America, the parallels for England and Wales, post-National Curriculum, are clear. The dangers of contrived collegiality for curriculum co-ordinators are that •

• •

they may ﬁnd themselves leading INSET workshops or being released to support colleagues in order to use up appropriate quotas of directed time, rather than when they are needed; ‘policy development’ becomes ‘document production’ to satisfy OFSTED demands; and the focus for the appraisal of classroom performance will be determined by the preferences of the classroom teacher rather than the development priorities of the school or the particular teaching and learning challenges posed by different areas of the curriculum.

Day et al. (1993) suggest that contrived collegiality can also be seen in a more positive way because it provides a necessary structure for teachers who are attempting to move towards full collaboration, but lack successful experience. In

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this sense, meeting patterns, clearly deﬁned formal roles for co-ordinators and procedures for collaborative development planning can help provide a secure structure within which staff groups begin to develop the skills of collaboration. At the heart of the problem for co-ordinators in particular is being able to observe and inﬂuence the practice of colleagues. In teaching this presents particular difﬁculties: When teachers meet only occasionally on questions of logistics, broad curriculum outlines or school-level matters, they are unlikely to engage in close mutual examination of how they think about teaching, plan for teaching or handle teaching demands in the classroom. Closer to the classroom is also closer to the bone – closer to the day-by-day performances on which personal esteem and professional standing rest. The prospects for conﬂict are high. (Little 1990, p. 180) A co-ordinator role which tries to get ‘closer to the bone’ is profoundly threatening for many teachers; hence the variety of management cultures (see p. 74) in schools which settle for arrangements which are less than effective in terms of supporting and, at the same time, questioning individual practice. Nevertheless, I wish to suggest that the basic test of the value of the work of the curriculum co-ordinator is the extent to which it helps: • • •

overcome the normal working isolation of classroom teachers; enhance collaborative curriculum development within the school; and, crucially, improve the quality of teaching and learning.

With that in mind, we turn now to examine the role of the curriculum co-ordinator.

The role of the co-ordinator The most enduring generic model of the role of the co-ordinator is provided by Campbell (1985). He suggests that curriculum co-ordinators need a combination of curriculum and interpersonal skills: 1

Curriculum skills, that is those skills and qualities involved in knowledge about the curriculum area for which the postholder has responsibility. (a) Knowledge of subjects. The postholder must keep up to date in her or his subject, and must know its conceptual structure and methods, etc. (b) Professional skills. The postholder must draw up a programme of work, manage its implementation, maintain it and assess its effectiveness. (c) Professional judgement. The postholder must know about, and discriminate between, various materials and approaches in her or his subject, must relate them to children’s developmental stages, manage the school’s resources, and achieve a match between the curriculum and the pupil’s abilities.

2

Interpersonal skills, that is those skills and qualities arising from the postholder’s relationships with colleagues and other adults.

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(a) Social skills. The postholder must work with colleagues, leading discussion groups, teaching alongside colleagues, helping develop their conﬁdence in his or her subject, advising probationers, etc. (b) External representation. The postholder must represent his or her subject to outsiders (other teachers, advisers, governors, parents, etc.) (Campbell 1985, p. 53) [my emphasis in bold] Since 1988 various aspects of legislation have added to, rather than diminished, the work expected of co-ordinators in both curriculum and interpersonal aspects of the role: 1

2

3

4

5

6

External accountability demands increase the pressure on curriculum coordinators to ensure that practice in their area conforms with statutory requirements and ofﬁcial school policy. From a purely pragmatic point of view, it is co-ordinators who are expected to interpret and disseminate the greatly increased documentary information from a wide range of external, ofﬁcial sources. Increases in the scope and complexity of the curriculum create huge demands in terms of keeping in touch with frequent developments and revisions. In addition, many co-ordinators have responsibility for more than one area of the curriculum. Moderation of standards and professional judgement within and across schools in relation to portfolios of evidence, teacher assessment and records of achievement suggest that co-ordinators have to liaise more closely with colleagues in other institutions and as a result publicly defend policy and practice in their own school. The rhetoric of school development planning suggests that the development and maintenance of curriculum areas should be linked to both whole school and individual teacher priorities. The need to ensure effective curriculum coverage, continuity, progression and entitlement demands a greater use of collaborative approaches to the planning, delivery and assessment of the formal curriculum.

