Flexible Route to Headship Report 2011 worddocThanks to all of you who contributed to this review of the Flexible Routes to Headship Programme. And thanks to all the participants, coaches, supporters, officers who have made it so successful.
We are currently recruiting for FRH Cohort 6 and are delighted with the early interest.
This is a guest post by Jean Ward of Kirkwall Grammar School, Orkney
Jean Ward, DHT at Kirkwall Grammar School in Orkney has been making good use of our CPDShorts by creating an innovative programme of lunchtime sessions based around them.
The Glow CPDShorts – thought pieces on current issues in Scottish education – were held on four successive Wednesdays at lunchtime; all staff were invited to bring their lunch. These sessions are quick and informal – in order to make the most of time available the sessions are “flipped” with some suggested advance reading or watching.
Jean has kindly shared her programme with us. CPDShorts are freely available to all members of CPDCentral, so if you are a CPDLeader in your school, why not try them out as part of your collective CPD plan and get some lunchtime learning going on!
Wed 2 November. CPDShort 3 – Advancing Waves – what should education be about?
Presenter, John Connell
Wed 9 November. CPDShort 13 – Coaching and mentoring in the context of PRD
Presenter – Bob Cook’s paper on GLOW and the following YouTube links:
http://bit.ly/cAGz6f http://bit.ly/tTXqR8 http://bit.ly/s0X5cV
(or just ‘search’ coaching and mentoring on YouTube for many more excellent presentations for discussion)
Wed 16 November. CPDShort 8 – Sharing – the moral imperative
Presenter – Dean Shareski
Wed 23 November. CPDShort 4 – Motivating all learners
Presenter – Alan McLean
POSTPONED DUE TO INTERNET GOING DOWN!
Although each meeting attracted only a small audience, it was important to those who came that they could share discussion in an informal setting. It was noticeable that most participants were from smaller departments with limited opportunity for professional dialogue.
Please get in touch if you would like more details.
Lots of you will remember the funding that Scottish Government provided to every local authority in 2006/2007 to support a range of coaching and mentoring projects. Given the renewed interest in this topic, as discussed at the recent CPD Network meeting, I thought it might be helpful to remind you of the outcomes from this piece of work. Below you will find the final report which contains a large number of case studies reflecting the wide range of activity that was supported by this funding.
Recently a few members of the CPD team visited the Teacher Development Agency in Birmingham. We were invited by John Westwell who heads up one of the Directorates in the TDA following a visit he and colleagues made to Edinburgh earlier in the year. We were keen to learn more about the work of the agency, and to explore any potential for shared activity or learning. A fuller report of what we learned will follow later, but we were particularly interested in the National Framework for Mentoring and Coaching which was first published by CUREE (Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence in Education) in 2005, as part of the DfES’s CPD strategy. The Framework offers some principles of mentoring and coaching, some core concepts, describes skills for coaching and mentoring and offers a “non-prescriptive” comparison between coaching and mentoring.
I am aware that there is a lot of interest in coaching and mentoring in relation to CPD, and there are some useful articles and case studies on this site. Well worth a read!
Report of a review of teacher education in Scotland
The CPD team welcome the publication of “Teaching Scotland’s Future” with its clear case for a high priority to be given to teacher quality and leadership. We are delighted to see lots of themes that build on current CPD Network concerns and activities. There are many relevant references, for example:
We are delighted that the report recommends that our work on CPDFind should be developed (see recommendation 41), and that PRD emerges as a key tool to improve school and teacher effectiveness.
However the Report describes many challenges in the “ambitious and far-reaching agenda” set by the Report, and success will require new partnerships, creative solutions and new ways of working for many of us involved in all aspects of teacher education. We look forward to contributing to this agenda.
Despite a wild and windy day in North Ayrshire , Jim Keegans and I enjoyed a very warm sesssion with primary head teacher colleagues on the 28 October. At the invitation of Gary Johnstone , QIM we shared some thinking and prompted discussion on the appropriateness of a coaching approach to support the PRD process. Colleagues were very participative and the reflections and observations which emanated from the group activities and discussions provided very interesting feedback for the authority and enhanced our own thinking on these topical themes .
