Developing Outstanding Teaching and Learning: Creating a Culture of Professional Development to Improve Outcomes

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Learning and progress Examines the relationship between teaching and learning. Chapter 2: Using data Explores using data to improve classroom practice, considering different types of data and evidence, ensuring reliability, and the formative, summative and diagnostic purpose of data. Updated for second edition. Chapter 3: Subject knowledge Examines the nature of subject knowledge, and how teachers can develop this into effective pedagogic knowledge that enables learners to connect with and make sense of diverse forms of knowledge for themselves. There is a clear link between subject knowledge and fluent teaching and this relationship is explored here - leading to authentic learning outcomes. Chapter 4: Differentiation Explores the subtleties and significance of differentiation, paying particular attention to differentiating by cognitive and metacognitive activity, time on task and flow of challenging work. There is an increased emphasis in the second edition on the importance of challenge. Chapter 5: Talk/feedback Focuses on written feedback and feedback as talk in lessons as a means of understanding learning and progress, and mediating support for learning. The chapter is underpinned by an understanding of how learning can be constructed in a social environment. There is a new emphasis in the second edition on the importance of independent learning skills, pupils' active participation in lessons and teachers' ability to assess progress during lessons and respond accordingly. Chapter 6: Resources This chapter focuses on three key resources available to teachers and learners to support progress; technology as a learning resource, the role that can be played by teaching assistants and the role of homework. Chapter 7: Leadership of teaching and learning In the second edition, this chapter includes six updated case studies of schools, ranging from those recently out of special measures to outstanding schools. An examination of these demonstrates the importance of improving the quality of teaching to ensure progress and improvement. Appendix: Tools for professional development Each tool is introduced, and then the practical process underpinning it is explained. At their heart are two key dimensions: teacher reflection and the use of practice evidence. Tool 1: Critical incident analysis Tool 2: Ecological analysis Tool 3: An enquiry-based approach to lesson observation Tool 4: Lesson study Tool 5: Teacher inquiry and knowledge-building cycle Tool 6: Video-recording lessons Tool 7: Coaching Suitable for teachers, leaders, teacher trainers, local authorities and consultants, each chapter contains five parts: 1.Setting the scene - an overview of the significance of a particular teaching characteristic. 2.Evidence - what can we learn from research that may inform our thinking and practice? 3.Practical strategies, case studies and observed practice - to use for staff development and in classrooms with students, they include teacher feedback, examples and tips about how they work in the classroom. 4.Approaches to professional development - analytic tools to support teacher learning and reflection with examples of how to use them. 5.Questions to stimulate thinking and reflection - questions for students, teachers, those with responsibility for professional learning and senior leaders.