In terms of Little’s comments above (p. 77), however, the most challenging, yet potentially the most rewarding, elements of the model remain those which attempt to get closer to classroom practice. Assessing the effectiveness of the curriculum and ensuring a match with pupils’ needs are only possible by teaching alongside and observing colleagues at work, by linking planning and target setting to monitoring and evaluation. Yet, as suggested above, these more threatening aspects of the co-ordinator’s role are governed by the openness of colleagues rather than the aspirations contained, for example, in a formal job description. In short, if teachers feel threatened by the prospect of having their performance observed and commented upon by co-ordinators then those important aspects of the co-ordinator’s role will not take place to any meaningful degree. Redefining the role While the Campbell model is helpful, it was developed at a time when primary schools enjoyed greater freedom to dictate the content and delivery of their chosen curriculum than they appear to do in the 2000s.

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Alexander et al. (1992) question the applicability of the traditional co-ordinator model given the demands of the National Curriculum. They suggest that, in the same way that teachers need to reassess the appropriate balance between whole class, group and individual pupil approaches to teaching and learning in their own classroom, schools themselves need to question the assumption that class teachers can teach all aspects of the formal curriculum with appropriate support from curriculum co-ordinators. The authors argue that, particularly at Key Stage 2, schools need to adopt a more considered combination of teaching roles: •

•

• •

The Generalist who teaches most or all of the curriculum, probably specialising in age-range rather than subject, and does not profess specialist subject knowledge for consultancy. The Generalist/Consultant who combines a generalist role in part of the curriculum with cross-school co-ordination, advice and support in one or more subjects. The Semi-Specialist who teaches his/her subject, but who also has a generalist and/or consultancy role. The Specialist who teaches his/her subject full-time (as in the case of music in some primary schools). (Alexander et al. 1992, p.43)

The difﬁculty with the Alexander et al. model is that, quite understandably given its origins, it focuses rather narrowly on delivery of the National Curriculum rather than development of the whole school curriculum. The distinction is important for, as Edwards (1993) argues, the co-ordinator role does present signiﬁcant development opportunities for the curriculum, staff and the school as a whole. She suggests that the co-ordinator role is misunderstood and underdeveloped in schools rather than being an inherently inappropriate vehicle for curriculum management: To have failed to maximise the potential of the curriculum co-ordinator as change agent is maybe to have lost an opportunity to have kept what is commonly regarded as ‘the best’ about primary education (class teachers, family atmosphere, close contact with parents) while grasping important development opportunities (whole school development, careful evaluations, effective in-house in-service activities). (Edwards 1993, pp. 51–52) [my emphasis in bold] Edwards’ arguments reinforce the idea that curriculum management in primary schools is about both development and maintenance, organization and delivery, planning and evaluation – in effect an organic process. The idea of the co-ordinator as change agent is helpful. It returns us to the context of the school within which the co-ordinator works. As change agent, the co-ordinator has to be aware not only of the demands of curriculum delivery, but also of the anxieties and concerns of colleagues, and their readiness for change: It isn’t that people resist change as much as they don’t know how to cope with it. (Fullan 1991, p. xiv)

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In this sense, the Campbell, the Alexander et al. and the Edwards models each have something to offer co-ordinators in schools. Together they set out the skills and knowledge required by co-ordinators and address some of the constraints facing schools in the area of curriculum management. As suggested earlier, however, the context within which co-ordinators work is a major determinant of what they are likely to achieve. In the ﬁnal section of this chapter, therefore, we explore some practical issues concerning role management which impact directly on the effectiveness of the curriculum co-ordinator in the primary school.

Tensions and opportunities in role management Most primary school teachers have a full teaching commitment. The basic difﬁculty for curriculum co-ordinators is perceived to be that they lack the time to fulﬁl the role (Stow and Foxman 1988, p. 55). The point is also made that formula funding under local management of schools (LMS) schemes has done little to redress the comparative ﬁnancial constraints historically faced by primary schools (Alexander et al. 1992, p. 44), and therefore primary schools have difﬁculty in releasing coordinators from timetable commitments. I wish to suggest, however, that these problems are symptoms of a more serious management malaise in primary schools. The way forward lies, as Edwards (op. cit.) suggests, in a redeﬁnition of the role of the co-ordinator, but one which is based on a clear understanding of what the school as a whole is attempting to achieve. Below I set out four practical suggestions for redeﬁning the role and for moving towards a culture of collaboration. Publish a policy for learning Most primary schools devote large amounts of time to the production of policy documents for individual areas of the curriculum. A policy for learning speciﬁes the sorts of approaches to teaching and learning which are valued by the school and which observers might legitimately expect to see in action in all curriculum areas. The policy sets out ‘the way we teach and learn around here’. The point is that the staff of the school together agree the policy. As such they are making a public statement about their professional values, which they can then defend and be held accountable for. The policy will identify core values within the school and, at the same time, incorporate external statutory requirements. The policy also acts as a focus for classroom observation by co-ordinators and in teacher appraisal. More signiﬁcantly, perhaps, it creates an agenda for staff development linked directly to classroom practice. Establish priorities for curriculum development Many primary schools attempt too much rather than using school development planning to prioritize areas for action. In any one school the majority of curriculum areas will be in maintenance mode, ticking over while one or more urgent areas are thoroughly overhauled. Schools need to create an agenda for curriculum development and stick to it. With a policy for learning in place schools are able to assimilate external demands for change by adapting them to ﬁt in with the school’s values. Change takes place but is driven by the longer-term priorities of the school itself.

