‘Teachers in Wales are learning from the best...’
Teachers and policymakers must learn from the best to be the best, Education Secretary Kirsty Williams will tell higher education leaders this week. Here she explains her strategy for raising standards
To create an education system that is a source of national pride we need to learn from the best. I am unashamed to say that Wales will learn from the best so that we can be the best. To do this, I have been seeking creative thinking from the wider international community. Earlier this month we welcomed educationalists from Australia, Scandinavia, north America, Asia and Europe at an international OECD workshop in Cardiff to help further develop initial teacher education (ITE) in Wales.
Our recently published accreditation criteria for ITE programmes, alongside our new professional teaching and leadership standards, reflects shared ambitions for the profession. From initial teacher education, into the classroom and through career-long professional learning, our national approach focuses on ensuring and developing a high-quality teaching profession.
Our expectations are simple but ambitious. The criteria set out fundamental changes to ensure an increased role for schools, a clearer role for universities, joint ownership of the ITE programme, structured opportunities to link school and university learning, and the centrality of research.
I believe that empowering our Education Workforce Council (EWC) to accredit individual ITE programmes, through the establishment of the Initial School Teacher Training Committee (known as “the Board”) is crucial. It will enable more specific consideration of how the programmes will raise the quality of provision – attracting people with the right skills, qualifications and aptitude to enter the profession.
I am determined that ITE in Wales is strengthened through a collaborative system, where universities and schools work in partnership, supported by the consortia and recognising the centrality of research.
It is essential to build greater capacity for research at all levels of teacher education. Unlike some education systems that ignore evidence to promote selection and segregation, we continue to value best practice and research.
Our whole approach is about helping student teachers become competent, thoughtful and innovative practitioners. I have often said that teachers themselves need to be the best students, developing and adapting. Our national mission to reform education depends on that commitment. Only then can we be sure that we are always raising standards, reducing the attainment gap and delivering a system that is a source of national pride.
A public consultation on new professional standards for teaching and leadership in schools started earlier this month and I want as many teachers as possible to get involved.
While we are looking at international best practice, we must also learn from good practice closer to home. During the last nine months, I have seen some excellent examples of schools working to raise standards. On my visits to schools, I have had countless discussions with professionals, pupils and parents. The consensus from all is that we have to move forward together on this journey for the sake of every learner in our education system.
I will continue to listen to the views of learners, parents and those working in the education sector to ensure we are delivering our ambitious plans swiftly and in ways that meet the future needs of Wales.
If we are to continue to raise standards, all of us have to work together – as leaders, teachers, researchers, educators and policy professionals – to share thoughts, ask questions, put research at the centre and build capacity for our next steps.
This is a collective effort to reform education, but it is a mission that must be optimistic, innovative and ambitious. It is a great honour to help lead this change.