£24m plan to train teachers in Wales’ new curriculum
A£24M package to train teachers to deliver the new curriculum in Wales is being announced today. The National Approach to Professional Learning (NAPL) will be “an entirely new approach to how teachers learn” including through universities, outside and inside classrooms, online and coaching, the Welsh Government said.
The money is the single biggest investment in support for teacher training in Wales since devolution. Funding will be delivered to schools through the regional school improvement consortia and local councils.
Under the scheme professional learning will be delivered in “flexible ways” that don’t disrupt the school day, the Welsh Government pledged.
Teachers will get time out to learn, there will still be what are known as inset days for training and the NAPL will be in addition to other ongoing professional training already on offer.
The new training will not add to teachers’ workload, with funding helping to ensure cover for staff to be released do it, the Welsh Government said. Teaching unions, teachers and the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which runs international education comparison Pisa tests for 15 year-olds have been involved in preparatory work for the scheme.
A first £9m of funding for the programme will be released this financial year, increasing to £15m next financial year, making £24m over two years.
Announcing the cash the Welsh Government said in a statement: “The funding will give schools the time and resources they need to plan ahead for the new curriculum and ensure that changes are made in a way that will prioritise the wellbeing of teachers and minimise disruption to pupils’ learning.
“The funding will also help ensure that there is cover for staff to be released for professional learning.”
Under the NAPL, professional learning will be an entitlement for all practitioners in schools, not just teachers.
Schools will also be encouraged to create and share learning with other schools and organisations.
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams said: “This major investment shows how highly we value teachers’ professional learning.
“It is an investment in excellence, and we are aiming for nothing less than a wholesale reform of how teachers learn; a process that starts from the moment they begin initial teacher education and goes right the way through their career.
“This is a time of great change in our education system and it will be impossible to deliver our new curriculum without a high-quality education workforce. That is why we are making it easier for teachers to learn and explore the curriculum, giving them the time they need and not compromising their day to day work or pupils’ learning.
“We are also providing schools with the option of working together to help them make the changes ahead of the new curriculum.
“This means staff can be released to be involved in collaborative professional learning and planning, drawing from the very best evidence-based research.”
Today’s announcement was backed by experts in professional learning for teachers, including Mick Waters, professor of education at Wolverhampton University, and head of the independent review of school teachers’ pay and conditions in Wales.
Mark Priestly, professor of education and the director of the Stirling Network for Curriculum Studies said: “As Wales embarks on its journey of significant educational reform, the importance of teachers’ professional agency – their capacity to critically shape their responses to complex and problematic situations – is paramount. The new NAPL is a welcome initiative.”
Steve Munby, visiting professor at UCL London Institute of Education and a key figure in developing Wales’ new National Academy for Educational Leadership (NAEL) said: “The secret to a top quality education system is to have great teachers and great leaders; the way to achieve this is through high quality initial teacher training and professional development for teachers and leaders that raises expectations, whilst being practical and relevant.”
Arwyn Thomas, managing director of school improvement service the GwE Consortium said: “The regional consortia welcome a national approach to professional learning.
“It gives everybody within the education sector in Wales a framework to develop the skills that they need.”
The current curriculum and assessment arrangements have been in place since 1988. The Welsh Government wanted to update it to be more relevant and responsive to needs of learners and the economy.
It commissioned Professor Graham Donaldson of Glasgow University, a former teacher and chief inspector of schools, to consider new assessment and curriculum arrangements.
From 2022 the new curriculum based on Donaldson’s recommendations - will replace existing key stages for expectations at ages five, eight, 11, 14 and 16 with ‘progression steps’.
These steps are divided into six Areas of Learning and Experience.
All schools will have access to the final curriculum from 2020, to allow them to move towards full roll-out in 2022.