Written Question · S3W-29433 · Session 3
What consideration it has given to the OECD and European Commission report, Teachers’ Professional Development: Europe in international com…
The question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the OECD and European Commission report, Teachers’ Professional Development: Europe in international comparison.
The answer
Scotland did not take part in the OECD''s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), which underpinned this report but the findings do provide interesting points of comparison with the Scottish system.
For example, the report indicates that much can be gained by integrating professional development in the total work package of teachers. It is a core part of the Teachers'' Agreement in Scotland that all teachers should have 35 hours per year contractual CPD time (in addition to five days of in-service time in each school year). The agreement also put in place a requirement for each teacher to engage in professional review and development with their line manager each year and to identify professional development needs on the basis of individual, school and national priorities, which is in line with the suggestion in the report that greater emphasis on appraisal and feedback could strengthen its benefits in schools.
As well as tending to confirm that many of the structural supports for teachers'' professional development in Scotland are sound, the report also suggests ways in which that professional development can best be focused to support improved learning and teaching. These include that professional development is most effective when it is collaborative and focused directly on the learning environment. To a significant extent this mirrors the findings on continuing professional development in HM Inspectorate of Education''s (HMIE) recent report, Improving Teaching, Improving Learning.
The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to ensure that lessons and effective practice, as identified in this report and elsewhere, are utilised within Scotland. This will be particularly important in the context of the wide-ranging review of teacher education (including the full range of professional development for teachers), to be led by Graham Donaldson (currently Her Majesty''s Senior Chief Inspector) and due to commence in January 2010.
For example, the report indicates that much can be gained by integrating professional development in the total work package of teachers. It is a core part of the Teachers'' Agreement in Scotland that all teachers should have 35 hours per year contractual CPD time (in addition to five days of in-service time in each school year). The agreement also put in place a requirement for each teacher to engage in professional review and development with their line manager each year and to identify professional development needs on the basis of individual, school and national priorities, which is in line with the suggestion in the report that greater emphasis on appraisal and feedback could strengthen its benefits in schools.
As well as tending to confirm that many of the structural supports for teachers'' professional development in Scotland are sound, the report also suggests ways in which that professional development can best be focused to support improved learning and teaching. These include that professional development is most effective when it is collaborative and focused directly on the learning environment. To a significant extent this mirrors the findings on continuing professional development in HM Inspectorate of Education''s (HMIE) recent report, Improving Teaching, Improving Learning.
The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to ensure that lessons and effective practice, as identified in this report and elsewhere, are utilised within Scotland. This will be particularly important in the context of the wide-ranging review of teacher education (including the full range of professional development for teachers), to be led by Graham Donaldson (currently Her Majesty''s Senior Chief Inspector) and due to commence in January 2010.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S3W-29433 by reference.