Leading Professional Learning at Scale: Collaboration

Within a busy school calendar with growing commitments for leaders, it can be a challenge to deliver impactful CPD, despite its positive impact on outcomes and school culture. When schools use the initiative to collaborate meaningfully, they create powerful networks for sharing expertise, aligning practice, and supporting staff development.

This free, open webinar, we will explore how utilising collaborative approaches to CPD can enhance and improve pupil outcomes and foster a culture of growth, all whilst tackling the issues of teacher recruitment and retention. 

We will be joined by:

• Dr Lisa-Maria Muller, Head of Research and Policy at the Chartered College of Teaching
• Dr Gary Lewis, CEO of Lighthouse Schools Partnership
• Concettina Johnson, Professional Learning Lead, Teacher Development Trust
• Tracy Goodyear, Director of Development, Mercian Trust

Speakers: 

Lisa-Maria is Head of Research and Policy at the Chartered College of Teaching, where she leads on linking research, policy and practice through research projects, publications and events. She is lead author of six reports exploring the impact of COVID on teachers and students, the implementation of cognitive science in classrooms and the notion of teacher professionalism as well as project lead on national and international projects, including collaborations with the OECD and UNESCO. Lisa-Maria is a qualified MFL teacher with experience in secondary schools in Austria and the UK. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Vienna and worked at the Universities of Cambridge and York on projects studying foreign language teaching prior to joining the Chartered College of Teaching.

Gary Lewis is Chief Executive of Lighthouse Schools Partnership, a trust of 34 schools serving the city of Bristol and the northern part of Somerset. Gary was its founding CEO. Lighthouse’s ethos is influenced by the Church of England’s ‘Hope for a flourishing schools system’ and recognises that the flourishing of children in education is dependent on the fulfilment and purpose of the adults who work with them and the moral and systemic health of the whole schools system. Gary’s recent doctorate focussed on the interplay between MAT governance and central government.

Concettina Johnson is Design and Delivery Lead at the Teacher Development Trust, specialising in collaborative approaches to professional development. As a former primary and secondary school leader, she brings practical experience to supporting schools nationwide in developing effective CPD strategies that enhance pupil outcomes and improve teacher retention. Through the DfE-funded CPD Excellence Hub Programme and TDT Network, Concettina has helped numerous school leaders develop collaborative frameworks that build knowledge, motivate staff, and embed best practice. Her work draws on TDT’s research “A culture of improvement,” which identifies collaboration as a key factor in teacher working conditions linked to increased student attainment, and she regularly shares insights through educational programmes on using collaboration to address recruitment, retention, and professional growth challenges.