Philip Blaker - Testing the Future

Tegwen Ellis - The National Academy for Education Leadership: A new start for Wales?

I have been a Headteacher in Wales for nearly 20 years and during that time there have been 5 main Ministers of Education,  Jane Davidson, Jane Hutt, Leighton Andrews, Huw Lewis and now Kirsty Williams.  Although much has changed in Welsh education during that time with the introduction of the Foundation Phase, the Welsh Baccalaureate, the abolishment of SATs and the introduction of National Testing to name but a few of the initiatives introduced since devolution, not much has really happened to develop and support leadership in Wales…. until now.

That said, it is fair to say that there have been some attempts to support leadership and we should mention the Professional Headship Induction Programme (PHIP) which was introduced during Jane Davidson’s service along with the Leadership for Serving Heads Programme (LPSH) – both of these offered support to new and existing heads, but nonetheless these programmes have long gone.  However, the introduction of the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), which is designed to prepare teachers for the challenging role of headship, has survived and became mandatory in Wales in 2004.  Whilst the NPQH remains a mandatory requirement, there has been little to support existing headteachers or for those finding themselves leading schools in acting roles in the absence of a substantive head.

Unfortunately, fewer and fewer applicants are received for leadership roles in schools across Wales and this is a major concern especially for Welsh-medium and secondary schools who seem to suffer the most.  Some senior leaders enjoy their role within the school and do not want the pressures of becoming a Headteacher especially when they can see the growing levels of personal accountability and increased pressures on school leaders. There are some deputies even after completing the NPQH who do not go forward to hold a substantive post as a Headteacher.  So how do we address this? How do we motivate our teachers to be aspirational leaders? How do we encourage teachers to become ‘inspirational leaders’ as set out in ‘Education in Wales: Our National Mission’(2017), and how do we ensure that teachers and leaders stay in the profession and feel valued, respected and supported? Well at long last the Welsh Government recognise that something needs to be done and Kirsty Williams AM, the Cabinet Secretary for Education is certainly tackling this issue with the introduction of the National Academy for Educational Leadership (NAEL). This is a step in the right direction.

Since July 2016, when the Cabinet Secretary announced that she was giving priority to the creation and establishment of a NAEL, much has happened. A task and finish group which acts as a shadow board has been established and is chaired by Ann Keane, former Estyn Chief Inspector.  This group also includes key stakeholders, including representatives from the Education Workforce Council, Estyn, the teaching unions and experts like Mick Waters who has helped shape the new Professional Standards for Teaching and Leadership in Wales. The board has sought the views and opinions of other stakeholders across Wales in a number of roadshows and is currently carrying out further workshops to ensure that the shadow board understands what exactly the profession wants from the academy.  Ann Keane has made it quite clear that the shadow board ‘wants to carry on working with all partners and stakeholders so that we create a NAEL that will work for and with you to help to maintain and improve the quality of experiences and outcomes for learners across Wales’. 

Both the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) review into Welsh education and Estyn (the education and training inspectorate for Wales) have emphasised that there is a need to build capacity at all levels of leadership in order to enable learners to reach their full potential. So how does the Academy propose to do this? We need to look at other countries to see how they are developing and supporting leadership. We need to see what they do could look like for Wales and evaluate different models to consider whether or not they fit in to the Welsh context. We need to consider what international evidence in respect of leadership is saying? How are those countries who are performing well in PISA supporting and developing leadership? And about what the leadership structures in other countries where education is devolved? 

In June this year I visited Ontario, Canada on a study visit and was fortunate to speak and listen to a number of professionals about their education system and it was clear that leadership is recognised as a driver in influencing student learning. Their framework (The Ontario Leadership Framework) is designed to facilitate, promote, identify, guide and implement professional learning throughout. There is a clear model for leadership within the profession which allows for career development. They focus on five dimensions of effective leadership but they also recognise that they need good, effective leaders that are ready for change and that capacity building for this to happen is essential.  Capacity building is problematic in Ontario, too.  The Ontario Ministry of Education continues to evaluate this area of their work and recognise that the Leadership Framework continues to evolve as a result of ongoing research in Ontario and international jurisdictions, and also ongoing consultations with a cross-section of stakeholders.  This is not dissimilar to Wales.  One thing is certain, Ontario places a great emphasis on ongoing professional development (OPL) and with our new Professional Standards for Teaching and Leadership, could ensure that Wales does the same.

