Strategic Board Teachers Education Meeting Papers November 2023

Strategic Board for Tracher Education – Centre for Teaching Excellence

Background

The Cabinet Secretary recently announcement her intention to create a Centre for Teaching Excellence with the aim that this will add significant value to the education system. There is a commitment to co-design the Centre with COSLA and local government colleagues, teacher organisations, teachers and practitioners, universities and our national education bodies over the coming months.

The Scottish Government are clear that excellence in learning and teaching must be the foundation of Scottish education. The announcement to establish a new Centre for Teaching Excellence is the platform for engagement about how we deliver on that shared ambition, as part of education reform.

It is recognised internationally that, along with leadership, the quality of teaching is the key factor within schools in improving children and young people's learning and outcomes. Research evidence also indicates that the quality of teaching is the most important lever schools have to improve the attainment of children and young people.

Excellent teaching is happening in schools across Scotland. Children and young people are achieving well, and the attainment gap is narrowing, but more can be done to ensure that all children and young people benefit from excellent teaching. Ensuring teachers and practitioners are supported in delivering high-quality teaching is essential to achieving the best outcomes for all, particularly those most impacted by poverty. Creating the Centre is an important component of reform and will provide a further opportunity to clarify roles and responsibilities within the system, including those of the new education agency.

The creation of a Centre for Teaching Excellence is our response to a recognised gap in the current system. Its creation is not about moving existing functions from Education Scotland, but about seeking to add value where it is most needed.

Aims of the Centre

Broadly, the Centre could add significant value to our system by:

• Ensuring that Scotland remains at the forefront of innovation in education, learning from research and international best practice as well as harnessing the best of Scottish education and the latest innovations to support and empower the profession.
• Distilling research and evidence into practical and digestible support for all teachers in Scotland.
• Strengthening links between academia and the profession.
• Drawing on the experiences of children and young people who understand what excellent learning and teaching looks like.
• Developing teaching resources, recognising that teachers themselves are the experts in resource development, tailored to the needs of the children and young people they teach.

Next steps

There is a planned series of engagements to hear from teachers and practitioners, local government, universities and national education bodies in line with the commitment to co-design.

Action

Board members are asked for their initial views on:-

• the role and function of the Centre and how it can be informed by a framework of career long teacher education.
• the role you believe the Centre could play in driving excellent learning and teaching.
• are the areas set out above are the right areas to bring additional value to our education system?
• In what other areas could the Centre bring added value and support for the profession?

SBTE Secretariat

November 2023

SBTE Workplan Development – October 2023

Introduction

Following the SBTE workshop held on 4 September there was discussion and agreement on revising the overarching aim and workstreams. Below are the revised aim and workstreams (identifying lead organisations and intended outcomes).

The workstreams have been tailored to ensure that they address the issues raised at the morning session where the Board discussed "Early Career Teaching of the Future". These issues included:

• Review of the structure of teacher education through the early phase (spanning ITE and probation)
• Ensure a universal offer that addresses inequalities is available from university to post-probation
• Invest in school-based educators
• Allow time for professional learning including structured support post-probation
• Improved partnership working
• Learn from other systems

Action

Now that the Board has agreed these, we need lead organisations to take this work forward. We envisage that lead organisations will aim to develop the actions needed and timescales to achieve these outcomes and decide which other stakeholders and groups are required to be involved in the process e.g. Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group, SNCT and Anti-Racism in Education Programme.

Overarching Aim:

Ensure that we have the right numbers of high-quality teachers, in the right places, with the right areas of expertise. The Board will also ensure that:-

• the teaching profession is representative of the diversity of Scottish society
• teaching is seen as an attractive and valued profession with a focus on professional learning
• teachers are empowered to lead and influence to allow them to deliver high quality learning and teaching
• teachers are equipped to support improved learning and societal outcomes for all children and young people
• teachers are involved in the preparation for planned education reform and other wider system changes

Workstreams

Workstream 1: Workforce Planning and increasing diversity of the profession

Lead Organisation: COSLA (with assistance from SCDE, ADES & GTCS)

Outcome: Local and national teacher resource demands are better understood to improve longer-term workforce planning. This includes tackling geographical challenges and ensuring targets for ITE programmes are set and met accordingly, particularly at secondary level and for hard to fill subjects such as science, technologies, mathematics, modern languages and Gaelic. The barriers to individuals with protected characteristics such as race, religion or disability entering or staying in the teaching profession are better understood and reduced.

Workstream 2: Improving the Promotion of Teaching as a Valued Career

Lead Organisation: SG (with assistance from GTCS, COSLA & Trade Unions)

Outcome: Teachers are valued and teaching is recognised and better promoted as important, complex and impactful work, improving the attractiveness of teaching as a career.

Workstream 3: Continuum of teacher education

Lead Organisations: GTCS, SCDE & ES

Outcome: Teachers in the early phase of their careers experience more consistent mentoring and coaching to increase their confidence, motivation and satisfaction, raising retention rates after achieving full registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland. Teachers have the opportunity to refresh and enhance their skills and knowledge as they progress through their careers, feel empowered within their roles and are leaders of learning within their community.

SBTE Secretariat

October 2023