Over the course of our study, one thing has stood out as central to improving continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers: leadership. Now, as we share some more emerging findings from the project, let’s look at why leadership is so important.
Leadership of CPD in schools comes in many forms. Some schools have a CPD lead, a role whose importance in planning and delivering CPD has been demonstrated in other projects, as well as the survey from this study. School leaders also play a vital role in deciding on resources and planning, and designing and delivering CPD. How they both carry out their roles, and the systems and processes that support them, make a huge difference to the success or otherwise of CPD.
Let’s look at the importance of leadership in the two of our three project strands that focus on professional development within schools.
Strand 1 — systematic review of literature
So far, from our review of the literature, we have identified three key elements of leadership that can help create the right environment for CPD.
The first of these is building trust in school. We found openness and honesty to be key here. This includes installing a collaborative culture, encouraging vulnerability, admitting to shortcomings, taking risks and experimenting, and being willing to learn from mistakes.
The second is engaging staff. This involves shared vision, responsibility and decision-making in schools, with leaders and teachers working together as peers. Leaders can model the moves towards changing language, behaviour and mindset.
Our third key element is something we’ve called learning leadership. This ensures that CPD is leader-initiated and teacher-driven, with teachers deciding what they need in a collaborative environment. This is backed up by a belief that professional learning is not just the teacher’s responsibility, but the leadership’s too.
Strand 3 — school case studies
Through case studies and a survey, we’ve collected data in schools which highlights the importance of leadership to successful CPD.
In our survey of CPD leads in schools, we found that most schools have a CPD plan, and around two thirds maintain records of CPD, although fewer keep records of CPD evaluation. Most CPD leads say that funding and time for CPD are prioritised and resources are available to enable access for teachers to CPD. However, CPD does not always continue in the face of other priorities such as impending Ofsted visits or changes to the curriculum.
In our school case studies, we’ve found that where schools have sustained models of effective CPD, the school leaders:
- establish and maintain a shared vision for professional learning
- develop a safe and supportive school environment for learning
- value collaboration and instil a sense of togetherness
- encourage risk-taking
- negotiate budgetary issues to prioritise professional learning
- invest in staff through financial and time planning
- establish clear communication processes to induce teacher buy-in
- recognise a moral responsibility to support professional learning
- model behaviours to demonstrate advocacy
In the next phases of our analysis we will be identifying examples from schools and literature to help school leaders, CPD leads in schools and other stakeholders develop their own approaches to improving CPD.