McKinsey and Company in their report on How The World’s Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better, state that the most successful systems actively foster the development of the next generation of system leadership from within.  Their report references how 20 schools from different parts of the world have registered significant, sustained and widespread student gain. So perhaps this is the answer for Wales, to ensure that leaders understand their role as ‘system leaders’ with a strong emphasis on collaboration, improving through working with peers and innovation.  It is certainly something for Wales to consider.

Using my knowledge from the visit to  Ontario and  my extensive  experience as a headteacher I am keen to put this into practice to try and find ways to support future leaders. Since October 2017,  I have joined the Shadow Board as a stakeholder representative and I welcome the opportunity to be involved in the work  of the National Academy of Educational Leadership.  The vision and values set out by Welsh Government and its commitment to identify, support and inspire leaders across the system (Our National Mission) are in themselves innovative. These are exciting times for Wales with the development of curriculum reform, the new professional standards and the NAEL.  This is our opportunity to lead the way in the international arena with our inspirational leaders working together, committed to raising standards and reducing the attainment gap for all.

Tegwen Ellis

Tegwen Ellis has been the Headteacher at Ysgol Cynwyd Sant, Maesteg for 19 years. Following the school’s Estyn inspection in 2016, her leadership was described as ‘progressive and innovative....she shares her vision and philosophy very successfully’. Ysgol Cynwyd Sant is a pioneer school for professional learning and a curriculum pioneer school and it is a lead creative school with the Arts Council of Wales. Tegwen is Chair of the Welsh medium federation of head teachers within the Central South Consortium. She is an Estyn peer inspector, a member of the Drindod Dewi Sant Athrofa’s leadership working party and since October 2017 is a member of the National Academy Educational Leadership’s shadow board. She is passionate about giving cultural experiences to children and young people and was the Chair of the Executive committee for the Urdd Eisteddfod that visited Bridgend in 2017.

The PLP a passport to the future.....

EWC Council member Berni Tyler gives an employer’s take on the value and usefulness of the PLP

 At ISA training it’s currently appraisal time and one of the areas my team always have an excuse for is the updating of their PDR (Personal development record). We have a few stars and they are mainly those who have to record CPD for ongoing ability to assess in their vocational area. The rest vary from creating a PDR the size of ‘War and Peace’ to those who aren’t sure where it is located!

Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel that might help improve this practice! Just a few weeks ago we were fortunate to have Liz Brimble (Deputy Chief Exec of the EWC) visit ISA Training. Liz came to give the low down to our hardworking delivery team on the upcoming registration of the WBL work force. The ISA delivery team are a vibrant, lively bunch and I was expecting a bit of resistance and some intense questioning on the requirement to register. However they listened intently and asked a few questions but on the whole were in agreement. They could clearly see the relevance and need for this and were all pleased to see our workforce being recognised and professionalised. One even asked if she could join there and then! I had expected more ‘what’s in it for me?’ questions and was ready to support Liz in outlining the personal benefits.

Clearly it is an individual’s license to practice alongside for example;

• improving public understanding of our delivery teams contribution to education in Wales
• maintaining public confidence in the education workforce
• promoting professional development
• establishing professional standards across the education workforce

But one of the best benefits of all has to be the ability to access and utilise the PLP (The Professional Learning Passport) this is one snappy little number that collects just about anything the user wants to put into it to build up a holistic picture of the user that can be used in a whole range of ways, from a reflective journal as part of a qualification to a full blown interactive CV and record of CPD.

Now if I had to produce my CV, evidence of qualifications and information on recent informal learning I would probably have to take the day off to find it all! I would then end up with a mountain of paper, a lever arch file, box file and a range of spreadsheets and word versions of my CV. I’m sure this rings true with many practitioners! To be able to put all this information in one place is the perfect solution, the fact that it is personal and portable is even better. Many businesses including my own have ways of collecting and storing CPD information which range from the organisation doing it, to the ownership being that of the individual. Whilst many of these systems are most probably just as effective as the PLP in many instances they form part of a system that collects and records information for HR and L&D purposes and remain in the ownership of the organisation. This make portability to a new workplace impossible and results in re-entering and logging information on a new system or in some cases losing it all together and having to start again.

