One very useful task we have been asked to do early on in the CTeach programme is to write a Professional Development Plan (PDP). It involves identifying the Professional Principles that we feel we need to develop, stating what our end aim is for developing this area, demonstrating how we are going to develop in that area and evaluating why we have chosen specific ways of doing this.
I have decided to share the areas I am working on in this post as I think it not only enables me to reflect further on this choice but also to help me to connect with others who may be working on these areas, or have knowledge and experience to share on them. 1) Has a critical understanding of a wide range of subject-specific pedagogical approaches, knows how to deploy these effectively, and builds this through engagement with a community of specialists. (2.1) I want to be able to justify the decisions I am making in planning and teaching and feel like I have something to really back them up. I have that for some things now, but more often than not I think I'm just teaching how I was trained to, or the way I've got used to without enough reasons behind it other than 'it seems to work ok'. 2) Has up-to-date knowledge of theories and research from the field of cognitive science and understands how these can be used to inform practice in education. (3.4) Something I've heard a lot about and I think could have a lot of benefits for language learning if used in the right way. I need to read a lot more about it and see what I can start to do based on the findings. 3) Understands how to design, implement and evaluate a range of assessment types (4). I want to have a range of assessment methods available to me and to know what to use and when. I'd like to be more consistent in my assessment methods and be able to use them for targeted intervention. This is an area that I think there is probably a lot to learn in. I am going to do these things hopefully via reading (book suggestions welcome), attending relevant events and interacting with the relevant networks online and in person. I'll test them out and hopefully survey students and ask colleagues to look at resources/observe parts of lessons to see what they think. I'll be getting started as soon as I can so any pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
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This year I have decided to take on yet another challenge, this time in the form of the Chartered Teacher (CTeach) Pilot. I've just been writing my first Reflective Journal entry for my mentor to read before the January launch event and I thought this was as good a time as any to write about why I've decided to join the programme.
When I first joined the Chartered College of Teaching in January 2017 I was hoping to join a group of like minded people, wanting to engage in research and work together to change the teaching profession for the better, to be a voice outside of the unions. I even signed up to be an advocate for the College, promoting it to my colleagues, something I need to try harder at in 2018. I've enjoyed receiving the journal to read and the Languages Network event I attended a few days ago. I'm hoping that in 2018 these opportunities are going to grow and I'll really feel part of something, which at the moment is where I am unsure. I joined the CTeach pilot for a number of reasons. Firstly because I want to help to develop what I have talked about above. I don't feel like I can complain about not feeling part of something if I haven't tried to help improve it, I hope the CTeach will help me do this. Secondly, I want to develop myself further. I enjoy reading edu-books and joining in on Twitter, but I feel at the moment I don't have much of a direction for it. I am hoping that CTeach will give me the opportunities to carry on doing this, but purposefully and with a positive outcome and changes in my practice. Thirdly, I really want to share my reading more with my colleagues and at the moment I don't feel like I have a platform for doing that. I am hoping that now I am on the CTeach Pilot I might have a stronger voice for sharing these things with colleagues and have more of a chance of them trying them out too. I'm looking forward to getting started in the new year and seeing what opportunities it will bring for me. |