Creating an effective learning environment, post COVID-19
Janet Goodall, Associate Professor, Swansea University, UK When I was asked to write the editorial for this issue of the Chartered College of Teaching’s journal, I was flattered and very happy to do so, having been an advocate and supporter of the Chartered College since its earliest days. And the topic, of creating effective learning […]
Reducing workload improves teacher wellbeing and has no negative effects on student attainment: A meta-analysis of teacher-led quantitative studies
Richard Churches, Education Development Trust, UK Robin Hall, Department for Education, UK Kate Sims, Education Development Trust, UK In collaboration with Education Development Trust, the Department for Education and Teaching Schools Council, teachers across England conducted quantitative research into the effects of workload reduction. Teachers designed and implemented a range of quantitative studies into the […]
How can school leaders maximise teacher resilience?
Natasha Raheem, Assistant Vice Principal, Dixons Teaching Institute, UK Teaching during the pandemic has challenged the ‘everyday resilience’ needed by teachers to maintain their commitment and effectiveness (Day et al, 2011, p.5). Ostensibly, COVID-19 impacted on recruitment and retention positively with slightly higher recruitment and retention rates. However, this was a short-term gain (Worth, 2022). […]
Creating coherence to manage workload and wellbeing in ITT
Henry Sauntson, Director, Teach East SCITT, UK Teaching might be a profession in trouble. Recent statistics indicate that more than 10 per cent of those who attained QTS in 2019 left teaching before the end of July 2020, and nearly 40 per cent leave in their first five years (DfE, 2021); research cited by Gorard […]
A culture of improvement: How changes to teachers’ working conditions influence student outcomes
David Weston, CEO, Teacher Development Trust, UK Bethan Hindley, Head of Leadership Delivery, Teacher Development Trust, UK Maria Cunningham, Regional Delivery Lead, Education Endowment Foundation, UK Multiple teams of researchers have made significant efforts to summarise the research on the process and content of teacher professional development. However, these reviews, due to their methodology, tend […]
Supporting teachers to support learners: Prioritising teacher wellbeing for optimal student outcomes
Cara Carey, Development Lead, Teach First, UK Research suggests that if we are to create an environment where students can excel, we must prioritise the wellbeing of teachers. Improved teacher wellbeing facilitates improved pupil wellbeing (Harding et al., 2019; Ramberg et al., 2019), while the negative impact of teachers’ poor wellbeing seems to be greater […]
The need for empathy in school leadership
Michael Taylor, Professional Tutor, Liverpool Hope University, UK Steve Lambert, Associate Professor in Educational Leadership, University of Chester, UK Introduction Hughes et al. (2005) state that empathy is an essential skill for leadership in any field. This paper reviews the literature on the importance of empathy by exploring the applications of benefits in other professions […]
The conscious construction of an effective whole-school culture
Tara McVey, Vice Principal, Towers School, UK In supportive schools, teachers not only tend to stay and be more effective, they also improve at a much greater rate over time (Kraft and Papay, 2014). For a school like ours, that is a game-changer. In our school, the one-stop solution for improving recruitment and retention, and thus […]
Using the four pillars of engagement to build effective relationships with parents and carers: Advice for school leaders
Karen Dempster, Co-founder, Fit2Communicate, UK Justin Robbins, Co-founder, Fit2Communicate, UK At the heart of all successful schools are effective relationships – between students and teachers, between parents and their children and, of course, between school and parents. It’s a three-way relationship, with the students firmly at the centre. Never has this relationship been so important […]
Becoming a learning organisation: One school’s methodology and findings
Martin Byrne, Assistant Headteacher, Kings International College, UK In Issue 13 of Impact, I asserted that ‘schools that are characteristic of learning organisations have a culture in which individual and team learning is encouraged and valued. Teachers will recognise a clear focus for their CPD, which not only promotes personal mastery of their practice but […]
Developing teacher self-efficacy to support mental health
Kerry Hill FCCT, National School Improvement Partner, UK The 2021 Education Support Partnership’s Teacher Wellbeing Index again highlighted a significant concern about the levels of poor mental health within educational professionals. The report uncovered the fact that the mental wellbeing of teachers is worse now than during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that […]
Conversations about staff mental health in schools
Amy Sayer FCCT, Author Why there is a need to have a conversation When I first started researching staff mental health in schools (Sayer, 2020), there was a clear and urgent need for more schools to receive training to destigmatise conversations about mental health and create a culture in which people felt they would […]
Exploring the evidence base: The role of routines in creating an effective learning environment
Ann-Marie Argyropulo-Palmer, Subject Leader for Music, University of Birmingham School, UK Whether introduced by individual teachers or employed school-wide by leaders, routines – a specific sequence of actions regularly followed – are a common feature of UK classrooms (DfE, 2011). Routines as recommended classroom practice can also be seen at a national level, with the […]
In it for the long haul: Building trusting relationships with parents
Jean Gross, independent consultant and author, UK Nicola Noble, co-headteacher, Surrey Square Primary School, UK; Trustee, Magic Breakfast, UK Liz Robinson, Co-Director, Big Education, UK; Trustee, National Literacy Trust, UK A large body of research (Castro et al., 2015) has found substantial associations between students’ attainment and the extent of their parents’ engagement with their […]
Students’ perceptions of oracy: Implications for schools
Victoria Cook, Laura Guihen and Amy Gaunt, Voice 21, UK This article draws on a growing evidence base illustrating the positive difference that oracy education makes to children and young people’s outcomes and opportunities. We explore students’ perceptions of oracy, drawing on data collected from 1,994 primary and secondary students across England who had undertaken […]
Research-based activities to promote student flourishing
Helen Hampson, Research and Development Manager, Sevenoaks School, UK Introduction There is a growing global movement to promote flourishing in education. The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University defines flourishing as a state of complete well-being, characterised by happiness and life satisfaction, a sense of meaning and purpose, good character and virtue, physical and mental […]
A hard habit to break? The power of independent study behaviours in the Sixth Form
Katie Cork, Head of Sixth Form, St Mary’s School, Gerrards Cross Study habits and academic achievement In post-16 education, a student studying for three A-levels has 10 or more hours of undirected time a week within their timetable; this is around half the time recommended for students to spend on independent study (Oakes and Griffin, […]
Fostering joy in the academically rigorous English classroom
Dena Eden, English Standards Leader, Inspiration Trust, UK Joy and academic rigour are often dichotomised. However, through careful consideration and application of cognitive science, we can appreciate not only how they can co-exist, but also how academic rigour is crucial if we are to see our students taking joy from English. An academically rigorous classroom […]
Considerations of the whole-school reading environment when redesigning the English curriculum
Natasha Crellin, Headteacher, The Hill Primary School, UK Ofsted’s changes to the inspection framework in 2019 prompted schools to consider and refine their curriculum offer. Within our mainstream maintained primary school, the development of our English curriculum led us to reflect on the whole-school reading environment and the impact of this on our pupils’ interaction […]
A reflection on how and why we changed our Key Stage One learning environments
Mary Norton, Key Stage 1 Team Leader, Warden House Primary School, UK Introduction The more we considered the transition – from Reception to Year 1 – of a small group of children with specialist support, the more we questioned our practice for all children in our setting and researched the need for change. This article […]