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Use resources to fund areas of development The idea that non-contact time is for use by senior managers in primary schools (Alexander et al. 1992) and that available resources should be distributed evenly across the school is anachronistic in the 2000s. If schools have identiﬁed priorities for curriculum development, it makes sense that additional resources be devoted to those areas to support development. Traditionally, costing in primary schools has been limited to books, apparatus and materials. In planning for developing a given curriculum area, however, it is perfectly feasible for co-ordinators to attempt to cost the development fully in terms of, for example: • • •

INSET time and money to provide knowledge and skills training for staff; non-contact time to support changes in classroom practice; and meeting time for whole school monitoring and evaluation.

Empower co-ordinators Each of the three points already discussed contributes substantially to a redeﬁnition of the role of the co-ordinator. Nevertheless, the major change is about headteacher and classroom colleagues wanting co-ordinators to have a substantive role, and trusting them to carry it out. The former needs headteachers to delegate authority and responsibility to co-ordinators, and to endorse publicly the role. The latter requires co-ordinators to demonstrate that they can help individual colleagues to improve teaching and learning in the curriculum area. Co-ordinators are only able to do that, however, by observing practice in classrooms, as a matter of routine, throughout the school.

Summary The culture of the school is a major factor in determining expectations about the role of the co-ordinator. Traditional models of the role fail to acknowledge this. In this chapter I argue that individual schools need to redeﬁne a role for the coordinator which builds on the values of the school, an awareness of what is desirable and attainable in terms of teaching and learning styles within classrooms, and a clearer understanding of the full costs of co-ordination. Co-ordinators can only change and develop classroom practice with the active consent of colleagues. In this sense, the success or failure of the co-ordinator is the responsibility of all teachers within the school.

References Alexander, R., Rose, J. and Woodhead, C. (1992) Curriculum Organisation and Classroom Practice: A Discussion Paper, London: Department of Education and Science. Campbell, R.J. (1985) Developing the Primary School Curriculum, London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Day, C., Hall, C., Gammage, P. and Coles, M. (1993) Leadership and Curriculum in the Primary School: The Roles of Senior and Middle Management, London: Paul Chapman. Dearing, R. (1993) The National Curriculum and its Assessment: Final Report, London: School Curriculum and Assessment Authority. DfE (Department for Education) (1992) GEST 1993–94 Grant 11: Designated Courses for Primary Schools, London: DfE.

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Edwards, A. (1993) ‘Curriculum co-ordination: a lost opportunity for primary school development?’, School Organisation 13, 1, pp. 51–59. Fullan, M. (1991) The New Meaning of Educational Change, 2nd edn, London: Cassell. Galton, M., Fogelman, K., Hargreaves, L. and Cavendish, S. (1991) The Rural Schools Curriculum Enhancement National Evaluation (SCENE) Project: Final Report, London: HMSO. Hargreaves, A. (1994) Changing Teachers, Changing Times: Teachers’ Work and Culture in the Postmodern Age, London: Cassell. Little, J. (1990) ‘Teachers as colleagues’, in A. Lieberman (ed.) Schools as Collaborative Culture: Creating the Future Now, Lewes: Falmer Press. Nias, J., Southworth, G. and Yeomans, R. (1989) Staff Relationships in Primary Schools, London: Cassell. Stow, M. and Foxman, D. (1988) Mathematics Co-ordination: A Study of Practice in Primary and Middle Schools, Windsor: NFER: Nelson.

