The Education Continuum

Guest Post by Paul K. Ainsworth - The new appraisal regulations: A job hunter’s perspective

Last Friday, the Department for Education (DfE) published the new arrangements for the performance management of teachers. If you are currently applying for jobs you may wonder how this will affect you and what you need to know for any future interviews, particularly if you are applying for a middle leadership or senior leadership post.

If you are applying for a leadership post it is likely that you will have responsibility for setting targets and then reviewing them for a group of staff. At interview you could be asked specifically about your views on the new regulations. You may also wish to draw on your knowledge of the new regulations when discussing how you would raise standards in your area or how you would deal with underperforming staff.

The most obvious change is one of language. The press releases on the government website talk about 'teacher appraisal' rather than using the term 'performance management' which for teachers who are longer in tooth may remind them of the system before performance management was in vogue. If you are looking at senior leadership posts you may wish to read the model policy on DfE website which includes the section on capability which is consistent with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance procedures.

If you are asked about underperforming staff, you may wish to comment that the new appraisal structure has a much clearer link to capability procedures than before but it is important to remember that if a colleague begins capability procedures the appraisal process is suspended. The DfE suggest that the new appraisal process will allow poorly performing teachers to be removed in about a term. However this would require all the paperwork to be perfectly collated and time scales to be rigorously kept to. We also tend to know that in practice this can become much longer when colleagues are sick during the process.

For reviewers the new appraisal process states that teachers will have to be assessed every year against the new teacher standards. These are claimed to be simpler and sharper than before. You may wish to look at these standards which become live in September 2012.

It will be interesting to see if schools begin to develop their own tick lists of these teacher standards, perhaps even grading teachers on them against the OFSTED grades. As a reviewer you will have to ensure that objectives are set for each teacher which clearly show how they contribute to improving the education of the pupils. The best appraisers have always done this and some schools provide good training for their staff on how objectives should be best written. In the review you will have to give an assessment of the teacher’s performance and assess their current training development needs. There is an expectation that progression up the teacher pay spine will be subject to a satisfactory appraisal. This means that you may be responsible for making a recommendation on pay progression to your head teacher.

There is a greater flexibility in terms of the quantity of lesson observation that can be conducted. In recent years there has been confusion over the so-called three hour observation rule which suggested that teachers could only be observed for three hours for performance management reasons but for other reasons at a school’s discretion. The new appraisal arrangements will mean that schools have a greater flexibility on deciding what is appropriate.

It is worth noting that the government is still consulting as to whether performance management review documents can be requested by a future employer as part of the reference process. If this turns out to be the case, if you are looking for promotion you may be more interested in ensuring your review does happen and that it is completed in a clear and positive manner.

Paul K. Ainsworth is the Acting Principal of a Leicestershire secondary school. He has advised many teachers on how they can develop their job search skills. His new book, 'Get that Teaching job' is out at the end of January.

Melanie Wilson
Commissioning Editor (Professional Education)

How to get your perfect teaching job

Continuum author, Paul K. Ainsworth has contributed some hot tips for finding - and getting - the perfect teaching job for you, ahead of his new book Get That Teaching Job! out at the beginning of February next year.

Reviews for the book so far have been incredible! Here are just a few of the great words that people have said about it:

‘Ainsworth is the career mentor you have always wanted; whether hunting for that first teaching post after qualifying, or seeking promotion to middle or senior management, this comprehensive and highly practical book will help teachers develop a clear focus, and ultimately success, in achieving the next step in their teaching careers. In an increasingly competitive jobs market, this resource provides many valuable insights into what employers are looking for in successful applicants, and will help applicants navigate the maze of identifying suitable posts, writing winning applications and following through with positive and winning interview styles.’ Sarah Squires, Editor of Extended Schools Update and freelance writer

‘Written with remarkable clarity and from extensive experience, Get That Teaching Job! offers invaluable step-by-step help and guidance for teachers looking to move forward in their career. Sound, practical interview advice with sample questions and answers and web links to templates and additional resources are a real boon. A must-read for anyone ready to make a move – in a competitive market it could make all the difference.’ Rosemary Taylor, Senior Partner, Key Issues Consulting, UK

