UCET – the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers, has published an analysis of DfE support for the continuing professional development of teachers. The report was developed over a ten-month period building on extensive consultation with over 50 professionals directly involved with CPD provision for teachers in England. It seeks to highlight the strengths, weaknesses and unforeseen impacts of the Early Career Framework (ECF) and National Professional Qualifications (NPQs), one year into the national roll-out of the ECF. NAEE trustee, Paul Vare, had a key role in its development.
UCET says that particular strengths of the Early Career Framework include:
- Provision of a coherent programme of professional development over an extended period
- Recognition of the importance of mentoring and coaching in professional development
- An emphasis on wellbeing particularly in relation to introducing strategies to manage workload
- Different providers developing their own programmes based on the ECF has the potential to provide comparative learning opportunities across the sector.
In addition to these, National Professional Qualifications offer a range of different pathways that help to map out opportunities for alternative career stages.
This is what the report has to say about climate change and ecological emergency.
Sustainability and climate change represent a persistent and growing concern for young people and their teachers; multiple ecological crises now represent the context within which our economy must develop. We acknowledge the publication of the DfE’s new Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy (DfE 2022b). This cites the ECF as an example of teacher professional development yet it is alarming to discover that the entire ‘golden thread’ from CCF to ECF to the NPQs is silent on these issues. The impacts of climate change in particular are becoming the backdrop to daily life in the ‘real’ (physical) [world] whether this is acknowledged in teacher education or not. The precise timing and nature of these impacts cannot be known so faced with this uncertainty, Coles et al (2016) call for teachers to adopt a stance of openness, to re-examine their practice in light of shifting realities. Inculcating a disposition of openness will serve teachers well in all aspects of their work given that classroom interactions inherently entail complexity and uncertainty for both teachers and students.
The Department’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy does note an aspiration to launch a specific sustainability NPQ, which in turn raises questions regarding the level of strategic responsibility of this role. It should not fall to an isolated ‘champion’ but be distributed across all leadership roles, recognising that this touches on all aspects of the school including mission and purpose, curriculum design, estate management and procurement policies. This whole institutional approach to sustainability needs to be acknowledged throughout the ‘golden thread’ from initial teacher education to the most senior levels of leadership. Hence the following recommendations:
- Systemic thinking should be included as a central competence to help professionals recognise the connections across different aspects of their work and that of others, as well as the implications of changes taking place in the wider school system and beyond. This omission is particularly concerning in relation to NPQSL and NPQH
- Like behaviour and SEND, sustainability requires specific attention as a cross-cutting theme with relevance to all teachers in all subjects
- Within the ECF we would recommend that integrating the development of learners’ awareness of – and their reactions to – sustainability and climate change without creating unnecessary workload be included at the very least under Standard 5 ‘Adaptive teaching’
- Similarly, for the NPQs, sustainability should be embedded across all NPQs as a strand of leadership across all roles
- Provide references to relevant support materials for teachers and school leaders such as those prepared recently with the support of the National Association of Environmental Education (NAEE 2022) or the Teacher Development Trust (Hoath & Dave 2022).
The Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy highlights the new Natural History GCSE with a mention of the new model curriculum for Primary Science. While this focus on the science of climate change and the ecological crisis is welcome, the issues are multi-faceted and need to be part of the fabric of school life to bring about a sense of positivity in the face of potentially debilitating media coverage as well as preparedness for the unforeseen impacts that will challenge us all – but chiefly our students – in the long term. Linked inextricably with sustainability is the issue of social justice, again not something that is raised explicitly in the ECF; the issue of tackling racism for example is not explored in the ECF or NPQs.
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Golden Thread or Gilded Cage? An analysis of Department for Education support for the continuing professional development of teachers. November 2022