Activity 20 Task 1 Using the criteria set out in Chapter 23 (pp. 73–4), how would you deﬁne the management culture of your school? What for you, are the key characteristics? (200 words) O’Neill in Chapter 23 provides a range of perspectives relating to the role of the co-ordinator. In the light of this chapter, how is the role of the co-ordinator viewed in your particular school? (200 words) If you were to assume the role (or further your existing role) of co-ordinator, how might you go about developing the job within the school? What would your development plan look like? You will also need to think about setting yourself targets. Make sure that these are attainable and that the time scale is realistic. (300 words)

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The role of the co-ordinator auditing for development Tom Whiteside

Introduction This chapter will provide a variety of approaches for the recently appointed co-ordinator or the co-ordinator who is beginning to re-evaluate his or her role or is engaged in constructing a plan for development. Co-ordinators engaged in this process may be undertaking the review as part of a formal school development planning process (see Hargreaves et al. 1989) or may be undertaking a broader, and more personal, review. Whichever style of review is being undertaken, the formal development planning process of • • • •

audit; plan construction; implementation; and evaluation

is a valuable framework for use and is one with which co-ordinators in primary schools are likely to be familiar and comfortable. This chapter will focus on the auditing phase and provide material to allow the co-ordinator to review strengths and identify appropriate development areas whatever the reason for the review. This will require a consideration of the changing external context, the school’s structures and cultures, the state of the curriculum area and the personal strengths and weaknesses of the co-ordinator.

SWOT analysis A SWOT analysis is a useful tool to use at the start of an audit phase to carry out an external and internal appraisal of the current situation. SWOT analysis was devised to identify the extent to which the current strategy of an organisation and its more speciﬁc strengths and weaknesses are relevant to and capable of dealing with changes in the wider environment. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and in its original form a structured analysis would be undertaken to yield ﬁndings. However, it is also possible for the technique to be used as a useful common-sense checklist. The co-ordinator should identify the Opportunities and Threats provided by the external environment and the Strengths and Weaknesses of the school as an institution. Opportunities might include the appointment of a dynamic advisory teacher or subject inspector to the area, the setting up of a curriculum support group within

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the local family of schools, or the dissemination of a new collection of in-house teaching resources by the LEA. Threats could include the loss of support networks such as those outlined above, the prospect of another change in curriculum at a national level or, indeed, rumours that excellent and very different approaches to the curriculum are being offered at a neighbouring school which may attract pupils away from your school. Strengths may include an established record of good, innovative teaching in one or more curriculum areas, good levels of support from the headteacher, a willingness amongst colleagues to be open about successes and failures, or a dynamic parent association which raises considerable amounts of discretionary funding for the school. Weaknesses might include the reluctance, fear or inability of one or more colleagues to take on board meaningful changes in classroom practice, a tradition of formal teaching in the school which hinders the development of practical, problem-solving approaches to learning, or the lack of volunteer adult support in the classroom. It is likely that different facets of the same issue will be represented as both threats and opportunities or as strengths and weaknesses. For example, a lack of young staff, i.e. an experienced staff may be viewed as both a strength and a weakness.

The school’s internal environment In analysing the internal environment of the school it is critical for the co-ordinator to focus on the institutional setting, its structures and cultures and in particular on senior management styles and practices. In Chapter 23 John O’Neill argues that given the wide variety of cultures to be found in primary schools it is critical that co-ordinators identify the structure and culture of their particular school. The traditional model of the primary school emphasizes the individual teachers working on their own maintaining their classroom privacy and curriculum autonomy. This is paralleled by the individual autonomy of the headteacher responsible for the management of the school (Pollard et al. 1994). Handy and Aitken (1986) have described the typical model of primary school organization as one that revolves round a single authority ﬁgure using a very personal approach to management and a notion of ‘his’ or ‘her’ school. During the 1980s collegiality was advanced as the way forward for primary schools and Campbell (1985) argues this model has been promoted by the Inspectorate since as long ago as 1978. Writers have consistently advocated a model of good primary management practice: all professional staff participate actively in negotiating an agreed curriculum and contribute jointly to planning, implementing and evaluating its delivery (Wallace 1988). Used in this sense collegiality implies a high degree of consultation among staff, their collaboration in co-ordinating the curriculum and their participation in policy making. However, recent studies have pointed to situations where the heads of schools remain central, powerful ﬁgures exercising controlling inﬂuence upon the school and its development. Nias et al.’s (1992) study distinguishes between ‘whole schools’ and collegial schools noting that in ‘whole schools’ it is acceptable to both the heads and the teachers that the head plays a powerful and pivotal role. The implementation of recent reforms appears to have supported such ‘whole

