News story

Have your say on the future of teachers’ professional development

Teachers urged to give their views to help develop a new standard and further raise the status of the profession.

Teachers talking

Teachers and training providers are being invited to give their views and contribute to the development of a new professional standard for teachers’ continuing professional development.

Many schools across England are already offering excellent professional development opportunities and investing in teachers’ futures. As part of a nationwide drive to help raise the status of teaching and ensure teachers continue to be equipped with the skills and knowledge to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain, the Department for Education invited an expert group to develop a new standard that will help teachers to become better informed about the types of training that achieve the best outcomes for their pupils.

The Teachers’ Professional Development Expert Group, chaired by David Weston, CEO of the Teacher Development Trust, is made up of a panel of experts independent of government with a diverse range of backgrounds. To help the group develop the new standard they have launched a call for evidence inviting teachers and other interested parties to submit their views.

David Weston said:

We want to formulate a new standard for professional development which is valued by our professional colleagues. Our priority is to listen carefully to teachers, school leaders and CPD providers to understand everyone’s aspirations, concerns and suggestions so that the new standard represents the best of our profession, inspired by the best ideas and firmly rooted in the practical realities of busy school life.

We urge every teacher, school leader, provider and organisation to contribute to this process by submitting a response to our call for evidence. We will be carefully considering all of the responses before drafting the new standard. Our plan is to then begin trialling and refining and further consulting on the new standard from early 2016, to make sure that it is achieving its aims.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

We already have many thousands of superb teaching professionals working in classrooms across the country - all dedicated to preparing the next generation of pupils for life in modern Britain. But we want to ensure they continue to have the support and professional development opportunities they need, so that they can achieve the best possible outcomes for their pupils.

I would like to encourage anyone with an interest in this important area to submit their views and help David and his expert group to set a new standard for all teachers’ professional development so we can further raise the status of teaching and put the profession in England on a par with the best in the world.

The new standard will aim to set out a clear description of effective practice in professional development for teachers. It will:

  • help teachers and providers of teacher training to understand aspects of good-quality professional development
  • look to clarify some misconceptions around what good professional development should look like
  • complement the existing teachers’ standards

The standard will be non-statutory - schools will still be able to define their approach to professional development according to their own needs.

Responses will be accepted until 16 October 2015 and can be completed online.

The review is expected to report back to the Secretary of State for Education in spring 2016.

Published 7 September 2015