This is a guest post from Jean Ward of Kirkwall Grammar School
Two and a half years ago, on a wintry day in January, I attended the first cohort of training on non directive coaching and mentoring. Like many of my colleagues who have also completed the training, I have discovered I use it in nearly all aspects of my professional and personal life. We are all now looking at ways these skills can be developed in other staff and with our pupils.
This was originally a SEED funded project which has grown and been sustained in Orkney. The original target group was emergent leaders and probationer mentors, a number of whom have gone on to gain professional recognition from the GTCS in mentoring. Probationers were supported with the introduction of a course called “ The Reflective Practitioner” which took the personal awareness aspect of the coaching course and encouraged these new professionals to examine their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Probationers who have benefited from this training and the coaching skills of their mentors are now signing up for the full course.
The course covers the main skills involved in non-directive coaching; listening, questions, body language, silence, scaling and dialogue all to support Clutterbuck’s GROW model. Staff from all levels of the school service have now completed the initial training. Participants are encouraged to form coaching partnerships, a buddy system of support. The course also runs in Shetland and the Western Isles allowing practice and experiences to be shared. A member of Kirkwall Grammar School staff participated in delivering the course during INSET in Stornoway in October 2009.
In Kirkwall Grammar School we now have a number of staff trained and we wanted to see how we could develop these skills with our pupils.
We turned to Coaching and Reflective Practitioner course leader Kate Coutts (Shetland Islands Council) to develop and pilot a 2-day course for S6. We have now had 2 groups through the process and have used their feedback to mould the direction of the course. We also wanted to be able to self deliver. With the help of a colleague and coaching buddy from one of the associate primaries, we are now in the position to offer a ‘reflective practitioner’ type course to S6 pupils called “ S6 What’s Next?” We have included in this an introduction to the GROW model as a tool for self coaching on difficult issues. Combining it with some of the AiFL buddying and peer support techniques, pupils are beginning to tackle what the future may hold in a much more structured manner. Feedback from participants has been very positive. We would like to start looking at the impact it has on their learning overall and quality of their Personal statements and applications.
We now believe we can offer a similar course in S4. This course will be called “What Now ?” If we make an introduction to coaching and the GROW model at this stage, we can develop the S6 course in to the full coaching course, very similar to that on offer to staff. Who knows? Maybe we can even have staff and pupils training together.
Coaching has a significant role to play in the personal development and independent learning of staff and pupils. We have a lot to explore here in KGS and we may write further blog posts about how we are getting on.
Last year, S1 also had a significant coaching experience but it demands a separate report. A group of ten pupils participated in the powerful leadership development tool that is METASAGA. I leave you to find out more about that on your own.
I have just returned from a very informative visit to CUREE in Coventry. More information about them can be found at on their website. I was there investigating their work/research in Coaching and Mentoring but as usual on such visits found out a whole lot more. For more information click curee-visit.doc
Click to read the Coaching and Mentoring summary
This post comes from Graeme Finnie (leadership consultant with Learning and Teaching Scotland).
“This is an important period of growth in coaching and mentoring in schools and local authorities and this commentary reflects the extent of the development supported by SEED 2006/2007. In it you can read about examples of approaches taken and the impact that coaching and mentoring is making in many local authorities. Of course this is not the whole story. There are many other developments going ahead which are not described here and you should get in touch with your CPD contact to find out what is happening in your area. Work is also underway (see the earlier blog entry) to develop case studies and examples of practice which will shed more light on the impact of coaching and mentoring for pupils and students, teachers and school leaders, in schools and classrooms across Scotland.”
Please note some edits have been made to the original posted commentary (17th Dec 07)
The CPD Team are looking to improve the way that policy is developed and practice is shared and making even stronger links between the two. We are very keen to involve as wide a range of practitioners in our work as early as possible. Read more…
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