The PLP can be accessed from any device such as a laptop, tablet or smartphone and works well on all. Is it easy to use? Well if you can use Facebook, Twitter or Instagram then you’ll easily be able to navigate your way around the PLP, the principles are similar. Uploading to it is as easy as putting a picture on Facebook and much more worthwhile. If you aren’t a social networking enthusiast you will still find the functionality simple and the buttons easy to understand, you can’t break it so it’s just a matter of ‘having a go’ and seeing what you can create. With 66% of adults in the UK using a smartphone as their main method of using the internet you can now have your personal learning journey on hand to update, share and use at any time. (Communications Market Report, Ofcom 2015)

The PLP also has links in it to useful resources such as performance management, Learning Wales, Hwb and a wealth of useful research. It easily toggles between Welsh and English also allowing the storing of information bilingually.

As an employer I can see a whole host of benefits, the fact that the practitioner owns it will encourage them to add a range of evidence and for those studying it can work well as a reflective journal. It can be shared in its entirety or just parts can be shared with existing or prospective employers, quality assurers from awarding organisations and peers. For WBL practitioners that work in the school sector delivering vocational opportunities on behalf of WBL providers, being able to share parts of their PLP with the schools will provide reassurance and confidence in the delivery staff that we deploy there.

Since its launch in September 2016 there have been 7000 hits on the platform and there are already 5,900 users. With a potential 75,000+ registrants from April 2017 this passport could change the way in which we record and share our personal learning journeys in Wales.

In summary the PLP has the potential to revolutionise recruitment in the WBL sector and I am looking forward to a future where potential employees share with us video of them teaching, demonstrating and inspiring their learners. How much easier and potentially more reliable recruitment could become not only for the employer but for the job applicant, enabling them to demonstrate how they have studied, reflected and progressed alongside real hard evidence.

So go and have a look and get creating your own personal learning journey that you can take anywhere, potentially a passport to career success.....

‘Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today’
(Malcolm X)

Rhian Huws Williams - Regulation for success

That is how the Minister for Health and Social Services has described his vision for the new regulatory and inspection arrangements for social services and social care in Wales through the legislation which will come into force in 2016. He wants a regulation system geared to support success, not simply to identify failure. The approach will be to regulate for improvement and for success. This is music to my ears!

Like the field of education workforce regulation, social care regulation is experiencing a time of change. The Regulation and Inspection Bill will reconstitute the Care Council for Wales as Social Care Wales. This will involve a step change for the social care sector and, for the first time, it will combine responsibility for workforce regulation, workforce development and service improvement all within the one body.

The Care Council for Wales (the regulatory body for social work, the social care workforce and social work training) has maintained the principle of regulation as a contribution to continuous improvement and development, since it was established in 2001 and reflected in its dual remit for workforce regulation and development.

What is important is how we learn from regulatory work. What does the information tell us about areas of concern, how do we use that information to target and support learning and improvement? That is surely what we should be aiming for. For me the objectives of workforce regulation are to:

• Protect the people who use the service
• Strengthen and support the professionalism of the workforce;
• Raise standards of practice
  
  

For that to be effective it needs to be done in partnership with those who use services and who need to have confidence in the workforce. The Welsh Government was ambitious and radical in setting up the Care Council to be a very different type of regulatory body, one in which all interested key groups would have a voice, with representatives of service users, carers and the general public being in the majority. A blueprint for citizen-led regulation.

It has not been tokenistic. It is a truly collaborative model. People who use services are partners in setting the strategy, governance, regulation, all aspects of social work training and in our work programmes. But that does not mean we can be complacent. There is more we need to do. Our work in the Care Council is part of a big drive for high quality care which has the confidence of the people of Wales. And our specific contribution as the Care Council is the quality of the workforce and through that good outcomes for people using care and support services. It is important that we don’t lose sight of that bigger picture.

Social Care Wales will look to build on the successful foundations laid down by the Care Council. The key difference will be its strategic focus on setting the improvement agenda for services as well as the workforce and supporting partners to deliver that improvement across the social care sector.
This will be set within the wider public service reform which will require all public services to think more about the long term, to work better with people and communities and each other, to look to prevent problems and to take a more joined-up approach. When making decisions we will need to take into account the impact they could have on people living their lives in Wales in the future.

There are areas of interface between education and social care. We know of the importance of having consistent approaches to safeguarding, joint working with children and families who are experiencing challenges and we know that the early years workforce connects up to both education and social care.

With our eyes firmly on improving outcomes and strengthening safeguards for children in Wales the question I want to pose at the end of this blog is what potential for synergy might there be for the newly constituted Education Workforce Council and Social Care Wales (the re-constituted Care Council from 2017) as the only two devolved regulatory bodies for professional workers, so that regulation is truly for success?

