Professional Update
Stirling
14th June 2014
Kenneth Muir
Chief Executive, GTCS
Jobs of the Future - in 2025
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mechatronical engineer
Avatar design-security consultant
Digital architect
Traceability manager
Simplicity consultant
Bioinformationist
Geomicrobiologist
Online education broker
Future Learners
The illiterate of the
21st century will not
be those who cannot
read and write but
those who cannot
learn, unlearn and
relearn
Alvin Toffler 1972
Future Schools
The poorest performing
schools of the 21st
century will not be
those who cannot
change but those that
cannot continuously
innovate, change and
improve
Curriculum for Excellence
What is it trying to achieve?
Improve
outcomes for all
learners
Close the Gap
Improve standards
Create a high
performing
education system
CULTURAL CHANGE
Sustain long-term
improvements in
school and
education system
...but not just CfE
New NQs
and
Scottish
College of
Educational
Leadership
Revised Professional
Standards
“Insight”
Professional
Update
Professional
NIB/TSF
ES and
Inspection
Learning
CfE
National system alignment
• Putting the learner at the centre (“…
personalised, customer or learnercentric…”)
• Supporting achievement by all
• Establishing an effective performance
framework that allows continuous review
and improvement
• Reconceptualising the model of teacher
professionalism (Professional Update,
revised Standards, Fitness to Teach, etc)
“ All countries are seeking to improve their
schools and to respond better to higher
social and economic expectations. As the
most significant resource in schools,
teachers are central to school improvement
efforts. Improving the efficiency and equity
of schooling depends, in large measure, on
ensuring that competent people want to
work as teachers, that their teaching is of a
high quality, and that all students have
access to high quality teaching”.
“Teachers Matter” (OECD)
The 2013/4 Education for All Global
Monitoring Report shows why
education is pivotal for development in
a rapidly changing world. It explains
how investing wisely in teachers, and
other reforms aimed at strengthening
equitable learning, transform the longterm prospects of people and societies.
The importance of learning and teaching
“The major source of student
variance lies within the person
who gently closes the door
of the classroom door and
performs the teaching act.”
“The remarkable feature of the
(research) evidence is that the
biggest effects on student learning
occur when teachers become
learners of their own teaching.”
John Hattie “Visible Learning”
TSF report: Professional Learning
Teachers should be:
“Increasingly expert practitioners whose
professional practice and relationships are
rooted in strong values, who take
responsibility for their own development
and who are developing their capacity
both to use and contribute to the
collective understanding of the teaching
and learning process.”
Donaldson Report “Teaching Scotland’s Future” 2011
The importance of learning and
“The quality of an educational system cannot
teaching
outperform the quality of its teachers. The only
way to improve outcomes is to improve learning
and teaching.”
McKinsey
“ Professionals need to be fully engaged in the
change process and to feel a high degree of
ownership about the outcomes. [This] requires an
infrastructure for changing professional practice
that ensures the profession owns and drives the
change. “
Harris 2010
The changing role of teachers
“If 21st c. schooling’s main aim is
to build students’ “learning
capacity”, to help them develop
into lifelong, active, independent
learners, then teachers need to
be “learning coaches” – a role
that is very different from that of
a traditional teacher.”
“Leading learning in 21st century schools” Bull and Gilbert (2013)
The role of teachers in 21st c.
21st c. learning focuses on the need
to develop students’ cognitive,
inter- and intra-personal capacities.
However, a necessary precursor to
this is that teachers’ capacity for,
and awareness of, their own
learning needs to be developed
“Leading learning in 21st century schools” Bull and
Gilbert (2013)
Professional Update

Public Services Reform (GTC Scotland)
Order 2011 (Section 31)
– requires GTCS to set up a scheme of
“reaccreditation”
– allows GTCS scope to develop such a
scheme and to give it an appropriate
name
– allows for different provision in respect
of different types of registered teachers
– requires consultation before making or
varying a scheme
Key principles of Professional Update:
teachers have.....
- a responsibility to consider
their own development needs
 - an entitlement to a system of
supportive PRD
 - confirmation that they are
maintaining the high standards
required of a teacher
•
Professional Update requires:
• An annual update of contact details to GTC
Scotland
• Engagement in professional learning
• Self-evaluation against the appropriate
GTC Scotland Professional Standard
• Discussion of this engagement and the
impact of this, as part of the PRD process
• Maintain a professional learning record
and portfolio of evidence
• 5-yearly confirmation of this engagement
to GTC Scotland
Professional Learning
“ The most successful education systems
invest in developing their teachers as
reflective, accomplished and enquiring
professionals who are able, not simply
to teach successfully in relation to
current external expectations, but who
have the capacity to engage fully with
the complexities of education and to be
key actors in shaping and leading
educational change”.
Teaching Scotland’s Future 2011
Examples of Professional Learning
• Self-evaluation and critical reflection processes
• Experiential, action or enquiry-based learning
• Professional dialogue with colleagues, other
professionals, parents, and learners
• Focused professional reading and research
• Leading or engaging in practitioner
enquiry/action research
• Critical analysis of reading, learning and impact
on professional practice
• Learning about aspects of the curriculum or
pedagogical practice
• Peer support e.g. coaching or mentoring
• Classroom visits/peer observation
• Online learning/blogs
Phasing for Professional Update
• 20% of teachers will complete P/U each
year from national implementation in 2014
• Teachers with registration years ending in:
- 9 and 4 = 2014/15
- 0 and 5 = 2015/16
- 1 and 6 = 2016/17
- 2 and 7 = 2017/18
- 3 and 8 = 2018/19
For example: 1995 registration = 5 = 2015/16
Professional Update sign off process
• Teacher:
I confirm that I have engaged in ongoing
professional development in line with the GTCS
Professional Standards, maintained a CPD record
and portfolio of evidence, and have discussed the
impact of my professional learning with my line
manager as part of my Professional Review and
Development process.
• Line Manager:
I confirm that..... has engaged in ongoing
professional development in line with the GTCS
Professional Standards, maintained a CPD record
and portfolio of evidence and has discussed the
impact of this as part of the Professional Review
and Development process.
GTC Scotland
ken.muir@gtcs.org.uk
Professional.Update@gtcs.org.uk
Twitter @GTCSKen
www.gtcs.org.uk/professional-update