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school’ approaches to management. The heads in Pollard et al.’s (1994) study showed, between 1990 and 1992, a shift away from collegial and participative approaches towards more directive approaches although participation and collegiality still predominated. Webb (1994) has pointed out how the introduction into primary schools of teacher appraisal, school development plans within which targets are set for individual teachers and the new role for headteachers as resident inspectors have all encouraged ‘the growth of top-down directive styles of management, albeit involving staff consultation, at the expense of more collegial approaches’ (p. 20). Osborn and Black (1994) have found that the rhetoric of collaborative school development planning has proved problematic in practice with headteachers or senior management teams frequently producing development plans with limited consultation. Hargreaves (1994) has pointed out that the necessity to get together at prescribed times in order to tackle work imposed by external requirements often resulted merely in what he characterizes as ‘contrived collegiality’ – ‘a safe administrative simulation of collaboration’. Indeed Webb (1994) found evidence of teachers increasingly questioning the rationale and efﬁciency of whole school meetings and the value of spending time in this way. Co-ordinators work therefore in schools with varying structures and cultures which may themselves be changing and adapting to changing external demands. Analysis of the co-ordinator’s school in terms of these models is a crucial starting point. Moreover, it is crucial that the co-ordinator identiﬁes prevalent attitudes to the National Curriculum in his or her school. Researchers have identiﬁed a range of school responses to externally imposed change. Evans et al.’s (1994) study identiﬁed four approaches they referred to as ‘head-in-the-sand’, ‘paying lipservice’, ‘common sense’ and ‘by the book’, while Pollard et al. (1994) distinguished between the extent to which changes were being incorporated into previous practice (a form of mediation) or were superseding previous practice (compliance). Within any individual school it is difﬁcult for a teacher to challenge existing cultures. For the individual co-ordinator, therefore, difﬁcult decisions have to be made as to how far he or she is willing to work within existing deﬁnitions of the co-ordinator role or whether they are going to attempt to act as an agent of change. The co-ordinator’s ability to introduce change is severely limited by the need to ‘promote policies and changes in practice that were congruent with the vision of the headteacher and also met with the approval of deputies and/or senior management teams’ (Webb 1994, p. 61). However, with careful planning and preparation, identiﬁcation of appropriate short-term targets and support from colleagues changes can be made.

Support from the headteacher In the analysis at the school level attention should be paid to the headteacher who plays the key role in shaping this culture and in determining the framework within which co-ordinators will operate. It is useful for the co-ordinator to identify, perhaps with the aid of another member of staff, the general management approach taken by the headteacher. Stow (1989) identiﬁes a range of headteacher types: • • •

non-supportive; nominally supportive; indecisive;

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• •

dictation, not delegation; and fully supportive.

Stow discusses useful strategies for the co-ordinator working with each of these different types. More speciﬁcally it is critical for the co-ordinator to identify the views that senior management hold of their role and their part within the school management culture. Moore’s (1992b) study of headteachers’ views of the role of the science co-ordinator showed that they placed little emphasis on the coordinator’s subject knowledge and considerable emphasis on knowing how to help colleagues. The emphasis in this aspect of the co-ordinator’s role was on talking to colleagues, explaining to them and answering their questions. The role was seen as one of ‘helper’ and ‘fellow worker’ rather than as ‘school adviser’ and ‘decision maker’. Other studies (see, for example, Osborn and Black 1994) have shown that for heads, the key role of their co-ordinators is as distillers and disseminators. The widespread support by headteachers for these limited deﬁnitions of the co-ordinator’s role contrasts with the wider deﬁnitions of the co-ordinator’s role which place emphasis on curriculum leadership. Harwood (1992) has argued that the concentration on the training needs of co-ordinators has diverted attention away from the ways in which management styles and practices can create or exacerbate difﬁculties for the co-ordinator.

The realities of the co-ordinator’s role The role in practice of the curriculum co-ordinator varies across schools. Osborn and Black (1994, p. 27) identiﬁed a spectrum of practices which they classify as follows: 1 2 3 4

resource gatekeeper; planning and resource facilitator; subject consultant; ‘critical friend’ – working alongside other teachers in the classroom.

The least involved end of the spectrum was the resource gatekeeper role with 30 per cent of the teachers working in this relatively limited way. About 20 per cent of the teachers had a higher level of involvement typically making an input into the planning stage for their subject area with colleagues and playing a more active role in disseminating ideas from courses and suggesting resources. A further 30 per cent of the sample acted as ‘subject consultant’ but did not actually go into the classroom. Compared with the planning and resource facilitators they took a more active role in meeting regularly with groups of teachers to discuss their ongoing teaching as well as their planning. Only 20 per cent of teachers went beyond this level of involvement as curriculum co-ordinators. In addition to acting as planning and resource facilitators and subject consultants, they spent time working alongside colleagues in their own classrooms, acting as a kind of ‘critical friend’ who was a catalyst in seeing things from a different viewpoint or trying to do things in a different way. Co-ordinators will also have to examine teachers’ views of their competence and conﬁdence in their curriculum area. A recent study of 44 teachers in small rural primary schools by Hargreaves et al. (1996) has pointed to wide variations

