The power of collaboration
Best practice in education is always changing as schools navigate new challenges and opportunities to improve their students’ progress and achievement. Teachers need a range of professional development opportunities to help them continuously improve their practice. But this is not a journey to embark on solo.
Whether the overall goal is to help teachers better manage classrooms, engage students, adapt to new teaching styles or address diverse learning needs, there’s a large body of experience to tap into in any school. At Badock’s Wood E-ACT Academy, we’ve found that taking a collaborative approach to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) makes a real difference to children’s learning. Working collaboratively, we’ve created a support system for teachers that encourages creativity, boosts morale and, most importantly, improves student outcomes.
Teachers developing together
Our key aim in shaping our CPD strategy has been to build a culture where collaboration sits at the heart of teacher development. We wanted to encourage teachers to share their individual insights into what techniques they have found to be most effective in helping children engage and learn, regardless of how many years they have been teaching.
This has led to transformative results in the classroom, with teachers putting new ideas and strategies into practice every day. This approach has also been highly effective in addressing school-wide challenges, embedding greater consistency from the start and benefiting staff and students alike.
There are three key strands to how we’ve managed CPD that have been instrumental in building a collaborative culture across our school.