Rhian Huws Williams
Chief Executive, Care Council for Wales

Rhian has worked in social care for 35 years, beginning as a social worker and then as a training officer on strategies for learning disability and mental health. In 1988, she was appointed by the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work to lead its programme in Wales, focusing on mental health, practice learning and the development of its Welsh language policy. She became the Head of their National Office for Wales in 1994 and was also a member of their UK Senior Management Team. In 2001 she was appointed as the first CEO of the Care Council for Wales, the workforce regulatory and development body for social workers and social care workers.

Rhian is a strong advocate of the importance of workforce investment and cultures of continuous learning. She is a staunch supporter of the value of vocational learning and qualifications, the need for partnerships between employers and learning providers and the need for more Welsh Language occupational learning opportunities. She is also a member of the four country Skills for Care and Development Executive Board and has contributed to several international conferences on social work training and on the model of social work regulation.

Rhian has served on two Ministerial Commissions, the Independent Commission on Social Services in Wales from 2009-11 and the Welsh for Adults Review Group which considered how best to develop learners’ Welsh language skills 2012-2013. She is a member of the Ministerial Welsh Language Task Group, which was established in 2010 to improve the use of Welsh in health and social care services, sits on the Advisory Board for Academi Wales (the Public Service Leadership Unit) and is a member of the National Social Services Leadership Group. She has also been a member of voluntary groups at national and local level over the years. Rhian was appointed to the National Eisteddfod Gorsedd in 2014, the Gorsedd holds the National Eisteddfod ceremonies and honours those who have made a significant contribution to the Welsh language and to Wales.

Have you noticed the subtle change in language? Earlier this year Welsh Government documents were referring to 'Professional Development'; now the talk is all about 'Professional Learning'.  The New Deal refers to the Professional Learning Model ( see Learning Wales, 2015). It wasn't a sudden change - both terms have been used in Welsh Government documents over the past year and much has been borrowed from the Scottish model of Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) (Education Scotland, 2015), but now the term Professional Learning is getting more prominent.

We've become familiar with the term CPD since it replaced 'staff development' and, before that, 'INSET' and there are good reasons why we have to change again.  It’s common for shifts in terminology to take place to reflect new ways of thinking and working but whereas the terms ‘professional development’ and ‘professional learning’ have often been used interchangeably, they are now becoming distinct in the language and literature of professional practice.

It is precisely because professional situations are not static that we can’t rely on professional development alone. Education changes; technology changes; society changes; schools change; leaders change; approaches to pupil learning change. “Training”, therefore, is not sufficient; adaptability is essential; lateral and divergent thinking are central; criticality rather than compliance is needed. ‘Professional learning’ involves active learning; it is a continuing process; it focuses on enquiry, analysis, reflection, evaluation, further action; it should be professionally critical; in its best forms it is collaborative; and it enables an approach which is not confined to a linear interpretation of future events and ways of working. James and McCormick (2009) identify the need for this learning to be structured. They argue that although teachers need practical advice, classroom practices can become ritualised and mechanistic if teachers aren’t stimulated to think in different ways about how they and their pupils learn..

Crucially, the essence of professional learning focuses less on the qualities or deficits of teachers and more on the need to make a difference for learners. Too often the process of professional development has focused on what the teacher needs to do rather than what and how pupils need to learn. So to generate effective pupil learning we have to ensure purposeful teacher learning and then translate this into effective practice. To achieve and sustain this it is essential to have effective senior and middle leadership because without their intervention teacher change is likely to be ad hoc and individualistic and there is likely to be more rather than less variation within institutions.

Timperley (2011) explains the differences between professional development and professional learning and I have taken four of her points to be used as prompts for reflection. But reflection isn’t sufficient; we all need to generate measurable action. So, I have also used the points to set challenges for senior and middle leaders in two ways:
Firstly, how do these points match the current professional learning culture in your school or college?
Secondly, if you are a middle or senior leader, I have set some challenges that you might set yourself to transform the professional learning cultures within your own team. You should reflect on these, discuss them with colleagues and use them with your own teams to bring about change.

1. “… the term ‘professional development’ has taken on connotations of delivery of some kind of information to teachers … whereas ‘professional learning … challenges previous assumptions and creates new meanings. … Solving entrenched educational problems requires transformative rather than additive change to teaching practice” (p 4-5)
   
   Cultural question: How do you and your colleagues learn? Is it through transmission of knowledge and ideas? Are you and your colleagues passive recipients of information when you attend professional development activities?
   