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in teachers’ views of their areas of conﬁdence and competence across the curriculum. Only one in ﬁve teachers was very conﬁdent or conﬁdent in his or her ability to teach the music curriculum, approximately two in ﬁve the information technology and technology curriculum, yet four in ﬁve teachers were conﬁdent or very conﬁdent about delivering the English curriculum. Two out of ﬁve teachers considered their competence in delivering the music curriculum was such that they needed more training and support while no teachers considered they needed more training and support in delivering the English curriculum. Such research shows that care must be exercised when considering the potential role of the co-ordinator in different curriculum areas. In an attempt to help co-ordinators review their own role, developments in their particular curriculum area and to identify priority areas for action the questionnaire presented below has been developed. It contains a series of statements structured around key aspects of the role of the co-ordinator identiﬁed by Campbell (1985). The statements contain within them notions of ‘good practice’ developed from a content analysis of HMI reports and other literature.

Reviewing the role of the co-ordinator General role I have got a job description and I have been involved in the discussion of it.

I have got a job description but it was given to me.

I have a very clear idea what my responsibilities as co-ordinator are.

I have some idea what my I am not very clear what my responsibilities as co-ordinator responsibilities as co-ordinator are. are.

I have not got a job description.

Knowledge of subject I am conﬁdent that I have sufﬁcient grasp of my subject to lead developments.

I am fairly sure that I have sufﬁcient grasp of my subject to lead developments.

I am not sure that I have sufﬁcient grasp of my subject to lead developments.

I have identiﬁed the main priorities for development in my curriculum area, discussed them with my colleagues and they are included in the School Development Plan.

I have identiﬁed the main priorities for development in my curriculum area.

I have not as yet identiﬁed the main priorities for development in my curriculum area.

I have produced a policy statement with guidelines on planning, organization and management.

I have produced a short policy I have not as yet produced a statement. policy statement.

I have produced a policy statement taking into account the requirements of the National Curriculum.

I have produced a policy statement.

I have a clear idea of the standards of achievement in my curriculum area and have a plan for improving it.

I have a clear idea of the I am not clear about the standard of achievement in my standards of achievement in curriculum area. my curriculum area.

Professional skills

I have not as yet produced a policy statement.

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I have identiﬁed staff development needs and have a systematic programme.

We have a programme of staff If staff ask me for help I development. provide it.

I am sure that the scheme of work provides a comprehensive cover of the National Curriculum.

The scheme of work does not The scheme of work does not as yet provide a comprehenas yet cover the National sive cover of the National Curriculum. Curriculum.

Professional judgement I am very well informed about I have some knowledge of I have very little knowledge of developments in other schools developments in other schools developments in other schools in this curriculum area. in this curriculum area. in this curriculum area. I have undertaken an audit of resources and identiﬁed priorities for future expenditure.

I have undertaken an audit of resources.

I have not as yet undertaken an audit of resources.

I am conﬁdent that planning in my school takes into account the differing abilities of pupils and their previous experience.

I am fairly sure that planning in my subject in my school takes into account the differing abilities of pupils and their previous experience.

I am unsure that planning in my subject in my school takes into account the differing abilities of pupils and their previous experience.

I am conﬁdent that the scheme of work provides for progression for the pupils.

The scheme of work considers The scheme of work does not progression but it is not as yet address issues relating sufﬁciently covered. to progression for pupils.

Social skills I regularly work alongside other teachers in their classrooms to help them in this curriculum area.

I have worked alongside other teachers in their classrooms to help them in this curriculum area.

I do not work alongside other teachers in their classrooms to help them in this curriculum area.

I feel I have considerable inﬂuence on the general teaching of the curriculum area for which I have responsibility.

I feel I have some inﬂuence on the general teaching of the curriculum area for which I have responsibility.

I feel I have very little inﬂuence on the general teaching of the curriculum area for which I have responsibility.

I have worked with staff so Staff are aware of the that they are familiar with and resources available. can use the resources available.

Staff inform themselves of the resources available.

External representation I am conﬁdent that the governors know about developments in this curriculum area.

I think that governors know about developments in this curriculum area.

I am not sure that governors know about developments in this curriculum area.

Opportunities exist within the school for me to share ideas with colleagues.

Some opportunities exist within the school for me to share ideas with colleagues.

Very few opportunities exist within the school for me to share ideas with colleagues.