‘This book is a must for any teacher looking to secure their first, or next, teaching job. Whether you're an NQT, or aiming for a middle or senior leadership position, Get That Teaching Job! provides you with plenty of useful practical ideas, ranging from identifying the type of school or area you want to work in, to how to conduct yourself at interview, and everything in between. Paul Ainsworth's experience and research result in a book which will help you to be more prepared and feel more confident, as you tackle those tricky topics such as writing application letters, preparing for interviews, and maximising post-interview feedback. Get That Teaching Job! is a book I wish had been available when I was seeking my next teaching post!’ Debbie Inglis, Education Performance Coach, Square Two Development Ltd, UK

Just click on this link to find top tips for trainee teachers on pre-Christmas planning, and resources to take your lessons from good to outstanding. And pre-order the book here!

Melanie Wilson

Commissioning Editor
(Professional Education)

Great reviews of recently published English texts

Looking for some inspiration for your English classroom in September?  Reworking your reading list for your English PGCE course?  Check out two books recently praised in NATE journals:

Testing English

Reviewed in NATE: ‘Marshall is extremely well qualified to take this subject on – she is arguably the UK’s foremost expert in English and Assessment… It’s a well-written and compelling book that draws on a great range of academic literature and a career rich in assessment research…a must-read.’

 

Secondary English

Reviewed in NATE: ‘Even after ten years of national strategies, this book offers much to guide new entrants to English teaching through some longer-lived traditions of its thinking and practice.’



Alison Baker
Senior Commissioning Editor (Academic Education)

Guest blog: What happens after the SEF?

One question that many senior leaders have been asking lately is what happens to the Self Evaluation Form (SEF) in the next academic year? Earlier this year the government announced that English schools would no longer have to complete the SEF from September 2011 but did not suggest what would need to be done instead.

The SEF has been one of those dreaded tasks; a bit like tidying some part of your house. You know it needs doing and at some point it would be obvious that you’ve not done it! There are many urban myths of Head’s getting the OFSTED call and the Inspector then suggesting the SEF does not look as though it has been updated for a while, queue a senior leadership lock-down day as they spend from 9am–3pm desperately trying to write a SEF.

One of the frustrations has been that you may have been busily evaluating the quality of your school. Observations, work scrutiny and pupil focus groups could be included within your calendared department review scheme. Annual parent and staff questionnaires may have been part of your Investors in People monitoring. An exhaustive data analysis could have been a key section of induction days for all staff. In some schools pupils have been trained to conduct lesson observations through student voice with the aim of developing the quality of teaching and learning. And yet the huge breadth of the SEF document has not given school’s the credit they should have received for the evaluation of – to use an industry phrase – the core business of teaching and learning.

This week the government has published its proposals for the future of OFSTED and way down in Paragraph 38 is mention of the SEF. Schools are expected to self-evaluate including an assessment of performance against the key inspection judgement, but no common form will be provided. Instead, the lead inspectors will spend more time prior to the inspection discussing the school.

The SEF may be gone but self-evaluation certainly hasn’t and still needs to be an item on your next school improvement plan.

 

Paul K. Ainsworth is the author of Developing a Self-Evaluating School: A Practical Guide.

Melanie Wilson
Commissioning Editor (Professional Education)

Guest post by Bethan Marshall, author of Testing English

Testing English is a book which looks at the way English has been assessed since the war. In particular it examines the way in which English teachers have constantly fought for a more authentic way of assessing pupils than sitting them down in an exam room and making them write for a couple of hours from anything as varied as a motorway at different times of day to Macbeth. At the heart of what English teachers were asking for was some kind of course based assessment so that pupils could write in a way that mattered to them. In so doing pupils would be able to redraft what they had written to convey their ideas ever more effectively.

This of course makes English teaching problematic. Wanting authenticity in what pupils write rather than simply testing what they can remember or produce in half an hour is controversial. It means too that teachers rather than looking backwards at what pupils have learned, as they would with exams, they look forward at what is to be learned; how pupils can get better at what they do; how they can progress.

The book looks at a number of research projects that explore this desire of English teachers to teach formatively and how, in doing so, how pupils can learn and develop. It looks, for example, at the King’s Medway Oxfordshire Formative Assessment Project and sees the way in which teachers organize classroom talk so that they listen to what pupils say. It looks too at the King’s Oxfordshire Summative Assessment Project and sees the way in which, through course based assessment pupils can peer assess each other’s work and so improve what they have done.

