'Identifying the challenges for teacher education in Wales; working together to seek solutions' TEAN seminar, 18 October 2011 Angela Jardine Chair, General Teaching Council for Wales

“the quality of a country’s education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” key elements that matter most : –recruiting the right people to become teachers; –developing these persons into effective instructors; –ensuring the education system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child. (McKinsey, 2007)

Issues and challenges 1. Recruiting the right people Postgraduates 72% gain QTS via the PGCE route (Aug 2011) Q. How do we identify the ‘right’ people to train as teachers? Q. How could we improve consistency in selection?

Undergraduates England & Wales, 2007

2. Recruiting the right numbers ,947 awarded QTS 2007 following Furlong Review, cuts of 50% in primary and 25% in secondary announced (by 2010) ,803 awarded QTS ,688 awarded QTS (a 13% cut) ((i) figures exclude GTP & UK/EEA awards (ii) figures as at 1 August)

number of teachers meeting the Induction standard : ,

out of 10 NQTs secured substantive posts in Wales We are training teachers for unemployment

3. Developing effective practitioners (i) length of ITET “...the current content of ITET programmes is not fit for purpose, primarily due to the length of courses which means that there is insufficient time to cover all of the relevant areas in sufficient detail in order to properly prepare a new teacher for the classroom and embed key principles such as the importance of enquiry-led practice and self-reflection. This is particularly true for the PGCE...” (GTCW, ‘Raising the bar in ITET and early career development’,2011)

(ii) content of ITET Q. Is there a growing body of knowledge about practice about which we have greater certainty? Q. What impact should the TLRP be having on what we teach about effective teaching?

(iii) Induction challenges variation in NQTs’ Induction experiences: –by LA / school –mentor support –no QA of Induction doesn’t build on QTS or towards Induction standards - ‘time served’ rigour? – 8 failures in 8,800 since 2003

(iv) EPD challenges has been too flexible rarely viewed as building on QTS or Induction...and as for CPD beyond that...?

So... We have a disjuncture between initial teacher development and early career development in standards in approach in Quality Assurance

Q. Could we not re-conceive initial professional preparation as a genuine continuum? Q. What would be involved on the part of ITET (and LAs and schools) to bring this about?

...add to these, Leighton Andrews’ priorities for ITET: ‘examine whether ITT can become a 2- year Masters course’ ‘all qualifying teachers to be trained in literacy and numeracy’ ‘ITT entrants to pass literacy and numeracy tests on entry and exit’ (Feb 2011)

a Masters level profession proposal for the introduction of the Masters in Educational Practice (MEP) anticipated from Sept 2012 for NQTs on a voluntary basis ‘to test the approach and build an evidence base for decisions about the future of the programme’ Ministerial decision, 22 Aug 2011, Statement of information

“The proposed programme will not be delivered in the same way as a conventional Masters but will be highly practical and focus on practical applications in the classroom. The programme will allow NQTs to gain accreditation for day to day practice rather than introducing a highly academic and theoretical approach” Ministerial decision, 22 Aug 2011, Statement of information

Q. Masters is an HE qualification with its own criteria. What needs to be resolved in the programme design of the proposed MEP? Q. How might /should the literacy and numeracy priorities fit with the MEP? Q. What would be the role of post-graduate certificates and diplomas in a world where NQTs and experienced teachers have Masters as their benchmark?

Discussion