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Completion of the questionnaire by over 60 teachers undertaking GEST courses on Co-ordination in the Primary School indicates that many consider themselves to be working in school cultures with a relatively restricted view of the co-ordinator’s role. Many were able to agree that they had met external requirements relating to DfE and OFSTED documentation but few felt they exerted considerable inﬂuence on the general teaching of the curriculum area for which they had direct responsibility. This was related to a perceived lack of clarity as to their speciﬁc responsibilities as co-ordinator, the lack of opportunities they had to work alongside teachers in other classrooms, their limited opportunities to share ideas with colleagues and their lack of clarity as to standards of achievement in their curriculum area. Most felt uninformed about developments in other schools in their curriculum area and few were conﬁdent that governors were informed about developments in their own curriculum area. This view of the limited power of the co-ordinator is supported by recent research which has pointed to co-ordinators feeling that there was an enormous discrepancy between the rhetoric surrounding their role and the reality of what they were able to achieve (Webb 1994, p. 58, Osborn and Black 1994, p. 27). Research indicates that with the onset of the National Curriculum more teachers feel they are co-operating with and working more closely with colleagues, with working together at the initial topic planning stage the most common form of collaboration. Much less frequent was sharing teaching or working alongside colleagues in the classroom.

Summary: planning for development of the co-ordinator’s role For the co-ordinator who has completed the audit it is important to recognize that any move in the direction of an extended deﬁnition of the co-ordinator role is going to require support from the head in creating the non-contact time which is crucial. Studies (e.g. Osborn and Black 1994) have shown that where co-ordinators undertook the wider role of curriculum leadership outlined by Edwards (1993) two key factors appeared to be present. The ﬁrst was the existence of at least some non-contact time. The second was support whether from the head, or a deputy or someone who recognized the potential for more active involvement and took action to facilitate it. It will be difﬁcult without such support to visit the classrooms of other colleagues and to audit, monitor and evaluate work in the curriculum area.

References Campbell, R.J. (1985) Developing the Primary School Curriculum, London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Edwards, A. (1993) ‘Curriculum co-ordination: a lost opportunity for primary school development?’, School Organisation 13, 1, pp. 51–59. Evans, L., Packwood, A. St. J., Neill, S.R. and Campbell, R.J. (1994) The Meaning of Infant Teachers’ Work, London: Routledge. Handy, C. and Aitken, R. (1986) Understanding Schools as Organisations, Harmondsworth: Penguin. Hargreaves, A. (1994) Changing Teachers, Changing Times: Teachers’ Work and Culture in the Postmodern Age, London: Cassell.

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Hargreaves, D.H., Hopkins, D., Leask, M., Connolly, J. and Robinson, P. (1989) Planning for School Development: Advice to Governors, Headteachers and Teachers, London: DES. Hargreaves, L., Comber, C. and Galton, M. (1996) ‘The National Curriculum: can small schools deliver? Conﬁdence and competence levels of teachers in small rural primary schools’, British Educational Research Journal 22, 2. Harwood, D. (1992) ‘In at the deep end: a case study of the co-ordinator role in a “lowkey” innovation’, School Organisation 12, 1, pp. 17–28. Nias, J., Southworth, G. and Yeomans, R. (1989) Staff Relationships in Primary Schools, London: Cassell. Osborn, M. and Black, E. (1994) Developing the National Curriculum at Key Stage 2: The Changing Nature of Teachers’ Work, Report commissioned by NAS/UWT, Bristol: University of Bristol. Pollard, A., Broadfoot, P., Croll, P., Osborn, M. and Abbott, D. (1994) Changing English Primary Schools? The Impact of the Education Reform Act at Key Stage One, London: Cassell. Stow, M. (1989) Managing Mathematics in the Primary School: A Practical Resource for the Coordinator, Windsor: NFER-Nelson. Webb, R. (1994) After the Deluge: Changing Roles and Responsibilities in the Primary School, London: Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

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Activity 21 Task 1 Having read Chapter 24 choose a subject which you either currently co-ordinate or which you would like to co-ordinate. Using Chapter 24 as a guide try to carry out a SWOT analysis on that area of work within school.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats (200 words) Re-read the section entitled ‘Reviewing the role of the co-ordinator’. Using the categories as a guide, construct your own proﬁle of the role by writing down those statements which are most appropriate to you. (200 words) Where do you see your strengths and weaknesses lying? (200 words) If you had to set targets for yourself on the basis of this evidence, what targets would you set? If you can, it is worth also thinking about establishing priorities as to what you might do ﬁrst. (200 words)

Your signature

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Induction Tutor signature

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Date

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Evaluating your own progress – the induction standards