Testing English was written before teachers actually started doing the new GCSE controlled conditions assignments but it does examine the way in which pupils can no longer draft and redraft their work or peer assess their colleagues’. It looks to at how controlled conditions assignments are multiple mini exams. In so doing the examiners, and by default the government, are yet again making hard for pupils to say what they want to say and refine it.

John Dewey, wrote in 1899, ‘There is all the difference in the world between having to say something and having something to say’. It has always been the desire of English to embrace the latter. And that is what Testing English is really about.

Why might a serious education academic begin meddling in animated documentary graphics?

The difficulty for an author is that there is never enough opportunity to talk to everyone who might like to hear the story and open up a dialogue. However successful my book Overschooled but Undereducated might be, it inevitably focuses on a linear approach to setting out a case. A book is essentially didactic – a one way stream of consciousness from author to reader.

Some months ago I read a book by an environmental anthropologist called ‘The Story of Stuff’, about the problems being created by the ever-increasing quantities of rubbish thrown away by the consumers of New York City. It is a compelling read, but with some 300 pages it requires several hours of careful reading. Recently it has been turned into a 22-minute animated graphic documentary and placed on the internet – at the latest count it had been watched 14 million times! As an author I pine for an audience of just 1% of numbers like that!

The 21st Century Learning Initiative has now started to do the same with our book. We have looked at the techniques used in a number of other animated documentaries. We have looked at how well these have targeted clearly defined audiences, and the steps needed to help people get a deeper understanding of the different issues. We were particularly interested in how such videos drew people together, and how they then started to deepen their interest, and in a sense create a campaign. We have thought about the way parents might uses such documentaries, then we thought about teachers, and leaders in the community, and politicians.

The first video will be available in early March at www.born-to-learn.org, with the actor Damian Lewis providing the narration. Watch it, think about it, share it with your friends, and then realise why it is so important to read the whole book.

Over the course of the next year we intend to produce 8 or 10 more videos each one of which will be designed to deepen people’s understanding of the whole of this intricate issue of our society becoming ‘overschooled but undereducated’, and what now has to be done to rectify this.

Guest post by John Abbott, President of the 21st Century Learning Initiative, a transnational association of educational researchers and practitioners based in the UK.

Melanie Wilson
Commissioning Editor (Professional Education)

Developing a Self-Evaluating School

Just wanted to tell you about an important new book that we've recently published at Continuum Education and which I think many school leaders will find a useful resource. In Developing a Self-Evaluating School, Paul Ainsworth offers a practical guide to self-evaluation, introducing the tools you will need to develop best-practice and exploring how schools and individuals have successfully used the tools and approaches covered in the book.

The book is new, as I say, but in its first few months of publication it has already received some great reviews. Simon Harrison, deputy head of Swanmore College of Technology, gave it a positive review in CPD Update, saying: "Practical and easy to use, this book is flexible enough to be used as a comprehensive guide or as a reference to be dipped into. Its balance of depth and overview makes it useful to those in a range of roles and contexts... The key to this book is its flexibility and utility. Busy professionals will find it invaluable."

We've got a free preview of the book, which you can access by clicking through on the jacket above, or you can find more information here.

You might also be interested in the author's recently published article in CPD Update, where he touches on how the results of self-evaluation can be presented to OFSTED inspectors and describes a last-minute training session run in preparation for an OFSTED visit.

Happy reading!

David,
Acting Senior Editor,
Continuum Education

What Should Everyone Know?

I went along, with Mel W, to an RSA debate last night.  The question being considered was this: what should everyone know?  Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority of the session was spent focusing on what should be being taught in schools.  It seemed to me that the overarching theme was that we (and by we I mean all in the community, not just school teachers) should be teaching children skills rather than curriculum knowledge.  Emotional literacy, curiosity and the ability to make a cup of tea all made an appearance.  Given that there is an ever increasing amount of information available online and that we can't hope to know what jobs the young people of today will be doing, this seems to make sense.

For those of you who missed it, you can download the audio here: http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2010/what-should-everyone-know

It certainly made me think about a number of issues underlying education today...and consider the sustainability of the pub quiz...

Alison Clark
Commissioning Editor