   Leadership Challenge: make professional learning activities transformative. Set realistic targets for change. Challenge your own thinking and challenge others to make small changes to their practice
   
   
2. “Improvements in pupil learning and well-being are not a by-product of professional learning but rather its central purpose” (p5).
   
   Cultural question: Are your expectations of pupils high enough? Are your expectations of yourself high enough? Do you know enough about the ways in which your pupils learn? What information might you need to support pupil learning more effectively? It’s not sufficient to blame pupils or the system for low attainment.
   
   Leadership challenge: find out how much teachers know about their pupils. Why do some pupils perform less well than others? How can individual pupils, with their help, achieve more? Why might an individual pupil be achieving more in one subject or with one teacher than with another?
   
   
3. “… the knowledge and skills developed through professional learning must … [be] both practical and … be used to solve teaching and learning challenges encountered in the future” (p 7)
   
   Cultural question: are your knowledge and skills likely to equip you for future changes? How can you find out? What can you do if they are not?
   
   Leadership challenge: Discuss with other leaders who their best teachers are. Can these people be used as ‘lead practitioners’ to share their knowledge and expertise with colleagues within the school and with colleagues from other schools? Set up networking or coaching or mentoring situations to extend the knowledge and skills of teachers in your team.
   
   
4. “… teachers must reference their learning to both themselves and their pupils … they generate information about the progress they are making so that they can monitor and adjust their learning [and that of the pupils]” (p 7)
   
   Cultural question: This is similar to pupils’ assessment for learning. To what extent do you evaluate your own teaching? What criteria do you use to say whether or not you are effective? What support do you need to carry out systematic inquiry into your own practice? What support do you have in taking transformative and radical approaches to persistent problems?
   
   Leadership challenge: Provide support for your teachers to look systematically and honestly at their own teaching, using individual pupil achievement as a key indicator. Create opportunities for them to observe practice and to be observed. Create secure environments in which critical reflection and risk taking can be undertaken.
   
   
   

In Wales we have an opportunity to be transformational in the way we design our curriculum (Donaldson), in the ways we prepare our teachers to become professionals (Furlong), and in the ways in which our serving teachers remain on the top of their game (The New Deal). We need to transform the language we use so that we are not using outdated terms when we are introducing new concepts.    

Donaldson, G, (2015) Successful Futures Independent Review of Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales Cardiff: Welsh Government

Education Scotland (2015) What is Career Long Professional Learning?
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/professionallearning/clpl/clpl.asp Accessed 20 March 2015

Furlong, J. (2015) Teaching Tomorrow’s Teachers Options for the future of initial teacher education in Wales Cardiff: Welsh Government
James, M. and McCormick, R. (2009) Teachers Learning How to Learn Teaching and Teacher Education Vol 25 p 973-982

Learning Wales (2015) Professional Learning 
Accessed 20 March 2015

Timperley, H.S. (2011) Realizing the Power of Professional Learning  Maidenhead: Open University Press

Professor Ken Jones

Ken taught in London for 13 years before returning to Wales to work in Higher Education and is currently Senior Consultant for Professional Learning and Development at UWTSD, based in Swansea. He has been involved locally in the training and continuing education of teachers and headteachers, nationally as a consultant in the field of school leadership and through work for government departments, and internationally through his position as Managing Editor of the journal Professional Development Education and as one of the founding members of the International Professional Development Association (IPDA).

He has served on government working groups in Wales in areas such as induction and Early Professional Development and revising the professional leadership standards. His work with the former GTCW has included advising on the setting up of a National Framework for the Professional Development of Teachers in Wales and in co-piloting the accreditation route for Chartered Teacher status. His international work has included the organisation of symposia on Professional Learning in many European countries, in the USA and in India.

Recent publications include Jones, K. (2011) Central, local and individual continuing professional development (CPD) priorities: changing policies of CPD in Wales Professional Development in Education Vol 37 No 5 November 2011, 759-776

Jones, K. and O'Brien, J. (Eds) (2014) European Perspectives on Professional Development in Teacher Education London: Routledge

Jones, K. (2015) "Oh no ... not another good idea!" Motivating teachers through optimistic professional learning in Fleming, M., Martin, C.R. and Smith, H. (2015) Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Learning and Teaching Environment Glasgow: Swan and Horn