This ﬁnal chapter sets out to help you evaluate your own development as a professional, celebrates the success that you have already attained, and provides information that will help you demonstrate your achievement of the induction standards. As you now draw near to the end of your induction period you will no doubt have been observed teaching several times by a number of people and for a number of different purposes. It is also important that you consider the induction standards that you need to meet in order to qualify as a teacher. This should not be seen as an end process but rather it is part of your ongoing development as a teacher. There may be areas that you wish to reﬂect on further in order to enhance your practice and hopefully by engaging with this activity you will be able to see where you might want to concentrate you attention. You will have seen these standards in many different forms by now but they have been presented here in the paragraphs above each of the tasks. There are nine tasks in this section and although they look brief they are quite involved. Spend time considering each of them and providing the evidence that is required. It will be too much to try and complete this section all at once so do it in stages and perhaps develop a portfolio of evidence that you can share with your Induction Tutor to show how you have attained the standards.

Activity 22 Planning, teaching and classroom management a) Sets clear targets for improvement of pupils’ achievement, monitors pupils’ progress towards those targets and uses appropriate teaching strategies in the light of this including, where appropriate, in relation to literacy, numeracy and other school targets

Task 1 Identify from your work in the class two occasions where you have been able to set targets for the children and how you were able to monitor them.

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How did this information help with the development and implementation of teaching strategies that were used? How did the development of your own targets ﬁt in with the wider school and national targets (e.g. numeracy and literacy)?

b) Plans effectively to ensure that pupils have the opportunity to meet their potential notwithstanding differences of race and gender, and taking account of the needs of pupils who are: • • •

underachieving; very able; not yet ﬂuent in English;

(making use of relevant information and specialist help where available)

Task 2 Write a case study of an example where you have helped a child who was either underachieving, very able or not yet ﬂuent in English and say how you helped the child. Give examples of the interventions that you used and say how successful these were. Also reﬂect on why they were successful and consider what we might learn from this.

c)

Secures a good standard of pupil behaviour in the classroom through establishing appropriate rules and high expectations of discipline which pupils respect, acting to pre-empt and deal with inappropriate behaviour in the context of the behaviour policy of the school

Task 3 What advice would you give to a newly qualiﬁed teacher in order that they should be able to establish appropriate discipline within the classroom? List 5 things that you would suggest that they do. Give examples from your own teaching since September of where you have been able to pre-empt and deal with inappropriate behaviour within the classroom.

d) Plans effectively, where applicable, to meet the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and, in collaboration with the SEN-CO, makes an appropriate contribution to the preparation, implementation, monitoring and review of Individual Education Plans www.routledgefalmer.com

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Evaluating your own progress

Task 4 Write a brief report of your involvement with a child with special educational needs identifying both the areas for concern and the strategies that were used to help them. If you helped develop an Individual Education Plan how did you go about this?

e) Takes account of ethnic and cultural diversity to enrich the curriculum and raise achievement

Task 5 How have you taken ethnic and cultural diversity into account within your teaching? List some of the activities that you engaged in.

Monitoring, assessment, recording, reporting and accountability f)

Recognises the level that a pupil is achieving and makes accurate assessments, independently, against attainment targets, where applicable, and performance levels associated with other tests or qualiﬁcations relevant to the subject(s) or phase(s) taught

Task 6 Provide a summary of work for an individual child in your class (with photocopied examples if it is appropriate) to show what level he/she is achieving in any one given area of the curriculum. Discuss the reasons for your decisions with your Induction Tutor or your Mentor.

g) Liaises effectively with pupils’ parents/carers through informative oral and written reports on pupils’ progress and achievements, discussing appropriate targets, and encouraging them to support their children’s learning, behaviour, progress

Task 7 Give a brief case study either in a written form or orally to your Induction Tutor showing how you have liaised effectively with pupils’ parents/carers and show how you have (a) communicated the targets to be set for the individual child and (b) encouraged their support for the child’s progress.

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Other professional requirements h) Where applicable, deploys support staff and other adults effectively in the classroom, involving them where appropriate, in the planning and management of pupils’ learning

i)

Takes responsibility for implementing school policies and practices, including those dealing with bullying and racial harassment

Task 8 What evidence can you provide to demonstrate your attainment of the above two standards (h and i) ? Make a brief list of key points and then share these with your Induction Tutor.

j)

Takes responsibility for their own professional development, setting objectives for improvement, and taking action to keep upto-date with research and development in pedagogy and in the subject(s) they teach

Task 9 Log all of the professional development activities that you have been involved in during the past year. Make a note of those that you were responsible for initiating. What professional targets will you set for yourself for next year? How are you going to make sure that you access the necessary training? When you have done this share it with your Induction Tutor. Discuss how he/she can ensure that your continuing professional development needs can be met.

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