New proposals to raise Wales’ teaching standards
NEW proposals for teaching standards in Wales from September 2018 are announced today.
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams said the new standards aim to promote teaching excellence and support career-long professional development for all teachers.
Under the plans teachers will be helped to develop leadership and other skills throughout their careers.
Announcing the changes, the Education Secretary said they would help teachers work together more effectively.
New entrants to the profession will also be helped by bringing together requirements for the award of Qualified Teacher Status and the successful completion of induction.
It is proposed that the new standards will apply to all serving teachers from September 2018 and initial teacher training programmes from September 2019.
The announcement comes as education policy in Wales focuses on improving the quality of teaching.
Ms Williams said: “We are working closely with the profession to help teachers and practitioners be the best they can be, while raising the standard of teaching and, importantly, raising the standing of the profession as a whole.
“The current professional standards are no longer fit for purpose and do not match my vision for our school workforce. The old system set minimum expectations that we want to move beyond.
“These new standards are about making sure teachers develop the right skills throughout their career and all those teaching in our classrooms take on a leadership role as we all work together to raise standards. This is about moving to a system of career-long development.
“My vision is to strengthen leadership and make sure that there is greater consistency across our schools.
“I am grateful to all those teachers, leaders and other partners who have been directly involved in developing these new standards – it is testament to what can be achieved through us working together.”
Teaching standards in some schools have been called into question by both the Chief Inspector for Schools in his annual report last month and in a report this week from the body running the international Pisa school tests in which Wales trails behind the other UK nations in English, maths and science.
A new type of teacher is needed to deliver the new curriculum for Wales, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development advised in its report into progress of Wales’s education reforms.
Teaching must change and leadership strengthen to drive up standards and there are still many teachers at all levels who lack skills to implement quality formative assessments and use assessment data to support students’ learning, the OECD report added.
Andreas Schleicher, director for education and skills at the OECD, said teachers in Wales must do professional training throughout their careers as they do in the highest performing Pisa countries such as China and Singapore. They must also learn best practice from one another and communicate better with parents.
Mr Schleicher said it was not enough for pupils to be taught knowledge, they must also be taught how to use and apply it.
In his first annual report as Chief inspector for Schools last month Meilyr Rowlands said there was too much variation in standards between schools. He highlighted best practice from schools around Wales in another report and Wales’ new colour categorisation system also highlights progress and best practice.
The head of Estyn’s annual report said school standards are rising but teaching and learning must improve. Mr Rowlands warned there was a “marked contrast” between provision in Wales’ best and weakest schools.
“To close the gap with the best, schools need to continue to focus on the basics and also take a fresh look at teaching and learning experiences – what is taught and how it is taught and assessed,” his report advised.